Achieving Peak Performance — Minimizing Mistakes On Stage | tonebase Tips
Francisco Chaves shares his tips to the art of playing impactful, nerve-free performances
This is a well known scenario among musicians:
You practiced hard. You play perfectly in front of the mirror. But as soon as another human being comes next to you, you start to worry.
You get nervous, which leads to mistakes, memory problems and you end up not playing at your maximum level.
It’s a well known problem!
But it’s not one without solutions. On tonebase, for example, we already have the wonderful advice of Carlo Marchione, with his lesson “On Conquering Stage Fright” (catch the preview below!)
This post will contribute and expand on those thoughts.
Together we will try to tease apart the “origins” of this nervousness and try to find ways to overcome them once and for all.
I think many of us constantly look for the advice of others in times of need (after all, that’s why you are reading this blog!), but this is a very personal topic.
If I say David Russell or Marcin Dylla jumps three times before each concert, or eats 3 bananas, does it necessarily mean you need to do the same in order to achieve success?
Well… clearly not.
The ancient Greeks had the saying: “Know thyself”
And more than 2000 years later, those words still ring true.
You need to know yourself in order to know what is best for you. You need to ask yourself the following questions —
- “Why do I get nervous?”
- “What calms me?”
- “Where does my insecurity come from?”
- “Where do I feel the most comfortable performing?
- “Similarly, where do I feel the least comfortable?”
You need to really wrestle with these questions. And they’re not the easiest ones in the world. But boy, are they worth answering.
Understanding yourself as a musician — what makes you tick, your unique method of preparation and playing — is equally (if not more!) important as practicing a piece or technique.
Once you’ve answered the above questions, you can begin to tackle those problems in a concrete manner.
This is instead of devising a series of rituals and steps that might make you feel better in the short run, but that do nothing to address your “root problem”.
The most important aspect of any process of self-discovery is to take the approach of an observer.
To observe who you are, without judging yourself and without fighting back against any insights that might arise.
Unfortunately it’s all too easy for folks to enter into a stage where they become frustrated and fight themselves. Negative thoughts arise, seemingly against our will.
Ones like: “I should not be nervous”, “I should have played better”, “I should play without mistakes.” etc.
This is a “fighting mentality.” It creates resistance, opposition, frustration.
Observing and accepting these thoughts that come to you is the most important thing you can do during this process. Especially if you made a mistake during a performance.
Which WILL eventually happen to all of us!
Often, I find that my students play perfectly in the initial bars, but as soon as they make a mistake, they “give up” on the piece.
The passion and vigor that flowed through them seemingly vanishes, replaced by a frenzied and nervous tinge to the entire remaining performance. The truth is, had they continued to play as they began and NOT let the mistake throw them off balance, almost nobody would have remembered the tiny error.
Learn to forgive yourself during a performance.
Continuing to delve on a mistake will only make matters worse. And if nothing else, do it for the audience — they deserve to hear all that you have to offer!
At the same time, we also want to be prepared for any potential mistakes.
And for that, we have to know the piece inside-out.
Instead of playing it from the beginning to the end 200 times on your own, you should try to pick a random spot from the score and start “exactly from there”
Not one bar before and not one bar after!
You’ll discover, much to your chagrin, that you don’t know the piece nearly as well as you thought you did.
It is not so easy to start from the middle of a phrase or section because you are so used to start from the beginning every time you practice. But practicing in this manner will help get you used to a little discomfort as you play through.
At the end of the day, nervousness is a very complicated subject and it will never be fully solved.
Many famous performers, even after years of experience, get anxious and nervous on stage.
Even the famous Beatles’ drummer, Ringo Starr, after more than 50 years performing, admitted that he throws up regularly before performances!
I hope this post gave you a new perspective on the topic.
I wish you the best of luck on your next concert and if you do just one thing, make sure you enjoy it. By truly enjoying the music and moment, you will naturally relax and in turn make less mistakes.
In bocca al lupo!
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