Everything’s going so well – the music’s flowing and it’s a joy to be playing. Then, suddenly – it happens.
Out of nowhere, you mess something up.
You’re thrown rudely out of the present moment and your mind gets stuck in the past.
On that mistake.
All the earlier enjoyment is gone in an instant. More mistakes follow as your mind is unsettled and distracted.
Have you ever had a gig where you found it easy to lose yourself in the music? Maybe it was just a short section of one tune. Concentration was effortless. External distractions faded into the background. Self-criticism and self-doubt were strangely absent as your focus was entirely on the music.
How did you feel that performance went? How much did you enjoy it?
Chances are that your answers are very positive in both cases.
Does this sound at all familiar? You’re up on stage performing something you know you’re capable of playing well. But, tonight, it seems as though it’s not quite there.
You’re hanging on so far, but it feels as though things might fall apart at any point.
You’re not going to let this happen.
You focus harder. You TRY harder. It doesn’t help.
In fact, it’s almost as though it’s making it worse…
How many times have you passed up an opportunity because you weren’t sure you were good enough?
You didn’t get up to play at a jam session once you heard how “good” the other players were. Or you missed the chance to really put yourself forward for a possible gig and found yourself talking down your abilities instead.
Or maybe you went and did it, but spent the whole time worrying that you weren’t good enough. Constantly wondering what the other musicians and the audience thought of you.
It’s your big moment. So much rests on the next few minutes. You can feel your heart pounding. Your palms sweating. Your legs shaking. Your thoughts racing.
Performance anxiety strikes once again. And it’s not helping…
Huge numbers of musicians find themselves in this situation. Far too many of them react in the wrong way.