Decreasing the Nerves

I had a little girl (I think she's 11 or 12) over today who experiences stage fright. She's fine at home in front of family members. But there's something about singing in front of me, as well as singing in choir at school.

So we decided to invite her mom in to sit in on one of the songs we were working on. I wanted her to get used to performing in front of a mix of people. Her mother was a less threatening audience than just me. At first, my student's heart was pounding out of her chest. So we did the visual we'd talked about the prior week.

Her rapid heartbeat was represented by bumps in the road that she was riding over. We changed the visual to waves in the road. The waves would get more shallow as time went on. Finally, we were on a flat road. Combined with slow breaths to make her calmer, she was then able to sing without shaking.

Positive self-talk is also very important for nerve and fear reduction. We begin each session by reminding her that the audience loves her, has come to see her, and knows she has a talent. They are looking to her to fill a need that they know she can fill. She owns the stage. Then she can get into feeling the song. Feeling the song helps it come out more naturally.

Stage fright is something I specialize in. The power of the brain is extreme. We can trick one part of the brain into believing something else. This is particularly useful in attacking stage fright, as well as many limitations in our lives. Engaging the brain in different ways has helped my students calm their nerves, sing with more power, attack higher notes, and improve their pitch.