Ways to Minimize Performance Anxiety Before Gigs

Welcome to another episode of the Steve Stine Podcast! I'm your host, Steve Stine from GuitarZoom.com, and today we're diving into a topic that many musicians face—overcoming stage fright and performance anxiety. Whether it's the fear of judgment, the pressure to play perfectly, or just the nerves of being in the spotlight, performance anxiety can be paralyzing. In this episode, I'll share practical tips and strategies from my extensive experience working with students, including the importance of thorough preparation, mental visualization, and stage practice. We'll also explore how to stay relaxed during performances, use the audience's energy positively, and handle common on-stage mishaps like a pro. So, get ready to conquer your fears and set the stage for successful experiences.

Links:

Check out the GuitarZoom Academy:
https://academy.guitarzoom.com/

• Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus...
• GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0...
• Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... .

Chapters

• 0:36 Managing Performance Anxiety on Stage
• 5:46 Practice performing conditions; relax on stage
• 6:58 Overcoming Performance Challenges
• 7:56 Prepare gradually, practice, communicate, and maintain health

Transcript

Steve Stine [00:00:01]:
Hey, Steve Stine from GuitarZoom.com here. And today we're going to talk about performance anxiety. Getting on stage, getting nervous about getting on stage, getting nervous while you're on stage. For some people, it's almost paralyzing. And so what I thought I would talk about a little bit with you were some things that I have found through many of my students and working with students not only in their practice, but in performance as well, on things that might be able to help. Now, first of all, why do we get it? Well, a lot of times it happens because we're concerned with judgment, like how people are going to think of us, expectations that people have. You know, people look at you a certain way and expect you to be able to perform at a certain level with no mistakes. That sort of thing.

Steve Stine [00:00:45]:
You know, just pressure all the way around can cause these sorts of things. So what can we do to minimize the impact of this? Well, one thing is preparation. This is really important. Practicing enough, thorough practice, really knowing the ins and outs of what you're doing. Now, I'm going to talk from a guitar perspective. So if I was working on a certain piece of music that I'm going to be performing, I can play through it over and over and over and certainly play through it with the song or whatever. So I'm practicing with the song, but I really need to go deeper than that, especially if it's a song that I know is challenging for me and could cause issues. What I like to do is I like to practice, maybe with a backing track where there are no guitar parts, so I can experience what it feels like to practice along with it.

Steve Stine [00:01:36]:
You know, maybe I'm using a drum track or a click track or whatever. I mean, there's all kinds of different things you can use nowadays, but something where the guitar is not there so I can experience what it's like to be playing the part myself. The other part is that I think about a lot is if I was playing a really complex part or a really complex song is not only going through it and making sure I know all the parts, but really making sure that in my brain I'm able to see how I'm getting from part one or section one to section two to section three, and really practicing those things. Because for me, it all starts with how I'm seeing it laid out in my mind. If I get confused, well, that might a solution might be to have either the sheet music or have some sort of chart that might help me know the blocks and when to move from this section to this section. How many times I do this, you know, maybe there's a drum fill or some sort of key element that happens that cues me onto the next part. And then as a guitar player, the other thing I think about are the fingerings that I'm using when I'm playing these things. You know, is it essential for me to be on an upstroke in this particular part or to be on this finger in this particular part to be able to execute this section? Now, that might seem really deep for some people, but if you're playing something that's really difficult, those things, really working out the refinements of that, those deep details might really help you out a lot.

Steve Stine [00:03:02]:
Learning to think mentally about it, right? Visualizing the aspect, visualizing yourself playing yourself on stage, visualize the song, that sort of thing. Again, not everybody plays by memory. Some people play by by looking at sheet music. And if the most important thing to think about is what's making you stumble. Okay. I always call these roadblocks or road signs or red flags. When I'm listening to a song and then I'm developing, practicing and learning the song, I am aware of the parts that are coming really easy. And I still want to detail those because a lot of times if it's a really easy part, but I haven't really thought about how I'm doing it, I could stumble there, but oftentimes it happens in the more complex parts.

