Why You Should PERFORM MORE! Build Confidence & Overcome Performance Anxiety

[IainInLondon]

I play on public pianos whenever I can. I'm only a beginner, but playing and making mistakes in public is good at this early stage in my learning. Also, when I'm at home and on the phone with someone, I'll put it on speaker and give them a tune.

[TinyMaths]

Great topic. I've never played professionally (so I understand the pressures are way higher for professional performers), but have played in front of a lot of people, and not just as background music. My worst experience was when I was performing a duo with my cousin at a wedding in my earlier days of playing. Just piano and voice; the piano was rolled to the middle of the reception hall, where, at time of performance, a spotlight was shone upon it, and the hall lights were dimmed; I definitely hadn't practiced enough. I got confused because of the lighting and the unfamiliar position of the instrument, and a lack of familiarity with the instrument itself; I got completely lost in the middle of the song, tried to come back in, but never could, and had to sit out the second half of the song; just sat there at the piano like a lemon, in the spotlight, while my cousin graciously continued the song, Acapella, and everybody listened in silence.

There were about 300 people at that wedding reception; that was one of the most humilating moments I've ever experienced. I stopped performing publicly for 5 years straight after that; it really traumatized me. Years later, when I decided I wanted to deal with my nerves around playing in public, I started to go out and just play on public pianos here in London when street pianos started to become popular again (around 2012/13); that and pianos you could find in hospital Atriums or chapels, either after work, or during lunch breaks since I worked in hospitals; I also would go and play at the busy London Heathrow airport at the weekends, where you would have hundreds of people passing by over a given period, since I lived nearby, or the rare restaurant or pub that had a piano.

After a while I got used to people being around as I played; AND I got used to stumbling and being able to continue, without freaking out and clamming up. That really helped me to stop caring 'too much' about onlookers; One side effect was that I ended up making friends with a few people, musicians who were also there to play or practice; so I got to play in front of them a lot. Thanks to the internet I found out that even something as simple as a slight position change of the piano you're used to playing can really mess with your memory system, especially if you are anxious and nervous while you're playing. That's why I started to just play everywhere - to become what I would call 'piano independent'. It seemed to work.

[RonMantay]

Keep up the great work, Josh ! I'm mostly self-taught on piano, and find real value in the tutorials on your channel. As I improve, I'll keep adding more of my piano performances on my own YouTube Channel. It takes so long to earn piano skills; there are no short-cuts on the path to proficiency. Your tips on performing in public are super valuable; we need to get outside of comfort zone way more often ! Thanks so much !

[BraveSirRoland]

Constant performance also keeps the adrenaline rushes low when performing! If you only do it every once in awhile, then the adrenaline is so intense when you do perform that it’s hard to play your best. Becoming desensitized to playing for people is needed!

[Marthalingification]

Excellent advice, Josh! My mother always emphasized humility when I was a kid, and I relied completely on my teacher for performances. As a result, I have struggled with performance and audition anxiety on cello, and debilitating anxiety on piano which I was mostly self taught. Now I perform nightly and it's releasing, but I still get hung up on more difficult pieces.

[jspallino]

Suggestions for "setting up" for these mini performances? Do a walk up? Intro the piece? Pause right before first measure?

[colinyoungscot]

My teacher suggests having a practice diary. Taking note of when and where, what piece, how I felt after it, notes of any mistakes. I've started but as you say, need to do smaller audience performances.

[DoraHornung]

Hi Josh, thank You for your advice, I can agree with you and have similar experiences. I also realized that from these little performances I can learn a lot... 😀

[peterfennema]

Very helpful - thank you so much. I appreciate all of your videos.

[heden]

50 times. Wow. I played in front of my daughter the other day. I want to play a piece in church, but I'm afraid to. I'm trying to get up the nerve to say something. Thanks for the tips.

[bjornviir]

Josh, you have played piano for over 20 years, was it more exciting midway through that journey or now....surely at some stage you feel you have a good grasp and wonder if there is anything else over the rainbow...

[gaudetjaja]

I don't have many friends any more and most don't care about piano. Sometimes I'll post a video on facebook or something and that's about it.

[MewanPyngrope-fzqs]

Hello Mr.Josh.Could you please discuss about piano diplomas?And what should we do after grade 8 piano...

[vincent-ataramaniko]

I've performed multiple times live... But despite that I always manage to make a huge mistake or even have blanks, for example last time I had to start again a few measures before as I was completely lost. I have no idea how to overcome this and it worries me.