I got a voicemail last week asking if I'd consider playing piano at one of the homes on our local historical homes tour this weekend. I phoned the event organizer back with the intention of declining politely but firmly and explaining that it was never my desire to play publicly . . . but, well, she said, it benefits the local women's homeless shelter, and she'd be so grateful if I could please do it, and other people she phoned never even returned her call . . . so despite all my best efforts to say no, I ended up agreeing to play. Sigh.

So, tomorrow is the day. If anyone has any quick cures for terminal stage fright (guess in this case it's living room fright), please let me know!

Scotch.

Best of luck!

You have a big heart, Carol. Just immerse yourself in the music, play something you really love, and try to help the audience (if you think of them at all) try to hear what you feel about the music you love.

In the circumstances, they're likely to be extremely forgiving, no matter what--- so just do your best for them. Performers can be surprisingly effective at asserting a poise and authority that they may not necessarily feel inside.

It might help to think of yourself of musical wallpaper, just some pleasant background ambiance, not the center attraction.

Carol, you'll have a wonderful time! This sounds like the perfect opportunity for playing publicly. If the "historical homes tour" is anything like the tour of homes we have in our city, you'll have people coming and going constantly with lots of hubbub... which is exactly how I prefer to play publicly, i.e., as background where they're not just sitting in silence staring at me as I play.

Good luck, and you must let us know how it went.

Monica is right. There will a steady stream of people coming and going. Most will not even stop talking, --some so loud that they will almost drown you out. Just relax and enjoy the experience. Gaby Tu

Eat a banana! No joking. It you eat a banana about twenty minutes you're about to perform -- you'll feel the nerves dampen so you'll won't feel petrified, just general nervous. I was the backstage organizer for our teacher's annual recital and I brought 20 pounds of bananas. The kids SWORE it helped them feel not so nervous and more relaxed. Don't know the whys of it -- but it does help.

I probably can't cure you of ahead of time, but your "ordeal", seen in the proper light, can be exactly the vaccination you need.

Let's assume that you'll make some mistakes. Most of us do. Rather than wince, flush up, sweat and pray for a portal into another dimension to disappear into, look around you.

Did anyone notice?

Did they laugh, point fingers, make sour faces, cover their children's ears? Well of course not, they're civilized, after all. OK. But did they even stop their conversation, turn around or glance in your direction?

I'll bet they didn't.

Truth be told, in a setting like this, most of them will probably barely notice you at all. You're just one more piece of historic bric-a-brac. But even among the few people who pay attention, they:

1 Won't know the piece.
2. Aren't musicians and thus do not hear music the way musicians do.

The vast majority of people simply don't have the "ears" to hear the odd mistake here and there. It takes an uncommonly catastrophic error to pierce their threshold of noticeability: One of the legs of the piano collapses and the piano crashes to the floor, something like that.

This sounds like a good opportunity to play in front of other people without being the center of attention. If you take my advice, by the third or fourth minor clam you'll wonder what you were worried about.

Good luck!

What a nice thing to do, Carol!

I'm sure the visitors will have a much more enjoyable experience with you playing the piano in the background. It's all about sharing music. It would not be fair to keep all these fun and beatiful melodies to yourself all the time, right?

Just enjoy yourself, and hurry back to let us know all about it.

Just do it. If I was in your area, I'd come over, play my rendition of Alfred's "The Entertainer", then , believe me, you'd probably realise just how good you are...

Carol,

Nice to do. People who walk in and out.......being life musical wallpaper always draws attention and creates a cozy atmosphere.A litle playing, a litle talking about piano's and music.........I would like this kind of request......

You can perform your music and it is not an recital, nice unpretentious.

And you realize.....there are more people who can not play piano, more than pianists.....

Succes and have a nice time.

Johan B

Today is the day! I'm sending my good thoughts your way!

Hi Carol,

Congratulations on your noble efforts to play the piano in public for a worthy cause!

In regards to how to overcome severe stage, freight… well, I don’t know of any; except to try to enjoy the experience and let others see that joy and excitement within you.

I will say that the idea of eating a banana shortly before the performance might be a good idea, to get your blood sugar level up. And, drink some fluids just before the performance, or have a bottle of water with you.

I played my 5-string banjo and sang at an outdoor church service this morning and there probably over 300 people there. It went pretty well, though I was a little nervous. The stage freight will subside to some degree the more you play in public… but I don’t think it ever goes away completely.

