Notes from the Harp
Issue #15 June 2010

Welcome to Notes from the Harp!

This issue features an article about using learning styles to help learn to play the harp. Besides that, Kathryn is back with an article about overcoming stage fright. (And yes, she did earn her chocolate last time, though I still haven't found those coconut M&Ms. Nonetheless, I sent lots of goodies to her in Germany).

Finally, I share the advice I sent to a student after she experienced a rocky performance.

I hope you enjoy this issue. Make a cup of tea and settle in for a nice read.

Please feel free to forward this newsletter to any friends or family members who will enjoy it.

View this and other issues of this newsletter on the web with complete color and graphics.

If someone forwarded this issue of Notes from the Harp to you, please subscribe here.

In This Issue:

Article
Learning Styles for Learning Music

Guest Article
How Can I Perform When I'm Consumed by Stage Fright?
By Kathryn Zevenbergen

Q & A
Taming the Inner Critic

Special Announcement
Share Your Own Tips and Insights on My Harp's Delight!

Now that you're back, answer the following questions:

Did you imagine your arms moving up and down the harp from one register to the next?

Did you imagine the feel of the strings under your fingers?

Did you imagine the music sounding just the way you wanted it to?

Did you imagine the look of your hands on the harp strings?

Of course, you may have done more than one of these things, but which one was the primary experience?

If you answered your biggest yes to the first question, your primary learning modality is kinesthetic. You learn best by doing, and you love movement and dance. At a harp lesson, you usually start trying to play a new pattern before your teacher is even done demonstrating or explaining it. You don’t mind repeating things to learn them, but once things are “in your hands” you have trouble changing them.

Keep reading . . .

Stage fright is perhaps one of the hardest things for musicians to deal with. They dread the shortness of breath, sweaty hands, dry mouth, weak knees, memory slips, and shaking that come with a crowd. Learning how to deal with this is an art, and takes time, experience, and discipline. But it is possible, and learning to leave most of your nerves behind will make performance enjoyable, instead of terrifying.

With stage fright, preparation is very important. I advocate doing as much of your practicing as you can as early as possible. Know your pieces so well that you wake yourself up at night singing them. Learn them in as many different ways as possible, so that if one type of memory slips, you have another to rely on. The day before the performance, don’t practice the entire day. Look at the spots you think you might struggle with, and play through sections, not the entire pieces. End your practice session on a positive note: after you just played something really well, or after you pulled out one of those cheesy books with CD accompaniment of movie music that we all secretly love but won’t admit. End your practice session with a reminder of why you love your instrument.

The day of the concert don’t practice (unless you have a rehearsal that requires it or something of that nature). Spend the day distracting yourself: read a good book, eat pineapple, go hiking. Do your normal warm up, make sure your instrument is in tune and working well. That’s it. I’ve found that practicing before a concert when I’m nervous makes me second guess myself. Don’t walk onto the stage thinking ‘the last time I played that passage was twenty minutes ago, and I messed it up’. That isn’t a comforting feeling. Leave yourself plenty of time to put on your performance clothes, get to the performance venue, and put together or tune your instrument. Rushing adds a level of needless nerves. A few minutes before the concert, use the bathroom. I know, I sound like your mother before a long car trip when you were sick, but even if you don’t have to go, try. The worst feeling in the world is realizing you REALLY have to pee, and have a two hour concert to play before you can.

Now, how to deal with all the annoying little symptoms of nerves. For your hands: hand warmers or gloves if they’re usually cold, a little towel if they’re too moist. Have a water bottle, because even if you don’t play a wind instrument, dry mouth hurts. Make sure you’ve eaten and stayed hydrated the day of the concert so that hopefully your knees aren’t too week. There is an homeopathic product on the market called “Rescue Remedy”. I find that putting a few drops of this in my water bottle can help keep me calm.

The psychological part of stage fright is probably worse than the physical part for most people, and arguably controls the physical symptoms. When you feel your body tensing, take ten deep breaths. Remind yourself why you are there. Hopefully you’re performing because you want to. Remember that you love your instrument, you love the music, and that you’re there to share it with people. Also remember that the people don’t want to make you nervous, and don’t want you to screw up. Hard as it is to believe, the audience is actually on your side. I write myself notes in my horn case. This sounds cheesy, but when I put together my instrument, it is sometimes comforting to see something that reminds me that performance is actually something I love. Have a close friend or teacher write an encouraging note. When someone gives you a compliment, write it down and stick it in your case. You aren’t exercising your ego, just reminding yourself that no matter what you believe last minute, you actually are a good musician.

