Mind Over Matter
A Handbook for Musicians to help you overcome Performance Anxiety
by
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Imagine being very confident, relaxed and really alert next time you stand up on the stage or enter the exam room. Is this too outrageous to think about? Well this book will help you to achieve that.
Stop for a moment and really imagine how it would be if you were already in control of your performance nerves and you are doing your concert, completely at ease and in fact feeling as if this performance was merely routine.
How would you be feeling?
What kinds of things would you be saying to yourself?
How would you be standing or sitting?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to actually be that confident, relaxed musician you dream of being? If you practice these techniques you will become what you practice. Believe it or not, many of the skills you will need to develop the new confident you, you already have.
Giving the brain strong positive images of success will program it to think in these terms and makes success more likely. Unfortunately we learn much more quickly from our mistakes than from our successes, but we can unlearn the attitudes and behaviours we so quickly acquire. So many of us have practiced the opposite of confidence. We have worried that we are not quite the performer we hope to be and in this way we set ourselves up for a fall. We have felt unresourceful and scared when it is time to commit ourselves to the exam or audition and we automatically feel bad. Well, don’t underestimate the power of the mind.
Walt Disney famously said,’ If you can dream it, you can do it’.
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About the Book
Performance Anxiety can affect most musicians at one time or another. Pre-performance butterflies in the tummy may be unpleasant but they can give an important edge to a performance. Some players hover around the fringes of anxiety, but it is when we cannot make the switch from anxiety to excitement that the problems begin.
It's not your fault that you get very nervous before performing to others. It is the natural way your brain programmes its information. By changing that information in the unconscious mind you will be able to make the switch so that you are calm and in control next time you perform. By using the techniques in this book, you will learn to relax and take things as if they are completely routine. You will develop new ways of thinking and behaving that will guarantee your success.
Whilst this book is aimed at the adult performer, there are some thoughts included for the younger pupils to learn how to keep calm and relaxed before any big events.
About the Author
Susan Whykes has an MA in Psychology for Musicians with Sheffield University. Part of the degree course was spent researching into aspects of Performance Anxiety. This raised many questions but found few solutions. Whilst working as a full-time music teacher and Tutor Mentor with Essex Music Services she has identified techniques used in sports pyschology and other sources of life enrichment and has used them to great benefit with her pupils and peers.