STAGE FRIGHT
Written by Jesse Tollestrup
Stage fright. It gets us all. Even our teachers.
To help better prepare your child for their upcoming shows, we sat down with our team to get their tips and tricks as to how they deal with their own stage fright and how your child can actually use their stage fright to make themselves better musicians.
Get READY...
The single most important part of getting ready to perform? Practice!
All of our teachers agree that the real work happens in the weeks leading up to the show. Ella recounts her drama teacher’s words: “The performance isn’t the work. The practice, the prep, the rehearsal is the work. The performance is celebrating all that work.” JD compares the process of practicing to sports: “Athletes practice the same drills over and over until it becomes muscle memory so that, come game time, they don’t even need to think about it. Do the same thing with your performance song.” Fran and JD both agree that you shouldn’t just prepare for your performance - you should overprepare. JD says, “If you think you’re prepared, be more prepared. If you think you practiced enough, go practice some more.”
However, there is no one right way to be ‘overprepared’. “Being prepared is different for everyone. Everyone’s version of that looks so different,” says Ella, who likes to practice recalling the song separately from playing the song.
"Anytime I’m on a bus or in a car - anytime I’m doing something where I can let my brain wander, I’ll play the song in my head. I’ll hear each individual part in my head.” Jesse, on the other hand, prepares the moments before the performance: “Practice what it will be like to walk up to the stage and get set with your instrument, whether that’s plugging it in or adjusting a piano bench. Practice taking your time to get comfortable and taking a deep breath before you start to play.”
"Play for people who can't say anything [like your pets] before you try playing for other people."
- KYLE
Other teachers like Fran recommend practicing the performance itself: “Perform a lot. Perform in front of your parents. Perform in front of your friends. Because the first time you do it, you’ll be the most nervous, and it gets easier every time after that.” If even the thought of performing for your parents feels scary, try out Kyle’s advice: “Play for people who can’t say anything before you try playing for other people. Try playing for baby siblings, or playing for your pets, or playing for your stuffed animals.”
While overpreparing is helpful, it’s still possible to overdo it. “I don’t practice [the performance piece] the day before or the day of the show,” says David. “That is when I keep my energy for the actual concert. What I’ll do instead is warm-up routines.”
We know you’re busy, and finding time to practice can be tough. For more tips on making your own custom practice routine, check out this article.
GET SET...
You’ve already done the hardest part: preparing. Now, it’s time to get into the right headspace.
Our teachers agree that headspace isn’t something you find so much as something you cultivate. Anna, David, and Will all find their headspace by taking time to reflect or meditate. “When I’m feeling anxious about performing, I’ll remind myself why I’m doing it, which is usually to have fun or to push myself as a musician,” says Anna. “I’ll do this either in conversation with a friend, in my own head, or by writing it down.” Will’s approach is to take the time to visualize what performing will be like: “I’ll have a shower right before the show and not have any podcasts on or anything and just envision what I have to do….so I have like, a meditative shower” David also likes to visualize the performance, but he’s careful about when he does so: “If I start the day before the show then I’m gonna feel anxious for a whole day and that doesn’t help anyone. One hour, two hours before is when I visualize.”
"But the problem is when you think there’s something wrong with you because you’re nervous. Of course you’re going to be nervous - you’re performing!”
- RYAN
Part of a good headspace is feeling good in your body. “When I get nervous, I subconsciously start getting smaller and my breathing gets shallow,” says Jesse. “When I notice that happening, I’ll stand more confidently with my hands on my hips and take some slow, deep belly breaths.” For David performance nerves show up as a change in body temperature. “My body gets really cold when it knows it’s going to perform for some reason. So, I always feel like it’s good to keep my hands warm, otherwise the first song is going to sound really stiff.” Everyone experiences nerves differently, and fine-tuning your own personal strategy is an ongoing journey. Making sure your body’s basic physical needs are being met is a great place to start. For Finn, this looks like making sure he’s properly hydrated. Finn also warms up with some very slow major scales. Finding the right headspace doesn’t have to be complicated - the important part is finding what pre-show rituals work best for you.
No matter how good your headspace is, you’ll probably still be nervous…and
that’s normal! “I try to reframe the nervousness as being excited, and that helps a little bit,” says Ryan, “But the problem is when you think there’s something wrong with you because you’re nervous. Of course you’re going to be nervous - you’re performing!"
BUT WAIT! What if I make a mistake?
It turns out mistakes aren’t a big deal. “The audience does not care whether or not you make a mistake,” says Keanna. “What they care about is the fact that you’re playing an instrument and that’s awesome to them.” Not only that, but Backbeat audiences are some of the most supportive you’ll find. “This is an audience of people who love and care about you,” says Ella. “Even if you make a mistake, nothing bad is going to happen.”
Not only are mistakes no big deal, they’re inevitable. The trick is to keep playing and pretend it didn’t happen. “Just keep playing when you make a mistake,” says Izzy. “It’s a little secret between you and your teacher. No one else needs to know.” “Unless,” Fran adds, “you stop. If you just keep going, 99% of the audience are gonna have no idea anything happened”
Know what’s more important than being perfect? Having fun! “Mistakes are okay and sometimes something good comes out of the mistake. Energy is more important than making a mistake,” says Will. “It’s more important to have fun on stage than to give a perfect representation of the song.”
Anna agrees with this sentiment, saying “If you are more focused on being present doing something you love over having a perfect performance, that will shine through”
“This is an audience of people who love and care about you. Even if you make a mistake, nothing bad is going to happen.”
- ELLA
...GO!
You’ve prepared - perhaps even overprepared. You’ve visualized. You’ve breathed. Now, all that’s left is to trust in yourself and your loved ones. “When I’m about to go on stage and I’m a little bit nervous, I trust that I did the work previously,” says Margret. “I practiced, I did my lessons, I trust that my teacher helped me out to prepare for this performance. I remind myself that I put in the work and no matter what’s gonna happen I’m gonna have fun, and the people who are here to watch and support you will love you no matter what.”
Here at Backbeat, we have three big shows coming up: the Canned Music Rock Show for Rock Bands on November 23rd, Backbeat Unplugged for some of our singer/songwriter students on November 28th, and the (Un)Silent Night Rock Show for private students on December 6th & 7th.
Our team is here to help you so that you can feel confident and excited to perform. Whether this is your first performance or your fiftieth, we’ve got your back. We can’t wait to see you do your thing on stage.
