Between The Lines Music

...And how we might avoid it altogether in our students! Stage-fright, nerves, performance anxiety - call it what you will, it's a frustrating and sometimes paralyzing obstacle to making music in front of people, sometimes even your music teacher! We've all experienced it in some form, at some time, and while it's certainly no fun, a certain level of anxiety about performing can be a tool for motivating us to practice. But we all, as students, parents, teachers and performers, need to develop strategies to deal with it, and sometimes, to avoid inadvertently creating it. As performance opportunities arise, like festivals, recitals, jam sessions and so on, I often hear parents asking their kids: "Are you nervous about the recital (or whatever)?" Most people, if asked in that language, will respond in the affirmative: "A little," "Yes," etc. I try to coach parents into asking more neutral questions, like "There's a recital coming...