I think that I have a problem...

kirbay · I think that I have a problem...

heya all! ^_^

well i've been playing teh tenor sax for three years at my school band and well last year i got a solo... or chose to do it since no one wanted it... but anyways i got nervous and always felt like barfing while playing. eventually i had like a panic attack during one of my classes(it was before our band had to play for the school) and well ever since then i never felt really well while playing... is this normal? and sometimes i need to breathe but when i try to, i feel worse... i don't know how to explain my problem well but yeah... x_x
anyway to help this?

well thanks in advance

oh and i did my solo well in front of the school and at the concert but still feel very nervous and i mean VERY... ^_^ lol

JPSaxMan

I HAD something similar to what you have and still get it once in a while from time to time. But my excuse is a very sensitive gag reflex...if it's early in the morning and I smell something out of the ordinary on the breakfast table or sumtin, I start gagging. I've learned over the years how to control it better, but I still have it once in a while. If I let it get to me, I still get the feeling of gagging, never throwing up (unless my stomach is really packed) but maybe if I'm doing a different performance venue, I'll get it. I got it a little bit before my District audition. But it never controls me. I always come out swinging with the solo just fine.

You need to build the confidence within yourself to do this. What you need to remember is that in most concerts, it's just parents and maybe friends and relatives and most likely, they won't care if you mess up, they probably won't even notice. Only time to get REALLY nervous if you're gonna get it at all is in front of musical judges. And I even used to get the gagging in rehersal before my solo...I've just learned to take it as it comes. The sooner you get over it, the better it will be for you. Well, I wish you luck Cool

kirbay

oh, lol well i'll try to be more confident... x_x lol thank you ^_^

JPSaxMan

...I know saying to be "more confident" is easier said than done, but trust me, if you can make way to become more confident, it will greatly increase your playing ability and your self-esteem. Good luck Mr. Green

Hiya

As you perform more and more solos, you'll get less and less nervous. I remember my first solo last year, I got really nervous, choked, and messed it up. Don't worry though, after doing a couple more, you'll love doing it.

Some tips I'd reccomend are:
-Just try to have fun.
-Don't concentrate on the people watching/listening to you, just focus on the music. When I really start to focus, the people just seem to dissapear.
-Practice a lot before your solo, that way you'll be more confident and won't get nervous as much.

kirbay

thank you Hiya! ^_^ i'll try that out =D

JPSaxMan

Hiya brings up some excellent points. I've never choked, but I've seen it happen plenty of times. And it is important to have fun. Otherwise, it just sucks. Especially in front of judges. Cool

EdMuse

Please allow a non-sax player, but an old performer and college teacher just the same, to chime in here.

What you experienced is a result of what is called the "Fight or Flight" reaction. It's a response on what could be called the sub-instinctual level: it's actually a physical reaction. It served humans well when, if you were alone and face to face with a crowd of others, chances are they were planning on killing you and eating you. Very few audiences will actually kill and eat you these days, but this largely obsolete boldily response won't seem to evolve away. Here's how it works:

The nervousness you feel triggers these two hunks of meat perched atop your kidneys called your adrenal glands to start pumping adrenalin into your bloodstream. Adrenalin is, of course, the substance that allows us to perform feats of superhuman strength, like the proverbial grandma lifting a car after an accident in order to save her granddaughter. It does, however, have some other insteresting effects which play into getting in our way as performers.

For one thing, you should remember that the body has an almost uncanny ability to divert blood to where it's needed. If, after all, you had enough blood to operate your entire body at full tilt, you'd have too much for most circumstances, so the body can contract capillaries so that, for instance, after a big meal, your digestive system gets more bloodflow than you major muscles, and you watch football on Thanksgiving. Adrenalin does just the opposite: it causes the blood flow to be diverted to the major muscle groups of the extremities: the arms (fight) and legs (flight).

This means that blood is diverted away from other areas of the body, like:

- The digestive system. If anything is in there, it stops digesting, and you get nauseated.

- The skin. You might feel cold and clammy.

- The fingers. They may get tingly and hard to move. No problem for a sax player, right?

- The brain. Our favorite organ. It gets difficult to think, and you feel like you might pass out (and you might, if it's bad enough).

These little reactions make sense if you put yourself in the position of caveman Bob. He has no need to think about what scale to play over a Gb #9 b13 chord in the key of F at that point. All he needs to think about is "Can I take these people, or should I run away." How much blood does the brain really need to make that decision? We, on the other hand, need those thought processes. We also need our fingers, a little feeling of warmth, and for the food in our bellies to keep on its merry way through. When these things don't come through for us, we start getting nervous about it, and guess what that causes? You guessed it, a release of more adrenalin into the bloodstream. Vicious cycle.

So what do you do? Well, as previous commenters have noted, experience and confidence will help. In fact, pretending you're confident even if you aren't can help substantially, as it can intercept, or at least slow down the vicious cycle. If you act like you're not nervous, it goes a goodly way to convincing your body that you really aren't nervous, or at least that, if you are, it's natural and okay, so please don't dump any more of that nasty adrenalin stuff into my blood because I've got enough already, thank-you.

