[Menvi-discuss] mental aspects of playing/performing

[Chris Smart]

Hi folks.

For those of you who perform, or just get anxious if you know 
anybody can hear you, even when practicing, how do you deal with it?

I'm doing some daily deep breathing exercises and trying to just 
adopt an attitude of it not mattering so much if I hit a wrong 
note, but that is easier said than done.

I got a chance to jam with Larry Carlton last month at a master 
class, and while it was a positive experience, I was so worked up 
it felt like I was listening to someone else play, like, observing 
myself, not able to really hear what was going on. I don't mean 
that in a good sense, as in, wow, I was so into the music I blocked 
out distractions. I mean that I was so up tight I wasn't present at 
all!

I realize that we are our own worst critics, and that we hear lots 
of things the audience neither notices nor cares about, but that 
doesn't seem to actually help my state of mind when playing.

Do any of you have any strategies for coping with this sort of 
internal tention that actually work for you?

Connected to this is perhaps a controvercial question, but I'll ask 
it anyway. Beta blockers ... good or bad?

Thanks for any insights,

Chris
P.S. One thing I read in a book recently stated that hey, we're not 
performing brain surgery or piloting a plain. Nobody dies if we 
mess up. *laugh*
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