Welcome the nerves…
oday I released a new episode of my trumpet dynamics show. And although it’s a new episode, it’s a republishing of an interview that I did five years ago. It features a terrific trumpet player named Phil Snedecor, who is a professor at the Hartt School in Hartford Connecticut.
In our conversation, Phil shared a story about an interaction that he had with the great conductor Leonhard Bernstein while he was a young man at a music camp in the early 90s. Bernstein said something along the lines of, “if you’re not nervous, there’s something seriously wrong with you.” No I’m not going to say the exact quote of what Bernstein said, because it’s not appropriate for this email, but suffice it to say you get the gist of what was said.
Two pair it down to layman’s terms, you embrace the nerves. You’re welcome the nerves. You know that they’re going to be there, so it’s a matter of learning how to take that energy that is fed into your body with the nerves, and using it for your benefit rather than your detriment. As so many people can attest to how nerves have wrecked many a fine performance.
Those occasions are demoralizing to say the least, but the part of the process of becoming a refined performer. The questions that I asked Phil in 2017 were the same questions that I asked many different musicians of the course of 60 days. And just about every single one said something along the same lines. Nerves are just part of the game, and the person who conquers those nerves, and learns to use that energy to their benefit is the one that wins. Wins the gig, keeps the gig, when’s a better gig, etc. etc.
The catalyst to me publishing this interview from five years ago today was another interview that I did just the week prior where the topic of nerves and stage fright came up, and I finished a call and ask myself, “am I nervous doing this?” And although it’s something that is secondhand to me, it’s as natural as breathing, or brushing my teeth, shining my shoes. But I took inventory of my emotional state after I was finished with that call, and realized yes I was nervous. I was not a nervous wreck, meaning that I had the dry mouth, the sweaty hands, the chattering teeth, all of the unpleasant side effects of not being in control of your nervous energy. But I felt that satisfaction that one feels after a performance is finished. So although I am well past the point that I have those negative effects from nerves, I still do get nervous I realized. The difference between now and when I first began publishing audio shows on the Internet seven years ago is that I’m just comfortable in my own skin doing it. It’s not foreign to me, it’s familiar. And it’s not familiarity that allows us to perform at a high level, take that nervous energy and channel it into something special, rather than wreck our performance, and our moral effects from nerves, I still do get nervous I realized. The difference between now and when I first began publishing audio shows on the Internet seven years ago is that I’m just comfortable in my own skin doing it. It’s not foreign to me, it’s familiar. And it’s that familiarity that allows us to perform at a high level, take that nervous energy and channel it into something special, rather than wreck our performance, and our morale along with it.
If you’re a musician or a performer of any stripe, I highly recommend this episode. I think will be beneficial for you. Here’s the link if you wanna check it out: