Controlling Performance Anxiety, Part 3:
Resonable Expectations "Taking the Long View" by John Wunsch

Student performances will invariably exhibit limitations or shortcomings that neither students nor teachers want to experience. If a student is able to continue despite a "mistake" and complete the performance, then he or she is building the essential ability to carry through; not all errors threaten to turn into a series of errors, or give rise to the relatively disastrous experience of simply not being able to complete a work onstage.

If students can enjoy the accomplishment of performing despite errors that may occur, they can approach each new performance as a chance to improve. Ideally the student comes through with an emotional memory trail clear of "failures" which could precipitate fear of recurrences of the same problems and a chronic anxiety response to performing.

In building an error-forgiving mindset, a critical question may be raised: Is this an inappropriate lowering of expectations? Make no mistake; I am not advocating lower expectations in terms of long-term results. The goal is to attain our personal best, creating a gift of live music and the ability to share it on a level that gives our listeners musical fulfillment, thereby making this a better world. There exists a line of reasoning which can help both the teacher and the student get comfortable with the idea of adopting this approach.

Let's look at two more reasons to support this outlook.

1. The very best performers, those capable of doing their personal best, accept levels of flawed performance as part of the process of becoming and maintaining themselves as great artists.

This approach allows students to accept their performances with the appearance of some flaws, but is actually the beginning of a lifelong process of reducing the flaws to the point that they are only of concern or even noticed by the performers themselves or a by perhaps few very well informed individuals. These would be individuals who know exactly how good that performer and piece can be on the most subtle levels.

Accepting that our vision of perfection motivates us and gives us a long-term goal, but that success involves many steps with diminishing degrees of imperfection along the way- can allow developing players to relax into their current abilities and get the most from themselves. They can then become confident and effective performers much earlier in their musical lives.

Tales abound of fine artists exiting the stage to audience raves, but personally harboring criticisms of their own work that would surprise their listeners. One of the best examples I have heard was from an acquaintance who knew Isaac Stern personally. After one of many concerts my associate had heard the renowned virtuoso play, he was surprised to hear Stern expressing his disappointment with the performance. The man knew Stern well and was a well-respected musician in his own right. He knew Stern had delivered a performance which thrilled the audience. He was therefore moved to ask the virtuoso, "Maestro, how many concerts have you performed in your career that you felt were truly good and with which you were satisfied"? The answer was 2 or maybe 3!

2. Lives are touched in meaningful ways by performances that by some standard or another are "flawed."

The joy and awe an audience experiences is no less real and has no less positive impact on their lives if the performance they saw were dissected by a critic to show how it was not on the highest level of artistry. We don't even need to concern ourselves with the relative merit of such a comparison. The fact is- many developing players bring a true gift of live performance to their audiences of friends and relatives, other supporters or even strangers. This act of touching another human heart with music is very real, quite separately and distinctively from any objective analysis of execution.

Likewise, a nonprofessional musician performing in a nursing home or a regionally based professional on a community concert series can truly change an individual's outlook, bringing a sparkle to the eye of someone who was deflated and discouraged. I have seen the look of unbridled joy on the faces of individuals who have heard a performance that I know was clearly flawed from the point of view of an objective analysis. This is a testament to the ability of musicians to make a palpable difference in this world, even when we have missed personal benchmarks that drive us.

If players come to performing for the joy it creates at each level of development, they can learn the relaxed and confident approach that leads to the very best performances where skills and experience reach their apex. Eventually the flaws can become something as detailed as, "Well yes, it really come off well, but I meant that crescendo to have a higher peak."

On the other hand, if early performances are seen as failures with no inherent value because of mistakes, the stage is set for a pressured and rushed effort to attain perfection that often leads to an inability to perform in pubic. Or it may lead to emotionally void technical performances, limited by the performer's overly careful approach.

We all aspire to present the best performances we can, but hopefully we also recognize that performances we regard as flawed in some way often provide great pleasure to our listeners. In realizing that such ironies exist, we may ourselves begin to take greater joy in performing than we might if only focused on our shortcomings. The fact is- our inner vision of perfection may drive us forward but, honestly speaking, most of our performances fall short of that goal. This does not need to be a bad thing, and in fact is quite human and likely the norm.

In these first three articles I've addressed ways of preparing ourselves for performance. In upcoming articles we'll examine various means of preparing our repertoires for performance, again in ways that can lead to reduced anxiety.

Until then, best holiday wishes,

John Wunsch

© Copyright 2007 John Wunsch. All rights reserved, used with permission.

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About the Author

John Wunsch has combined his folk roots, classical training, and jazz experience to specialize in solo guitar performances which include a wide range of music from classical tangos and Malagueñas to bluesy renditions of popular music, jazz standards, and gospel-tinged versions of hymns. His original compositions include rhythmic Latin-inspired music, unique fingerstyle 12-string pieces, and heartfelt ballads.

John has released seven recordings and toured extensively, appearing in Europe and Japan as well as the United States. He has appeared in such venues as the Newport Jazz festival, the New York Seagram's Festival, The Philadelphia Seaport Festival, Blues Alley, and the Blue Note. He has been nominated three times for the "Best Instrumental" category of the New York Music Awards and received numerous grants from Meet the Composer, New York State Council for the Arts, Arts Serve, and The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, among others.

John is currently the Instructor of Guitar at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Director of the annual Interlochen Guitar Institute on the Interlochen Center for the Arts campus. He formerly served as Music Theory Instructor at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Guitar Instructor at Oakland University, and Director of Guitar Studies at Northwestern Michigan College. He studied with Jesus Silva, Nicholas Goluses, Fred Hand, Oswald Rantucci, and in master classes with Maestro Andrés Segovia, Janos Starker, and David Russell.

His music has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered, network television's Entertainment Tonight, and in films and documentaries in both the United States and Europe. He has shared performance billings with B.B. King, Dave Brubeck, Kilimanjaro, Special EFX and others.

Critics have described John's work as:

"Pure enjoyment..." (Baltimore Evening Sun)
"Extraordinarily original" (Boston Globe).
"First rate!" (Guitar Player Magazine)
"Subtle and elegant... especially sensitive..." (Frets Magazine)

For more information, bookings, and downloads of recordings please visit:
www.allguitar.com