MUSICIANS’ HEALTH: NERVES ARE GOOD

BY DR SARAH CRICK

MUSICIANS' HEALTH

Nerves are good!

Touched on by Matthew in his president’s welcome, returning to work will ask a lot of performers and some of those questions will undoubtedly concern the dreaded performance anxiety. We have managed to talk to Martin Lawrence, second horn in the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, who has shared his experience, research and advice.

AUTHOR: MARTIN LAWRENCE

Normally, nerves are seen as something that stop you performing as you want. But listen to these people:

‘I wouldn’t give a nickel for an actor who isn’t nervous’ – David Belasco

‘I need nerves to get me going’ – Adam Peaty

‘If you’re not nervous, you’re not paying attention’ – Miles Davis

So, nerves are good! What are you complaining about? But, I hear you say, these are people at the top of their game, the best at what they do. What about me? Well, nerves can help you too. They can do things like give you an edge, or spur you to practise. They show that you care about a performance. But they can also do more.

My research and private coaching practice show time and again that nerves can be seen as a new musician, a new you, trying to get out, right there on stage. Nerves seem to stop you performing as you want. Let’s look at this ‘performing as you want’ thing a bit closer. Is it really ‘performing as you want’? Check with yourself. How much is it ‘performing as a teacher/parent/examiner/audition panel/musical culture/colleagues/music critic … wants’? The pressures from these are probably what make you nervous in the first place. But, delightfully, your nerves can help you overcome these pressures and show you the way you, deep down, really want to play.

Try this (in the safety of your own home, at least at first):

• Remember a time you were nervous.

• Write down exactly what happened to you. Was it shaking, sleepiness, raised heartbeat, voices in your head, or any of the other hundreds of symptoms people get?

• Now, try playing while deliberately doing the symptom. Go to town, really exaggerate it – no-one’s listening! Enjoy it! You might need some imagination to make some symptoms happen.

For instance, to raise your heartbeat, run around the room or jump on the spot. If you get critical or random thoughts, record them and play them back through headphones as you play. Try different symptoms if you get more than one.

• What happens? Write it down if it helps. Or draw pictures.

CREDIT: ERIC RICHMOND

• Now, think. Who plays like that? It might be

Tommy Dorsey or Emily White or Mike Hext.

It might be how you imagine Rambo would play, or Tinkerbell. Or a giraffe or a blackbird. Or there might be a particular aspect of how you are playing that catches your attention. Whatever comes up for you … be interested. There might be a connection with your past, a way of playing that has been forbidden by your teacher, your performing tradition, or yourself.

• Whatever it is, go WITH it. It might be small, or quite technical, like something to do with breathing, posture, phrasing, or embouchure, or a bigger thing like musical genre or on-stage attitude. The point is: WHO is emerging from your nerve symptoms?

Welcome them, and have fun! Martin Lawrence is second horn in the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and performs worldwide (or did until recently) with many groups, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and The English Concert. In 2020 he completed a PhD at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, entitled Music Performance Anxiety as Hidden Desire and Emerging Self: the Development and Exploration of a New Conceptual Lens for Practitioners and Performers. He has a private practice coaching musicians in physical, mental, and creative aspects of playing, and in historically-informed performance, see his WEBSITE for more information. He enjoys cooking, mushroom foraging, performing in the Lawrence family band with his wife and their two super-talented teenagers, and playing with his new toy, the allotment. ◆