"This week, I want you to practice performing." My students have been hearing me say this throughout the week, in preparation for my studio's winter recital on Sunday. We only have one shot on stage to weave our magic for the audience. Many musicians can attest to nailing their songs in the practice room, only to have everything fall apart on stage.
The secret is to practice performing. One must play through the song(s) in a performance setting, where you can get that heart pounding, feel the weight of all eyes on you and play through distractions. Some tricks I've learned along the way:
perform often: the more you perform, the more used you get to the stress and the easier it gets
cajole your family and friends to be a guinea pig audience - have them be a model audience one time and a disruptive one the next run-through
know your repertoire really well
visualization: visualize the setting, yourself playing well, yourself successfully navigating through a stumble, memory glitch
breathing techniques
put Maestro to work: Sometimes, I allow Maestro to provide distractions for the students to perform through. His favourite techniques include surrounding the student with toys, hopping on the bench and singing along.
Here are some cool articles on performance anxiety/jitters:
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