Many regular visitors to this blog will already be aware of my fascination with the science of performance. What makes us tick as professional and amateur musicians, artists, dancers, actors, public speakers; in fact, any type of performer. My area of concentration is the performance of classical music at a very high level.  I want to know why some people never become particularly proficient and why others conquer the world. What is talent? How much does hard work play a part? What is a good way to hone skills? I try to look at every aspect of what it takes to understand how to get better, make things ever more efficient, and find ways to both fully enjoy and maximise performance.

Why?

Mainly to help my small ‘stable’ of enthusiastic students, to improve my own game and because this is a subject which genuinely fascinates me as a hobby. I read as much as I can about these subjects and correspond and take an interest in the work of many experts in related fields. One such expert I particularly respect is the Chicago Psychotherapist, Dr. Gerald Stein.

Dr. Stein has some fascinating insights and observations to share on performance anxiety. He is personally acquainted with some of the world’s greatest brass players and takes an interest on why they are so confident and also, sadly, why other players aren’t. This is an area of particular interest to me. Just imagine if we could harness and nurture all that talent that has been lost to nervousness. Many great players have been lost to this most unfortunate affliction. Any way, enough said: allow me to pass you over to a man who knows more than most on this most difficult topic…

Dr. Gerald Stein 

“… We cannot escape the press of worldly events, expectations, and anxieties — the noise, the computers and the pressure to be the best. Indeed, to talk about the drivenness of the world only adds to the inescapable tension. Too many of us feel like a child’s old-style wind-up toy, impelled along a track we did not choose until finally we stop moving at day’s end, awaiting the next morning’s rat-race and another twist of the key to the clockwork motor. The world wins, stress wins, and we lose. And performers lose especially, by the anxiety that precedes and impedes their performance.” CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE…

MORE ADVICE FROM DR. GERALD STEIN ON CONQUERING STAGE FRIGHT