Leaderboard

I have to agree with a lot of the things that have been said, but I must politely disagree with some things as well. Just as with anything, practice makes perfect! You need to practice playing in front of people as much as you would need to practice your scales, arpeggios, and that difficult spot in the thirteenth bar of page three of the song that you're working on. If you don't practice performing, you will never get any better at it. But, just like when you practice your songs, you can't just play through it (or get through the performance) and actually call it practice. Just like how you can make your mistakes a habit by playing the same mistakes without correcting them, you can also make all of your bad performance problems a habit as well. Then you are, in essence, practicing bad habits into permanency, and how horrible is that? Although the butterflies will probably never fully go away (and will eventually be the very thing that drives the energy in your performance), you need to start changing the way you approach stage fright or you'll continue to do it again and again. For one thing (and this is where I disagree with what has been said), I would not ever recognize the stage fright! You are trying to convince yourself that you are not afraid! The more you continue to remind yourself that you are afraid, the more it becomes habit to be afraid in those situations and the more your subconcious will respond accordingly. You should actually be telling yourself again and again that,"I never worry or get anxious when I perform. I never make mistakes. I am always calm and collected. Nothing about performing in front of others actually worries or affects me in any way." If you keep telling yourself that over and over everytime you perform (even if you don't feel it for the first while), that is eventually what you will believe and your subconcious will start to go along with it as well. Believe me when I say that this is probably the most important thing you can do (next to practicing performing in the first place). Also, start practicing putting EVERY LAST OUNCE of focus and energy where it belongs, ON YOUR MUSIC! Do not give any of your focus or energy to the people watching. Put every last corner of your mind to your music so that there isn't even a smidgen of focus or energy left to put towards the stage fright or even worrying about what the audience is doing. In fact, if you do this correctly, your awareness of the audience will go away completely! If any part of your mind is even aware that the audience is there, then you are distracted and that is going to (of course) cause mistakes! Don't get distracted! All that exists is the music! It takes practice to get good at this skill, you may not be able to do it the first time. But if you keep at it, then you will find that you will go on stage, acknowledge the audience (as is proper), forget that they exist as you play (don't even look at them! It's like an actor playing a part, he can't be glancing out at the audience every two seconds. They don't even exist! Only you and your fellow musicians are there as far as you are concerned), and then you will acknowledge them at the end. Also, practice performing by playing at retirement homes! They are a fantastic place to practice these skills. Those people are rarely very critical AT ALL (in fact, they're usually very appreciative to have anyone at all come and play), and half of them can't hear you that well and might even fall asleep halfway through anyways. Not to mention you're providing a very good service to the community. Those people love to have visitors and don't have the absolute highest of expectations to begin with (they often will get little 6 year old beginners come and play, and although it's cute, they really do appreciate someone who can play something more difficult than "The Crawling Catterpillar" even with mistakes). When you've practiced the right skills and get good at them, then you'll find that it will be very little differenceto go from playing in front of your friends and family, to playing on the side of the street, to playing at the concert hall at the local university, to playing at a sold-out concert on tour, to playing at carnegie hall, to playing in front of a television audience of millions. The skills apply in the same way!

Oh, and I almost forgot, learn to give an actual fair assessment of your performance and abilities. Whatever you tell yourself is what you will believe, and what you believe is what will become your reality! Notice how professionals NEVER come out of a performance saying,"Oh I suck! That was horrible! I made a mistake at this place and on this song! I'm so embarrassed! Blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc."? That isn't just a habit that they developed when they felt they were "there", it's usually something that they always did. It's called confidence, and you need to develop it in yourself! If you practice being a failure (even in what you say) then you'll get really good at being a failure and you will always be a failure. If you practice being a winner who believes in himself/herself then that is what you'll get good at! There is no place for failure mentality in a professional. Whatever you believe WILL become your reality! But, even if you are telling yourself inwardly that you never make mistakes and that you play perfectly and that you are very good, don't say it out loud to others! You don't want to come across as an arrogant jerk either. This is the secret of a professional. You need to be able to be as positive as possible in your mind and always tell yourself positive things (and only give yourself criticism that is helpful. So, never say"I suck", but be willing to recognize "I need to make that one passage cleaner and more even". Notice that the criticism was constructive, but not negative? Never be down on yourself, but be a perfectionist and don't settle for second-best!), but you also need to avoid coming across as arrogant TO OTHERS. Be totally humble but confident to others, but be OVERLY positive to yourself while always improving and growing. That's the secret. A person who can do all this will do very well.