Musician solo performance?

Question:Any tips from anybody as to how to keep calm before a big solo performance? My 18 year old son is doing a major solo with a full orchestra soon to a pretty large audience, how can he keep calm and what can I do to help calm his nerves apart from supporting him as I always do.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Any tips from anybody as to how to keep calm before a big solo performance? My 18 year old son is doing a major solo with a full orchestra soon to a pretty large audience, how can he keep calm and what can I do to help calm his nerves apart from supporting him as I always do.

There are some stress-tab type vitamins (B-vitamin blends) which really help reduce stress and feelings of nervousness before a performance. The other poster who said "see a chemist" was using the British term for pharmacist. But they aren't drugs and can be bought over the counter. Ask at Whole Foods or any health food store. I've known musicians who swear by them and say they really work.
Good luck!

i know this is no help but im 13 and i sang in front of all the parents in my school for the xmas pageant. i have the WORST stage fright and i shake and my teeth shake..haha. the way i help is to zone out from the anxiety and the adrenaline rush going through my body until a minute before..then i breathe not through my mouth but through my nose..its relaxing. tell him he's been chosen for this because he deserves it and that will give him confidence.

good luck
sam

go to ya chemist and get rescue remedy.. if he is REALLY bad.

it's just initial nerves, which soon go as u start playing I forget.

I'm both a musician, and I've done some acting too.

The tips from my acting classes are:
Pick a point somewhere in the auditorium - not a person, but an object, like an exit sign in the back, for instance.

Play to that object, trying to forget completely that there are any people there.
If you don't want to seem like you're always looking at one spot, look at a couple.
Mentally pretend you're performing for the object.

It's not magic, but it actually does help.
The other thing is to mentally degrade the audience somehow, so you won't care so much what they think.
Like, pretend in your mind that they're all in their underwear, or that they're just a bunch of losers - you're so much better than they are, they don't know what they're doing, they're all deaf, etc.
You get the idea.

Take a really deep breath. In through the nose and out the mouth. Sit in a chair and just relax every muscle in your body.

I have all-west auditions, competitions, concerts, and solo and ensemble performances. And one day while I was getting ready for a gateway test at my school, my English teacher gave every one of her students a peppermint. She said that there was something in it that relaxes the body. I ate one right before my all-west orchestra auditions and made 1st alternate. At every solo and ensemble festival, I've gotten all 1's.

On top of relaxing and taking deep breaths, concentrating on one or two objects (or a person in the audience that he's very familiar with) give him a peppermint right before the performance.
Hope This Helped. :-)

~ Mallet Pro

First of all....congrats to your son.
I used to try relaxation techniques before performing (breathing, visualizations, etc...). They helped, but I always regained the fear and anxiety DURING my performance! Someone recently told me that their friend "embraced" the anxiety before a performance. Really experienced it and welcomed it in.
I'm an opera singer and this last summer I had to sing Ferrando in Il Trovatore. He opens the show two pages in and sings his only aria within the first five minutes. Each night during the two pages of prelude I waited in the wings "feeling" the anxiety. It's almost a relaxation feeling because you're no longer working against the fear or concern so your body can relax. Best of luck to your son "In boca al lupo"

Just keep doing what your doing. Good luck from me.