Steve Stine [00:03:48]:
So for me, it's really important to plant that red flag. So I know that that's where the problem is. I call them stress points. It's like when you're playing and all of a sudden you get to a part and you go, because you know it's coming, or you're playing on stage and you know it's coming, that's what's going to throw you off. So really working through those things is very important. Okay. Sometimes developing something like a warm up routine can really help you. The most important thing, I think, is when you're going to play this.

Steve Stine [00:04:16]:
Make sure that you've spent enough time going through it and dealing with the details of it. Okay, now let's say you're. It's during the performance, okay? Learning how to relax. Relaxing your mind, relaxing your body before you play. Focusing on the music, focusing on the moment, focusing on your band, focusing on the song that you're playing. Learning to utilize the audience not as an enemy, but as a friend. Right? Don't get freaked out by people. And if there's somebody particular in the audience, the only thing you've got to learn to be comfortable with you.

Steve Stine [00:04:52]:
That's the most important thing. This isn't a contest. Even though sometimes we feel like that, it can't be. Certainly in the performance of this, it can't be. You can't be at that spot. So you've already done the preparation, you've already done the work. You've already did the deep thinking about it. You visualized yourself playing this.

Steve Stine [00:05:11]:
You visualize yourself on stage. Now you're on stage and you're learning how to relax, and you're going through all of those motions as a guitar player, certainly learning how to play standing up. If you practice all the time sitting down and then all of a sudden you have to play standing up, it's going to feel vastly different playing through an amplifier. If you're used to playing through an amplifier that's barely on and now you go in front of an audience and it's really loud, all of these things are environmentally going to be very different than what you're used to, and thus is going to shake you. So the more you can practice the way you're going to perform, as silly as it might seem, practice standing up. You know, practice with your amp at the volume that it needs to be at, or however it is that your particular situation would work in this discussion. But you want to think about the way you're going to approach it on stage, and then practice that before you get there. Once you get there, you've got to learn how to relax, go inward a little bit, calm down, learn to listen to the music.

Steve Stine [00:06:12]:
Which is why I don't. I encourage people not to just play along with songs like learn to play along with something where that particular part that you're playing isn't there so you can experience that, okay? When you're on stage, focus more on your bandmates, focus more on the music. Don't worry about everybody else, okay? If you break a string or, you know, the lights, hit your guitar in a certain way or your instrument a certain way, and you can't really see, you're going to do the best you can and you're going to make it through as best you can, okay? As a guitar player, it's always nice to have a backup guitar in case you do happen to break that particular string. If you have a standard bridge, you'll be fine. And you could. You could probably do something else. Unless that string is really important to the composition of this song, right? Then you got to switch guitars. Listen.

Steve Stine [00:06:57]:
Things happen, accidents happen. Happens to everybody, every guitar player, every musician ever has had a situation. Guitar players, the cable falls out or the strap falls or a string breaks or, you know, you trip or. These are. These are things. It doesn't mean you're any less of anything. It just means you're experiencing what it is to be a human being. You have to learn how to roll with those things.

Steve Stine [00:07:21]:
Okay? If you've never done performance before, just gradually performing, maybe learn how to play standing up or whatever your situation might be in front of your family, you know, or in front of your best friends or whatever it might be, you talk to people about it. You know, if you've got some friends or peers or anything like that, you can talk to them about the situation and work through it, okay? Certainly things like, you know, a healthier lifestyle can benefit you. You know, drinking water, knowing certainly when you're on stage, if you're going to be on stage for two hours, knowing when to stop drinking water, right? Like for me, I will drink water throughout the day, but there's a point where I'll stop. That way I'm not on stage and I have to go to the bathroom, right? Or right before I go on stage, eat something that's really greasy and filling. That is the worst thing for me to do because then I feel uncomfortable. I don't want to feel that way. Okay? Sometimes just relaxing, meditating, those sorts of things can really help you. So just small tips, ideas to think about that might.

Steve Stine [00:08:20]:
Might be beneficial for you, all right?