How to Cope with Stage Fright

For musicians and guitarists, stage fright can be defined as the fear or nervousness felt before performing in front of a live audience.

You might be surprised to know that a lot of musicians have experienced stage fright at some point in their careers (some still do!). From what I’ve seen, this seems to be a particularly big problem among beginner guitarists.

Professional musicians develop different coping mechanisms in order to deal with stage fright. Here are a few things you can do before taking the stage next time in order to deal with stage fright in a better manner:

1. Practice extensively. Get as much practice time under the belt as you possibly can. Practice extensively, and as much as you can. Never go into a gig unprepared. If you’re in a band, make sure you get an ample amount of quality practice time well before the performance.

2. Make sure that your equipment and gear is in order. Cables, amps and of course, the guitar! Make sure that you put a new set of strings on the guitar and that the instrument is in tune. Check everything to make sure that it works. Always carry spares; a spare guitar, spare strings and picks, spare cables and the like. If your equipment breaks down in the middle of a performance, it can be very embarrassing!

3. Play as often as possible in front of a live audience. Whether it’s friends, family, or any other social gathering, try taking advantage of any opportunity you get to perform in front of an audience – large or small. The more often you do it, the more comfortable you’ll become with playing in front of people.

4. Make sure that you warm-up on the stage before playing. Warm-up exercises include different stretching exercises that allow you to loosen-up before taking the stage, as well as a ‘warm-up’ song – something easy to play and something that you have thoroughly memorized that you can play on stage before moving onto the performance itself. Warming up properly will give you the confidence and the ability to play the stuff you know, and take care of any stage fright as well.

5. Don’t put pressure on yourself during the performance. For instance avoid experimenting, or trying new things during the performance; the time to do that is when you’re practicing or rehearsing alone or with the band. Trust me, you do not want to unnecessarily put any additional pressure or stress on yourself on the stage. Stick with what you know best, and what you practiced.

6. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake! At the end of the day, we’re human. It is important to accept the fact that we will probably make a mistake or two during playing, and get on with it. The important thing is (and this is very important) to never stop playing if you’ve made a mistake, and keep playing like nothing happened. In all probability, no one even noticed it. Be smooth about it, keep playing and don’t think too much about it. Make it a point to revisit and rectify your mistake after the gig.

7. Remember that it’s just another gig, not the end of the world. Relax, take a few deep breaths, and get on the stage to have some fun! This is the biggest piece of advice anyone will ever give you: to have fun on the stage and enjoy your time up there!

Additional read: Here’s a great article from Frettverse on a few techniques that can also be used to deal with stage fright.