Remembering, as well, that relatively few musicians ever make a living at it is good, too, because it reminds you that fun is the only good reason to do it. Also, recall that the audience is there to have a good time, so they want you to play well. They're there for you, and support you in your endeavor. In short, they're on your side, and are very unlikely to kill and eat you. And if they do, rest assured that, unlike in caveman times, they will probably cook you well and serve you tastefully presented with julienned vegetables, a balsamic vinegar reduction, and choice of potato or rice pilaf.

All this is psychological stuff, though, and what we're trying to combat is a physical reaction, so best to hit it with a physical cure. There are two. One is drugs. No, not that kind of drugs, but beta blockers, which you could probably get perscribed by a doctor. They don't make you less nervous, but they block the adrenal response, and with few if any side effects. However, a little bit of adrenalin is our friend. It gives us a certain edge and poignancy in our playing, and also provides the kind of high that is, in large part, what most performers enjoy about performing. So, if you can avoid them, do so.

The other way to go at it is to intercept the vicious cycle before it can spin out of control. Try, first, to remember all of those psychological tricks above, and that you are in control of most of the situation. The audience is there for you, so you are in control of them. It's your body, so you are in control of it. Sit down and close your eyes. Now breathe. Force yourself to breath slowly and steadily, and to make your exhalation take twice as long as your inhalation. Count number in your head to time this. Steadily increase your counting, always making your exhalation take twice as long as your inhalation. Think only of the numbers. As other thoughts enter your brain, just allow them to pass through without taking hold. This is a technique very similar to meditation, and it will actually slow your heart rate (out of control hear and breathing rates are also characteristic of the adrenal response). There are other meditation techniques you can look into. Choose one that feels good to you, and use it.

You'll still be nervous, but that's normal. What you've done, though, is to attenuate the amount of adrenalin spilling into your bloodstream, bringing it to a manageable level.

By the way, the nausiousness you're feeling now whenever you play is a sort of a psychological "echo." Subconsciously, you equate playing with that fight or flight situation, and the same adrenal response happens. You could try some simple meditation exercises before you practice, or to tell you the truth, this might be a good situation to try a beta blocker. If you can intercept the reaction just a few times, your mind and body will disassociate the response from the playing, and you'll be fine.

Sorry for the long treatise. Hope it helps.

-EdM.

JPSaxMan

Ed,

Wow...who would have thought such an explanation would help this young man. And I never knew why I would feel queasy before a performance...I always opted not to eat much if at all prior to a performance. For that reason, and man has it helped. Yea, I still get a lil nervous, but I never choke and usually, it all goes away once I start tearing up a lick. I think it will always be natural to get a lil bit of anxiety, and if it's not, I'm sure I will rid of it in a couple of years.

So let's keep on jamin! Cool

altosax4ever

Thanks for the help. I've never had too much problem with nervousness, but I'll definately keep this stuff in mind.

EdMuse

GAS_Wyoming

I had a very similar response all the way through college as a performance major in music school. But there is a way to combat this issue.

This suggestion builds on Ed's. When you inhale for that deep breath, do it from the diaphragm...in other words, don't fill your chest with air, fill your stomach/lower lungs with the air. Actually relax your stomach muscles and watch your belly go out! This will relax you a little quicker when you start feeling yourself getting nervous.

The reason for this...notice someone sleeping. They are totally relaxed and they breathe with their diaphragm. The movement of the stomach muscles ensures you are taking really deep breaths. Yawning is the body's response in preparation for sleep...the yawn stretches these muscles! Somehow (I think I heard it was an actual hormonal response) the 'fight or flight' adrenalin is metabolized more quickly by the action of the stomach muscles.

I actually practice this technique and use it before every solo. It has helped me tremendously. It helps by calming me and by giving me the confidence that I can combat the potential bad sound by the proper breathing excercise before the solo. So if the nerves (adrenalin) starts kicking in, I just start my breathing and everything happens right! Those first few notes are the hardest, but 2 measures into the solo, I'm fine.

Jordan-Martin

hehe i collapsed at my first lesson! i smacked my face of the piano and everything!

JPSaxMan

...that must have felt great Rolling Eyes

Jordan-Martin

i was feeling fine then it went back then all you heard was band clang jing boom

GAS_Wyoming

Did you collapse from nervousness? Are you serious? Wink

After re-reading my post, I thought you might have collapsed from the sleep-response created by my diaphragm breathing technique!

Tell us the story!

I'm rolling on the floor laughing

Jordan-Martin

i was 10

GAS_Wyoming

JM,
I have boys 9 & 11 now, so I can just imagine one of them sitting at the piano bench passing out from blowing long tones! Laughing

I know it must have been embarassing, but when you're 40 it'll be a lot of fun to laugh about. ORRRR...are you 40 now?

I marched with a baritone when I was in 8th grade. We did a 2.5 mile parade in Knoxville, TN. When we were back to the bus I literally put the horn on my body, laid down and passed out! It was a hot late April day and I was drenched in sweat. Everyone else was so worn out also that no one noticed for a few minutes. Finally, mom & dad found me, put a drink of Coke down my throat and I started to come back to life. By the time I woke up, everyone was standing around me in a circle Embarassed