Climb the pressure ladder

I see it so often with so many performers; they spend the vast majority of their time sitting in a practice room, honing their skills and getting ready for their moment to shine. They sound amazing with no one watching; yet fear the exposure and judgement encountered in a performance situation. When the moment comes to perform, the pressure becomes overwhelming, uncomfortable, and confronting. After putting in so much time and effort into preparation, with the weight of expectation on their shoulders, they end up crumbling under the pressure, leaving the concert disappointed and frustrated after playing well below what they know they are capable of.

Can you relate to this? Me too! 😔

There are so many amazing musicians out there that are yet to reach their full potential on stage, and one major factor in a lot of these cases is a lack of regular experience of performing under pressure. The main problem is that the leap from the comfort and control in the practice room, to the hot lights and pressure on stage is just too great.

Whilst thorough individual preparation will help us achieve a better result, really thriving under pressure requires even more. This is where a bit of planning and creative thinking can help bridge the gap between the practice room and performance stage. But you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone more often that you would probably like!

Many of you would be familiar with the psychological treatment technique of “Exposure Therapy.” This is where people are exposed to anxiety or fear-provoking situations (eg. someone with an anxiety or phobia of snakes 🐍 spiders 🕷 dogs 🐕 etc.) in order to learn how to overcome these obstacles and become less fearful as a result. Although confronting your fears may not sound like much fun, exposure therapy is a proven strategy for decreasing anxiety and fear over time. We can learn to change our association with the pressure we experience, work out how we react under stressful circumstances, and find the most effective ways of achieving peak performance BEFORE it really matters.

Here is a really effective strategy called a “Performance Pressure Hierarchy”, which helps structure your mock performances. What you do is start off by writing down all the possible situations that you could perform in: a recorded run-through in the practice room, playing for one of your family members or your pet dog 🐕, busking in the mall, playing for a small group of your friends, or a couple of your teachers; right up to formal concerts, auditions, and competitions.

Then give each performance situation a pressure level from 1 to 10, and put them in order from lowest to highest rating. Make this list around 10 or so situations of varying degrees of pressure.

Then start near the bottom of your list and gradually work your way up with 1-2 performances each day in the lead up to your big gig. 
Feeling good at a pressure rating of 2 or 3? Then try your next performance at a 4. Hasn’t felt good performing at a level 5? Come back a notch or two and regain some confidence at level 3 or 4. The important point is that each “performance” is an opportunity to experiment and find out what works best for you in pressure situations.

Do you play best when your energy is high, low, or somewhere in-between? Does deep breathing help you maintain control and stay relaxed? Does cognitive reappraisal work? Is your self-talk remaining positive, or does your inner-critic come out to play at certain points? Where does your focus go when you make a mistake?

All of the answers to these questions can be found out under these controlled pressure circumstances, which become an amazing source of information for you to use when the real thing comes along. So make your list, then get out there and work your way to the top! ⬆️