Confident Music Performance: Fix the Fear of Facing an Audience

Ruth Bonetti (author)

Words & Music, Australia: 2003; 171pp

ISBN: 0957886160

Genre: music

Issues: confidence, nerves

Ruth Bonetti has spent more than thirty years as a professional musician, teacher and speaker. Her series, Taking Centre Stage offers sound advice for children and adults who are trying to deal with the negative impact stress and nervousness has on their performance.

This book is concerned with the many and varied ways in which nerves affect the musical performer. She examines the problem itself - performance nerves - and the complex reasons that underlie stage fright. In later chapters Bonetti gives very specific suggestions and exercises that should allow even the most nerve-wracked musician to develop their confidence in performing well. Having consulted a wide cross-section of musicians and applied her own experience, Bonetti outlines those strategies that have been most successful for other performers who have struggled with stage fright.

She emphasises the value of practice and preparation, certainly, but also suggests sleep strategies, what to eat and drink prior to a performance, how to cope with that appallingly frequent need to urinate, the importance of good breathing (including reference to the Alexander Technique), regular exercise, meditation, biofeedback, kinesiology, mental imaging and many other strategies.

The very specific advice and clear explanations are a boon after years of being told to ‘stay calm' without being told how, of being told ‘you'll bee fine' by people who don't have to perform themselves. Adults and teachers with nervous students should read this if they are to have a sufficiently wide variety of strategies to offer young musicians, preferably before their performance nerves counterbalance their natural ability.

Other Titles: Don't Freak Out, Speak Out: public speaking with confidence; Practice is a Dirty Word: how to clean up your act; Taking Centre Stage