 I just finished reading Playing Scared: A History and Memoir of Stage Fright by Sara Solovitch, which was a recommendation of Jon Racherbaumer in a recent Genii column of his.
While the book was about Sara's struggle with stage fright and performance anxiety in the world of piano, so many of its lessons apply directly to all other performance fields (including magic!) and public speaking in general. While over the years I have gained confidence with public speaking, I still struggle with fright before artistic performances. This is something I want to work on, which is why I picked up this book. I found it enjoyable to read and liked the way Sara described her journey and all the things she did and all the gurus she sought out and learned from. I got a lot of concrete techniques to try and concepts to keep in mind, and this book makes me feel like I'm certainly not alone in trying to improve in this regard. 1 agony of my ecstasy Personal story of fright playing piano in competitions 2 blinded by the light Beta blockers Power of anxiety Famous cases of stage fright Moses Actors 3 touching a tarantula Worked with private coach and practiced hours per day Group piano class U can't be fearless, only panic-less Fear is excitement without breath Breathe Design your own exposure therapy Confront an audience Scheduled solo recital a year in advance to give herself year to prepare Round of inoculations Performed in hospitals and retirement homes 9 day piano camp Signed up for master classes where could perform in front of others and be critiqued Routinely drop by major airport to perform at piano Organized series of informal evening soirees of music and wine for small groups of friends and some famous local pianists Solo recital at public library Then bigger solo recital at a public hall 4 are you my guru? Grueling teacher of Russian school Each lesson focused on minute detail Kept Practice log When you practice you are like a scientist When you perform it is only for yourself Exercises to keep rolling wrists to remove tension and keep relaxation so can be like cat and at the ready to pounce Searching in systematic way for right teacher, auditioning several in driving distance Going deeply into each piece, learning all its secrets So much work into the details Every phrase up for analysis Playing on San Jose airport piano Tag team playing with teacher and children Playing on bad pianos in bad places just to practice 5 massaging the octopus Reprogramming one’s response to stress Skype weekly meetings Practicing is like eating: you have to do it every day instead of one big meal Written practice logs 5 hour daily practice logs Record and critique your play daily and really listen Find center and sense of calm Personal affirmation written Do something daily outside comfort zone Piano camp for 8 days Focus on the good things Loosen mouth Play from the heart Breathe Fear is a natural reaction to moving towards the truth Master sushi chef massages octopus for 40 minutes 6 revenge of the amygdala Does fear create running or vice versa Action precedes consciousness We are sad because we cry Takes 12ms for amygdala to respond Link between fear and memory Fear learning is laid down elsewhere than higher level abstract learning Stored somewhere more instinctive The stronger the emotional response the stronger we remember Beta blockers and exposure training counteracts Graduated exposure Memories altered as viewed each time Diffuses memories through exposure Propanalol / indural stops the physical response Propanolol blocks the memory forming effect of Traumatic/emotional experiences Banned as doping in sports 7 mind games Mindfulness Biofeedback biowave Meditation practice Iyengar Hatha yoga Stop exercises while playing and considering what emotion ur feeling at all times Meditation at piano Can change our own brains through mental activity Describe personal dramatic event in third person to allow yourself to process it better and feel compassion for self Like meditation, speaking in the third person allows you to observe yourself in a healthy way 8 me and my shadow Psychiatrist Not feeling worthy of success Archetype of outcast Deintegrative and reintegrative experiences Practice each hand separately No such thing as natural prodigy Make the piano yours not your mother’s 9 so much for perfection Practicing 8 to 10 hours per day Perfectionism leads to problems Create your own audience internally that is loving Design for tolerance for error 10 umm umm Stage fright survival school in Virginia Slow belly breathing Toastmasters Greet audience before speech Arrive early and get comfortable in room 11 cultural artifacts of fear Ultra orthodox community prayer fears Cultures express themselves in disorders 12 game plans Baseball player psyched out and made errors Overthinking Paralysis by analysis Clench left hand activates right hemisphere (and lowers left hemisphere overthinking) and improves performance Conjure image of perfect shot 13 test drive Sports psychologist Need to switch to right brain The more ambidextrous the higher iq Center before event Focused yet relaxed Life is not a discovery but a creation You can do anything you set your mind to Pre performance ritual 14 finale Communicate your love for your music. play what you love.
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