In my opinion, the most important aspect of overcoming performance anxiety is practice. Not instrument practice, performance practice. The more experienced you become at taking the stage, the easier it will become. Unfortunately, this experience only comes through actual experience, so you have to basically take the plunge and then learn how to swim. Play for your family, play for your friends. Play for anyone who you can, because not only do you get used to playing in front of people, you learn how your body reacts, and how best to deal with it. You’ll have some performances you look back on and cringe. That’s good. You learn from them, and they build the experience that will help you become comfortable playing publicly.

One last thing: when you walk on stage, smile. If you act like you’re having fun, you’ll start to believe it, and the audience will believe it too. After all, isn’t fun the point?

Recently, one of my Skype students experienced performing a concert where nothing seemed to go right. She started making mistakes and had a hard time recovering. She says,"my inner critic stuck and rode me hard. 'You practiced this, you know this piece – pay attention.' But my fingers continued to stumble. I need new tools that include being encouraging when I get into this kind of predicament. It’s just that I’m not quite sure of what I do need in my toolbox."

In the hopes that it will help YOU, too, here is what I told her . . .

Congratulations! Yep, I said "Congratulations!" You did something that scared you, you made it through, and you are looking for ways to do it better. Kudos!

Two things to think about:
1)Readiness/Performance Cirumstances
2)That Inner Critic

Let's take the second one, first. I find it helps to "park" the 'ol IC before a performance. Stick it in a jar, on a shelf in your mind. Tell it it can come out later--like the next day--to help evaluate, but right now you need your Magical Child instead (you know, that playful one, who just tries something different if things go awry. And they always do--that is life).

What would the MC do when a mistake happened? Laugh? Go off on a new tangent? Try again? I have seen real pro musicians stop, say, "Oops, that isn't how we want to start," get the audience to laugh, and start fresh. The world didn't end.

Before you start, think of the music. I don't just mean the notes--I mean that wave of music you are about to surf because you love it and you want other people to love it, too. Wait for the wave of love/music and catch it.

When the mistake happens, think of the music. Feel the wave in your awareness. Don't try to shut off your awareness of your shaking fingers or the note you just played, just expand your mind to include the music, and keep breathing. Play something your know inside and out and follow it with your full attention. Don't let yourself think about what's coming, just about what's coming through your heart and fingers right now. It's a constant practice.

Now, about readiness. Don't play the new piece unless you feel completely confident--perhaps you've played it for strangers in a less scary setting already, or you've recorded it, or otherwise tested its ripeness. Then, keep assessing that during the performance. If you struggle on the old faves, scratch the new piece off your list. If you run out of old faves or even they are seeming rocky, give yourself permission to do something really really easy. Improvise! You can play a 5-minute improv in Mixolydian mode, say, and the audience will love it, and you can regroup. Or how about a slow, sultry version of Amazing Grace or Danny Boy? Lots of rubato, lots of improv, lots of heart (and tears in the audience).

Performance circumstances are those things you have a fair amount of control over. For example, after my first cringe-worthy performance, I figured out that I would be better off performing with a collaborator. After I did that for awhile, I was much more confident about playing solo. (Some people might start by playing background music, until they're comfortable enough to be "in the spotlight". Others might be fine playing for nursing home residents or weddings, but not for concert-goers. Some prefer playing for very small audiences until they find they can focus on a few people no matter what the size of the crowd. Think about what you can do to make performing more comfortable, and do that until you're ready to take the scarier step).

So, again, Congratulations! Tell that Inner Critic to help you strategize for future performances and give it notice that it will be waiting them out offstage.

Everyday, I receive emails from people all over the world thanking me for the rich resources and encouragement I've provided on My Harp's Delight. Now there's a way you can add content of your own, comment on each others' ideas, and help spread the love of all things harp.

The Tips & Techniques page, long your hub for all the goodies on the site that help you play the harp with more ease and flair, it's now interactive! It's easy to add your own tips or comments to the page with the built-in form. Please try it today! I'll be there, too, commenting and cheering you on, as always.

Share your tips and tricks here

All content by Susan Zevenbergen, Copyright 2010.

If you'd like to forward this e-zine to a friend, please feel free to do so, provided you send it in its entirety.