Performance anxiety

Most piano teachers encourage their students to perform as regularly as possible, but how many of us give our students strategies for coping with performance anxiety?

We’ve all seen students who were perfectly prepared for a recital or exam, simply crumble on the day. It wasn’t a lack of ability, or drive, but simply that performance anxiety got to them.

Some nerves are to be expected for any big performance, but we need to stop nerves from turning into anxiety. This is where Dr Noa Kageyama comes in. Noa runs a fantastic blog, The Bulletproof Musician, about performance anxiety and performing at your best.

I’m so excited to have Noa on the show today, and I know you’ll all get a lot out of his expertise and insights into the “mind game” of music performance.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why teaching performing skills should be a part of your piano teaching
• Visualisation exercises you can do even with your youngest students
• How to turn off self-criticism when performing
• How you can help your students to focus during their performance
• What diaphragmatic breathing is and why you should be teaching it
• How to practice the lead up to a performance

Items mentioned in this podcast:

• The Bulletproof Musician
• Beyond Practicing Course
• Why Practicing While Distracted Is Actually Very Important (Sometimes)
  
• A Simple Technique to Prevent Choking Under Pressure
• Your Brain Isn’t Wired for Consistency
• Make it Stick the Science of Successful Learning

Thank you for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, and I’m grateful that you’ve chosen mine.

Being a full-time teacher myself, I know how busy teachers are and how much time, effort and passion we put into our students. Sometimes, the last thing we want to do in our time off is listen to more piano teaching stuff! So, well done for using this time for self-improvement.

Whether you’re at the gym, on the bike or in the car, I know that you and your students will get lots out of what you learn in the long run. Just make sure you try out some of the ideas before they get lost in the business of your next lessons.

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How do you help your students cope with performing?

Do you have any other strategies that Noa didn’t mention? Something that has helped you in your own performances?