2.3 Stage fright and the young instrumentalist

The rush of adrenalin that often accompanies public performance is not necessarily a bad thing. For many performers, a minor case of "nerves" helps them concentrate on the task at hand, blocking out distractions and leading to a performance that is more lively and more proficient than most of their practice sessions. The term stage fright is usually reserved for cases in which fear causes the musician to give a performance that is noticeably worse than they give in a practice, rehearsal, or teaching setting.

Avoiding the problem

Very, very few human fears are in-born. Fear of falling is an example of a fear that apparently does not need to be learned. The vast majority of fears, though, are learned responses. They are either learned from others (you are afraid of spiders because when you were three you saw someone react to a spider with fear), or learned from personal experience. So the good news is, there is no natural, innate tendency to fear performing in front of people.

The bad news is that, since fear can be useful for survival, it is a response that is learned very quickly and easily. A single bad experience is enough to cause a person to learn to fear a certain kind of situation. Since fear is much harder to unlearn than to learn, this is one situation where "an ounce of prevention" is much more useful than several pouinds of books on "overcoming your fears". So, if stage fright is not an issue with your child, your main concern is to see that it does not become one. Here are some helpful do's and don'ts:

Do:

• Strongly encourage your child to prepare adequately for each performance. Take whatever positive steps (rewards for practicing, encouragement, help with goal-setting and scheduling) are reasonable.
• When at all possible, work with teachers and directors who have a positive, non-threatening approach. Do not send your child to a teacher who is too harsh and critical for your child's temperament and abilities. You may want to switch to a demanding, critical teacher who is producing high-quality performers, but only after your child has developed the confidence and maturity necessary to deal with that teacher without fear.
• Attend all the concerts you reasonably can attend, and make positive true statements after each performance.
• Encourage a business-like approach to auditions and contests. For a student, auditions and contests are always mainly learning experiences . If they do well, that is great, but it is not the main point, ever. The main point is to learn, from feedback from the judges (always make sure someone picks up any feedback available from the judges) as well as simply practicing the experience of performing under pressure.
• With teachers and directors, help your child establish reasonable goals and expectations. If the main point of this audition is to practice auditioning so that it is not a scary procedure next year (when the child will have a better chance at doing well), make this clear to the child.
• With teachers and directors, try to ensure that every performance is within the child's present ability. The more succesful performances the child experiences, the less effect a bad experience will have.
• Acknowledge any negative reactions the child has (embarassment, disappointment) with calm, supportive sympathy.