Take care,

Rick

Thanks, everyone, for the encouragement, advice, and good wishes. I'm happy to report that I survived. Actually it went quite well and I kind of enjoyed it!

The best part was discovering that the piano in the home was a well-maintained, freshly tuned Mason & Hamlin, about 5'8", from the 1920s, in an exquisite carved walnut case. It sounded very good, though quite different from the pianos I'm used to. The touch seemed surprisingly heavy and less sensitive than my Estonia's, and there was some unevenness across the treble, but all in all it was a lovely instrument and delightful to play.

I started with the classical pieces I was most confident with: Bach's simple little Prelude in C from the WTC, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (first movement), Satie's Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes, a piano version of a Puccini piece, and the first two movements of Mozart's sonata No. 16. (I always mess up the third movement, the Rondo, but I'm going to nail it soon!) I played some Chopin and Mendelssohn, but they seemed a bit dramatic for background music. And I wasn't pulling off the extended trills very well, as the piano was responding differently from what I'm used to.

But generally it was pretty easy to play in that environment. With all the conversation around me, even I couldn't hear my occasional wrong notes, so I doubt that anyone else did. And I got lots of nice compliments from people passing through on the tour.

I did, however, discover that I have a unique problem performing the pieces I've memorized. I didn't want to attempt them without the sheet music because I wasn't certain I'd get through them without a memory lapse . . . but I found I wasn't used to reading them anymore, so I was kind of half reading and half playing from memory, and I tended to lose my place as a result. Consequently I almost bombed a memorized Chopin waltz, but I remembered the advice I'd been given above, and pretended that Chopin wrote the piece with a slight discontinuity!

After an hour of playing classical music, I felt that Einaudi would most certainly be a lucky choice on a Mason & Hamlin (albeit one a bit older than Monica's!), so I played a few of my favorites, including I Due Fiumi, Fuori dal Mondo, and Nefeli. Those pieces worked really well in that setting, and now I'm motivated to renew my practice of Einaudi.

So now I'm back home and looking forward to dinner at my favorite restaurant -- the reward my husband bribed me with for going through with this! Thanks again to everyone for the tremendous encouragement and support.

Carol

What a wonderful evening, Carol! It sounds like it went perfectly... and better yet, you were even able to enjoy it!

I of course am delighted you played some Einaudi. And I'm also happy to hear that none of the piano legs collapsed, which was something I had NEVER worried about until reading Greg's post above.

Yes, that sounds fantastic.

And you know so much great music! It would have been wonderful to listen to you, but I guess I should continue practising so that I eventually can get to those pieces.

Thanks for sharing the experience!

Carol
Congratulations for nerving it out. It was for a good cause and you can be proud of your contribution.

Well done Carol! I only just picked up on this thread! You must be very accomplished to have pulled that off, its one of my goals to be able to play in public in that way, as background entertainment, one day, but at the moment I wouldn't have your skill or courage!

Congratulations, next time it will be a lot less scary I guess!

Collyermum

Congratulations. What a great experience, and well done.

Cathy

well done Carol.......

congrats......

I told you that it would be nice

Best regards,
Johan B

Congratulations indeed, what a wonderful feather to put in your cap (bravo!)

SC

Carol - You are my Idol. Keep up the greatness.

Wow! Thanks, everyone! You guys are terrific! What wonderful support. I'm really grateful for all of your nice comments.

Basia, I thought a lot today about your comment about my having learned a lot of music ... I never looked at it that way before. Seems I always measure myself in comparison with people who are more advanced than me, and am always thinking about how I fall short of them. Instead, each of us should be focused on how much we've achieved in our own right.

Collyermum, thanks for the compliment about my courage. Funny, I'd been thinking that it was my lack of courage to decline the request that got me playing in public in the first place!

Anyway, all the good advice and encouragement you all gave me helped me a lot, and now that I've done it once, I'm sure that it will be easier next time. Thanks again everyone!

Carol

Congratulations. So glad that it went so well and that you enjoyed it. You selected wonderful pieces to play. You deserve a bit round of applause, and several shouts of "Bravo."
Gaby Tu

Congratulations. I'm glad a leg didn't fall off, but you know even if it had you just have to roll with the punches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoTyDD0C93U

Carol! Many heartfelt congratulations! I don't know you personally, but oh, how I relate to the feelings you described in your original post. Your story (along with all the beautiful encouragement you received from fellow pianists) was the highlight of my day.

You are generous, kind, and above all, BRAVE. Keep going.