Most musicians think performance nerves are something that happen to them because of outside circumstances.

A high-pressure situation arises: the performance, the audition, the exposed entrance, the difficult passage, the imposing conductor.

Before we know it, the nerves arrive, and it can feel as if there’s not much to do except try to breathe, manage the symptoms, push through, hope the anxiety doesn’t show, and try hard to keep everything under control without messing up or falling apart.

✨ But what if performance nerves are also a habit? ✨

What if they're not simply something that happens to you, but a response you may have practiced thousands of times, often without noticing, until it became your default reaction to pressure, seemingly out of your control?

A violinist in one of my recent masterclasses named it herself. She said, “Probably just practicing being scared is part of that.”

She was right.

Seeing that and owning it changed everything for her. 🌿

Because if a nervous response is a habit, that habit can be interrupted and your experience can be changed.

But you don’t have to force it to change, suppress it, ignore it, or argue with it (none of that will work).

You can learn to notice the micro-moments when the nervousness first arises (which can be weeks or even months before an event!), so you can choose a different direction before the whole pattern takes over.

Noticing it on the day of the performance (or after the music has actually started!) is much too late to learn a different way to be with your discomfort.

Learning how to notice the first signs and what to do IMMEDIATELY is exactly what we worked on as my student learned The Art of Freedom® Method and touch-free Alexander Technique with me.

Once she was able to choose a different direction when she noticed the nerves coming up in non-stressful situations, we started applying that skill to the specifics of her music-making.

She started to recognize more readily that the instant she didn’t like a sound she had just made, something in her started to close – mentally, emotionally, and physically.

It was a subtle tightening, but it was there: the split second between the note and the judgment, the moment where that layer of interference began to land and her body reflected that by going into a fear response, with all the accompanying tension that made everything she would do next more difficult.

She learned to notice that moment and choose differently with a particular way of thinking we call ConstructiveThinking™ (or “Curious Thinking”).

🎯 The point was not to ignore the sound or ignore how she was feeling. It was to decide to stop following her reaction.

That moment allowed for a subtle shift in the quality of what she was doing. The change in direction didn’t happen because she suddenly focused harder or tried to play “better.” It happened because she stopped adding extra mind-body interference on top of what had already happened.

That distinction is so important, because performance nerves don’t usually dissolve all at once. But every time you notice the old pattern beginning and choose not to keep practicing it, you are practicing another direction that is more compassionate, loving, easeful, and joyful. 💛

Thankfully, that kind of practice accumulates, too!

This is where musicians need more than a mental idea of “staying positive” or “choosing ease.” They need to learn the specific skill of being present to the actual experience and then choosing ease and love in a way that includes the whole self: the mind, the body, the emotions, the breath, the nervous system, and the musical intention all working together in harmony.

That highly specific (but natural to all of us) skill has to be practiced, just like anything else worth learning.

And it's something I’m really good at teaching (hint, hint 😉).

A few months later, this same student played a full-length recital in front of all of her students, colleagues, friends, and family. Instead of stiffening up with fear and hiding the event from others, she went all out and planned an incredibly powerful, beautiful, and joyful experience for herself and everyone there.

My favorite part was seeing her real smiles, along with the tremendous sense of accomplishment and joy she felt afterwards. She was literally glowing!

That recital – and how she handled it all so beautifully – is something she’ll definitely never forget, and I'm sure nobody who witnessed it will, either. Especially because now she knows exactly how she did it, and she can do it again.

The skills she learned are skills every musician would do well to learn – every musician who isn't perfect, that is. 😉

So… Is it your turn yet? Get in touch if something inside of you knows it is. I'm here and I look forward to hearing from you!

With Love & Light,
Jennifer ❤