Better Concerts and Music

If you’ve ever just learned to play an instrument you are familiar with the shy embarrassment of being asked to play for someone else or even a group. The performance anxiety can completely cripple your ability to put any two notes together.  It’s a confidence shredding experience.

 I always envied those who could sit down and entertain or accompany others singing with calm assurance and enjoyment. I could do so with my guitar but never with a keyboard or piano. Never, that is, until I took it upon myself to learn chord piano and discovered the wonderful the joys of chord piano and the world of FAKE books.

 In short chord piano allows you to play chords with your left (and right) hand instead of playing the notes and written arrangements for the left hand. I can sight read a melody line with relative ease. However, combining that with the left hand accompaniment has always been a challenge. By learning to site read and play chords in my own style I can play most every song you put in front of my face.  All I need is the melody and some chords and off I go.

 This has opened a whole new world of possibilities for public sharing of my talent.  On occasion is the organist at church is sick I can step in on the piano. I just open up my 1000 hymns FAKE book and I’m ready.  If children come to visit I reach for my anthology of children’s songs or my Disney FAKE book and I’m ready with” Itzy Bitzy Spider” or “When You Wish Upon A Star.” The enjoyment on their little faces is so rewarding.

 Some evenings my wife sits with me on the piano bench and we sing old Gospel or 100 Contemporary Christian Favorites. She especially likes “Go Light Your World.”  Then she might take a break while I sing and play romantic ballads or some show tunes. Take my word guys, playing the piano goes is a hit with women! At least my wife says so!

 It’s a great joy to play old favorites at the Nursing Homes. I often get asked to entertain there in my job as Chaplin. They Love “You are My Sunshine” and He’s Got the Whole World in his Hands”. It’s touching to see how much my elderly patients enjoy these songs.

I’ve been blessed with the inspiration to write many Praise and Worship songs greatly enjoyed by my congregations over the years. It’s always a thrill to sing “Under Your Rainbow” one of my favorite songs of the hundreds I have written. I have many of my original songs on  New Christian Songs.

 I highly recommend you learn chord piano. Maybe you had a frustrating year or so of paino lessons as a child only to give up. I urge you refresh you knowledge of simple notes of the music scale and to try agian with chord paino! 

Performance anxiety is a big problem among performers of all kinds and at all levels of experience. You might be surprised to hear that performance anxiety can actually help your performance. The trick is to be prepared for it and not to let it get the better of you. Once you’re able to pinpoint the cause of your anxiety, you can take charge of it.

These are some of the most common fears: cracking during a performance, making a fool of yourself in front of friends, forgetting words, constantly worrying about success or failure, rejection, and the list goes on. Once you can name your fear you can take steps to overcome it. After you find the source, move forward and find a solution to eliminate it and not just the symptom.

A rush of adrenaline brings about a racing heart. To create a similar effect, run in place until you’re out of breath and then try to sing your song. During your practice session it’s a good idea to sometimes sing while out of breath so you can practice dealing with the stress situation and the feeling of being out of breath. When you endure breathlessness it’s similar to the issues that occur during your anxiety attack in the middle of a performance. Just take a breath and you will feel it fall into your body. It is important to understand that even when the heart is pounding, you can sing. It’s just not easy.

You may find comforting the knowledge that thousands of other singers face the same icky anxiety you feel right before a performance. Everyone experiences anxiety differently but there are several common symptoms that can surface such as; shaky hands, nausea, butterflies in the stomach, sweaty armpits, the urge to cry, nausea.  an almost an endless list.

If you don’t turn out to be cool as a cucumber in the beginning, don’t worry because the majority of performers out there aren’t either.You should expect to be nervous and jittery because this will allow you to sing through the nerves. In fact, you can use the fight-or-flight excitement of adrenaline coursing through your body to enhance your performance. Just by reframing the thought process and acknowledging your nerves, will allow you to seize the opportunity and improve your performance.

For more great ideas on singing with confidence and improving your singing performance , be sure to check out this helpful learn how to sing website.

Performance anxiety is a big problem among performers of all kinds and at all levels of experience. You might be surprised to hear that performance anxiety can actually help your performance. The trick is to be prepared for it and not to let it get the better of you. Once you’re able to pinpoint the cause of your anxiety, you can take charge of it.

These are some of the most common fears: cracking during a performance, making a fool of yourself in front of friends, forgetting words, constantly worrying about success or failure, rejection, and the list goes on. Once you can name your fear you can take steps to overcome it. After you find the source, move forward and find a solution to eliminate it and not just the symptom.

A rush of adrenaline brings about a racing heart. To create a similar effect, run in place until you’re out of breath and then try to sing your song. During your practice session it’s a good idea to sometimes sing while out of breath so you can practice dealing with the stress situation and the feeling of being out of breath. When you endure breathlessness it’s similar to the issues that occur during your anxiety attack in the middle of a performance. Just take a breath and you will feel it fall into your body. It is important to understand that even when the heart is pounding, you can sing. It’s just not easy.

You may find comforting the knowledge that thousands of other singers face the same icky anxiety you feel right before a performance. Everyone experiences anxiety differently but there are several common symptoms that can surface such as; shaky hands, nausea, butterflies in the stomach, sweaty armpits, the urge to cry, nausea.  an almost an endless list.

If you don’t turn out to be cool as a cucumber in the beginning, don’t worry because the majority of performers out there aren’t either.You should expect to be nervous and jittery because this will allow you to sing through the nerves. In fact, you can use the fight-or-flight excitement of adrenaline coursing through your body to enhance your performance. Just by reframing the thought process and acknowledging your nerves, will allow you to seize the opportunity and improve your performance.

For more great ideas on singing with confidence and improving your singing performance , be sure to check out this helpful learn how to sing website.