How Do You Handle Butterflies?

[LVR]

Ah yes, the hands shaking at the start of the lesson. Two or three possible helpful hints:
1) What the Lizard said - Warm up right before. If you can find a place to warm up that's quite close to your lesson, even better. In good weather, a folding seat and music stand (and some clothespins) carried in your car makes any parking lot a warm-up space.
2) Ask your teacher if you may play a warm-up piece before playing the challenging new material right there at the lesson. This is remarkably effective.
3) This does get better with time but for me it was more measured in years than months. Be patient with yourself.

[David Lane]

Hi,

I played professionally for just over ten years. If it's any consolation to you, I was far more anxious and nervous playing to 1 person than I was performing in front of 500. When you are taking lessons you are trusting your teacher with your heart and soul. I know my nervousness came from openning myself up to critizism. This was z very very difficult thing for me to do. Nervousness was just part of the natural progression and it kinda became a forgotten emotion over time. If I remember my feelings I think the nervousness was eventually replaced by excitement. Also the more prepared I was the less stress I had. Hope this helps.

[henders]

Watching myself write this, I have to think that I could not have done a better job stacking the cards against myself if I had done it by design.............

I won't be late next week.

Bailey

Whoa, try to relax! This is supposed to be fun, remember? I would say if this is causing you this much stress, maybe you need to try working with another teacher and see if things are any different. It really should not be this stressful in a learning situation. Yes, maybe a little tension at first, but shaking hands after six months with this teacher? Instructor should be addressing this with you. Instruction in music is similar to instruction in language from my experience. The good teachers understand that there is an affective element that needs to be addressed for optimum learning to take place. Stephen Krashen described the "affective filter" that inhibits language acquisition. My other thought is that you could be attempting pieces that are beyond your level. If you are playing intermediate level pieces at 6 mos, then this could be the issue. Yes, you may be able to walk the tightrope while juggling five bowling pins when alone in your bedroom. Barely. But once any pressure is added, it falls apart. I've been playing CG for 15 years and only in the last few years would I be able to confidently say that I am at an intermediate level in my playing. It's a long road out of hell, as Meatloaf once said. Wait, did he say that? Anyway, good luck!

[mikoguitar78]

I would advise two things: first one, have those butterflies BEFORE you get on stage or in front of your teacher. I think any player is nervous before playing, usually I'm in panic mode two days before, and then my mind is kind of exhausted and when I get to playing butterflies are gone. Second one, don't try to control everything and remember that perfection doesn't exist. You will always have some finger slipping or missing a note. You will always have some strange thoughts like "oh, this guy in front of me seems to be sleeping" or "where am I?". The trick is to let it go and come back to the present, to the music very quickly. Then, the more you play in front of poeple the more you'll be able to handle anything that might be happening.

[dogonjon]

Guilani's Butterflies?

[Jeffrey.C]

Eat a banana or two before playing. Bananas have natural beta-blockers in them.

[LVR]

Bananas have natural beta-blockers in them.

I cannot find any evidence for this statement. Foods high in potassium, such as bananas and oranges, are beneficial by themselves or used in conjunction with beta- blockers for improved cardiovascular function. All the references to "beta-blockers in bananas" are on musicians' forums. Can you provide a reference in the scientific literature?

[Jeffrey.C]

Nope.

I suppose I'm probably wrong on the natural beta-blocker thing but for whatever reason, bananas seem to be effective in reducing performance anxiety.

[BlueNo]

No, you're on the right track, but I think it's 5HT, a precursor of serotonin. In theory a mini Prozac, not a mini inderal. I'm guessing the dose realised would be very low and the effect essentially placebo, however.

I've tried to post this three times, but that solicitation for tapatalk or whatever app is messing with my machine again, could the moderator delete the previous wordy reply if it/they do show up?

Blueno

[LVR]

5-HT is serotonin. (not a precursor) The quality of bananas which promotes more serotonin secretion is the amino acid ratio: high tryptophan, low phenylalanine and leucine. They don't actually contain 5-HT.

Not everything one reads on the internet is factual. I suspect anything one believes regarding handling butterflies will work however, and I wish someone would come up with something for me to believe in; I could use it.

[Jstanley01]

The audience is there for a pleasant listening experience, not to suffer through a fight-to-the-death between the erstwhile performer and the composition. All too often, the latter scenario is what plays out.

Whenever I face chagrin for any kind of gaffe in the presence anyone, I always remind myself of Mr. Churchill:

"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

[LVR]

Whenever I face chagrin for any kind of gaffe in the presence anyone, I always remind myself of Mr. Churchill:

"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

I'm a little unclear about how this attitude helps you or anyone handle butterflies. Does this involve feeling that the audience is unimportant because they're somehow not as good as you? By the way, in the morning Churchill was only possibly sober, but definitely ugly.

[Jstanley01]

I'm a little unclear about how this attitude helps you or anyone handle butterflies. Does this involve feeling that the audience is unimportant because they're somehow not as good as you? By the way, in the morning Churchill was only possibly sober, but definitely ugly.

Gladly, importance and goodness are not joined at the hip. As for the cut of Mr. Churchill's jib, that is an insult to a hero "up with which I shall not put"...

[Dons]

I think that playing in public places like parks or the beach where there are lots of people around helps you get use to other people hearing your music. Play in front of your family and then work on increasing the circle of people that you are comfortable playing in front of. Also I think that playing in front of small groups can be helpful also.

[Bailey]

2) Truly believe that it is not about you; it is about the music (easy to say intellectually but ego is a tough monster). Tom

This has been extremely helpful.

At first, I could only intellectualize it, but over the past month I''ve gotten to the point where I can actually feel it. I can tell because when I'm playing now, I'm moving other parts of my body in conjunction with the music that I'm playing, like head movements, upper body, etc., which I never did before; it was strictly fingers only. I've found that the further I get into the music, the more the external things are shut out and this includes my perception of whether I'm as good as I want to be/think I should be (the ego monster). Last lesson, no shakes.

..........and I try to arrive more than 2 minutes ahead of my lesson now; that also helps a lot.

Bailey