I have stage fright, should I perform or wait until I'm ready?

Question:It's always been my dream to become a singer. In fact, it isn't just a dream, it's my life. It's all I do. Music, singing and playing piano. I want it real real real bad. The problem is I have stage fright. It wasn't such a problem before, but now it is.
About 2 years ago I used to perform a lot in my Primary school. But somehow, by the end of the year, I started getting more and more insicure about it. And then I went to Secondary school where everything was new, and there weren't many chances to perform unlike my primary school. But the chance has arised, and my principal asked me to play the piano for the lower secondary students next week. I want to play because I know that with practice my fear will go away. But my hands start shaking and I can't breath well if I play for just a group of 5 or more friends.
Should I play next week or wait untill I'm ready to start performing again? Just the thought of performing makes me wanna cry!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It's always been my dream to become a singer. In fact, it isn't just a dream, it's my life. It's all I do. Music, singing and playing piano. I want it real real real bad. The problem is I have stage fright. It wasn't such a problem before, but now it is.
About 2 years ago I used to perform a lot in my Primary school. But somehow, by the end of the year, I started getting more and more insicure about it. And then I went to Secondary school where everything was new, and there weren't many chances to perform unlike my primary school. But the chance has arised, and my principal asked me to play the piano for the lower secondary students next week. I want to play because I know that with practice my fear will go away. But my hands start shaking and I can't breath well if I play for just a group of 5 or more friends.
Should I play next week or wait untill I'm ready to start performing again? Just the thought of performing makes me wanna cry!

If you wait until you're "ready to start performing", you'll never be ready.

You'll always be able to come up with some reason why you're "not ready yet" but if you listen to those reasons or give them any weight or significance, you'll never actually do what you say you want to do. You'll spend your life practicing at home and *dreaming* about becoming a professional musician, and never accomplish your goal.

PLAY NEXT WEEK. Feel the fear and nervousness -- acknowledge that its there -- and do it anyway. IF music is really what you want to do with your life, make your passion and commitment to your music be more important than your stage fright. DO IT.

I sympathise, I act and play music on stage and the truth is, I still get stage fright. But the only way to get over it is to go out there and do your best.
It might not be perfect, or exactly as you practiced, but you will be so proud of yourself for doing it :)

Its ok to have stage fright, just go out there and do your best, it doesnt matter if you mess up, they wotn haunt you, try your best!

PLEASE don't wait. There is no way to get over stage fright, in my opinion, then to face it head-on. I'm a performer myself; a vocalist, dancer, and pianist. It's not as appreciated in my high school as it may be in others, and every time I am asked to perform I have to hear everyone's comments. I just get on stage and do my best. I don't have stage fright, and never have, so it's hard to say exactly what you should do, but my advice? Get up there and do your thing. If everyone worried about everyone else's opinions, we'd all leave this world with SO much unfinished business.

Stage fright stems from a fear of being judged by the audience as well as making a mistake & looking foolish. That's the underlying fear. Yet you say music is your life and that is all you want to do. If this is the case, then you don't need to prove anything to anyone but yourself. Know that you are good enough. Know that you have the talent it takes to perform....and know in your heart that you will NOT make a mistake and look foolish. In fact, your performance may inspire someone in the audience to take up music....and to inspire someone is part of sharing your love of music. You have the capacity to touch their very souls with your music, just as it touches your own soul. The definition of "hero" is the one who moves forward in spite of fear....be your own hero....go out there and perform & share your gift of music and be proud of the fact that you are creating that beautiful, melodic sound...and knock their socks off!

hi.just do it,in this way only you can make yourself ready.that's a kind of ACT you know.
after a while you'll find many things about your fear and you'll make it!
good luck and take care mate!

You don't get over stage fright by being afraid of it... but it takes personal discipline to work through it.

I think the one thing that helped me the most was the 3 years I spent as a street musician in Europe when I was 17-20... THAT will get you over stage fright like nothing else.

Make your own performance venues. Perform at churches, old-folks homes, smaller crowds. It will give you experience without all the pressure. Build up to the bigger performances. But keep going, or you will stop. You have to meet the fears head-on, make your mistakes and learn.

OK, this is going to shock you. I've been performig for 51 years. I'm not an amazing player, but I play with heart and creativity (I play acoustic guitar and sing with a trio -no drums-no bass- nothing to hide behind) and maybe once a year, when I'm in a different environment - maybe a major venue with a couple thousand people looking on, my knees start shaking, I get the sweats -"Ohno!!!! Stage fright"

When this happens, I listen to myself, and try to enjoy the music, and it goes away.

You can help yourself by practicing the piece until you know it cold. If it's not too long, memorize it (but take the music onstage, just in case)

But no amount of practice will conquer stage fright. You have to get on stage and do it. A few successful trips on stage and you won't be thinking about it any more.

Remember, your audience doesn't know the music so they won't know if you make a mistake or not.

Obviously, I know a lot of musicians, and stage fright is common even among those who do it for a living.

Do the gig. Close out everything except the sound of your music. Listen to it, get into it, live it, enjoy it. You'll come to the end of the piece, the audience will applaud, you'll feel that wonderful swelling in your chest. It's all worth it.

Let me know how you do!

Some of the best know performers had horrible stage fright, George Harrison, Donny Osmond. Consider yourself in good company. When you get stage fright, try to imagine that there is no one there, you are singing your heart out solely because YOU love the song and the way it makes you feel, give it everything you've got. Does it go away, I hear not, but the good news is you can manage it.

If you find the answer let me know! I"m a trumpet player and when it gets bad my lips quiver! That's a problem.

A couple things that help me:

Perform - a lot. Torture your family and friends by making them listen to you. Play anywhere you can - church, choirs, volunteer to accompany soloists. The more you do it the more comfortable you'll get.

Focus on the music not the audience. If you're concentrating hard on the music you're mind can't wander off worrying about what people are thinking.

Think of the performance as a celebration of all your hard work rather than event itself. I sometimes say to myself "listen to this!"

Frankly, nobody knows what will work for you. You'll just have to keep searching. I used to be terrified of turbulence on airplanes until on one bumpy flight I imagined I was on a giant boat and we were simply skimming over the water. The anxiety evaporated and I've never had a problem since. You just have to keep trying until you find what works.

I think that you should definitly start performing. I think that almost all musicians have stage fright when they first start, but you have to start performing to get used to it. Mabey the first few times you will gfet a little scared, but as soon as you know it, you won't notice the people in the crowd.