Does anybody else play the flute?

Question:I play flute and i absolutely love it! I have a competition coming up soon. Any tips on how to not be nervous? i really don't want to mess up.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I play flute and i absolutely love it! I have a competition coming up soon. Any tips on how to not be nervous? i really don't want to mess up.

Flute is a tricky instrument when you get quite nervous because your TONE will be noticeably affected. Make sure it doesn't get "breathy" and make sure that you stick to your written-in breath marks (ALWAYS have those done ahead of time).

Other than tone, make sure your fingers and flute and well warmed up. Keep your forearms, wrists, and fingers relaxed. Imagine playing your pieces as effortlessly as possible. Your playing should seem effortless to the judge, nothing should be forced.

Make sure you're confident in your playing. Nothing comes across faster than an "I don't know if I can do this or not?!?!' attitude.

Lastly, this is odd-sounding, but bananas can help. The potassium in them helps calm nerves a bit (but not completely!)

yeah!
just take deep breaths

Picture everyone wearing just underwear.

I'm in 8th grade and play the flute. Is it a solo competition? If it is, make sure you get your flute warmed up before you play! If you don't want to get nervous, try putting yourself out of the competition room and pretend like you're just practicing. good luck!

Yes, I am a flute player. And as an adult doing the occassional performance, even I get nervous sometimes. It is our nature because we want to please the audience (or if its competition, judge perhaps?). Best thing you can do is play as if no one is watching, play your music for yourself, and always remember, playing music is about having fun, not pleasing the critics :). If you can keep this in your mind, then it might help alleviate anxiety and nervousness. Hope this helps!

yup i play flute and i know how to play an Erhu, chinese violin.

i also play the flute,
and im an extremelyy nervous person,
even doing playing tests just in front of the band director would make me freak out,
id literally start shaking and turn completely red and lose air support and my fingers would get sweaty,
then i started having to do solos during concerts when i moved up to first chair,
i was miserable!
but now i dont get nervous,
and its because i practice over and over again,
and then when i get on stage i just trust myself,
and i know if i mess up,
no one will hate me,
they dont epect me to be perfect,
and no matter what i sound like i just keep going,
and basically no one in the audience even notices if i ever do mess up,
and its okay.