Stage Fright

I have a big problem with stage fright.

It's worse in auditions.

In 2 and a half weeks from now, im going to audition with 2 songs so that i could get into a private school for arts.

I thought about singing "Fall For You" by Secondhand Serenade.

I know from experience that there are some songs that sounds really horrible when having a stage fright and you shiver.

First i'd like to ask if anyone knows a not-too-hard song for auditions that won't sound bad when shaking.

Second if anyone has any ideas of how to relax when singing in front of a crowd could you please tell me?

I already reached a lever of fear that i'm considering taking relaxing pills of some sort (legal ones)

Thank you.

Not that I'd know, but my ideas to help stage fright and performance anxiety are...

1. A natural / legal relaxation aid (Valerian, St John's Wort, etc), but make sure it doesn't relax you so much you're not focused and aware of what you're doing

2. Be confident in how good you are at what you're doing. This is the main one, and it's pretty much the only thing that'll really get you through comfortably deep down inside...if you honestly don't think you're good enough, then...well, you'll be nervous. You know?

3. Realise that although for you, it may be one of the biggest days or most nerve-wracking times of your life, but for everyone else there, it's no big deal. The people judging you WANT you to do well cause (1) they'd enjoy watching/listening to you more if you're good, and (2) they generally want people to succeed such as yourself. And all the other people around (who probably won't even see you audition anyway) are in the same boat as you.

I use this method to calm myself and put things into perspective sometimes. When I got a very, uh...personal...body piercing several years ago, I was freaking out but then kept telling myself HEY, to me it's huge but to the piercer, it's nothing. He does it everyday. So no big deal to him? And no big deal to me.

4. Similarly, just think...if this is what you REALLY want...then after 2 minutes or so, it'll be over and you may have what you truly desire in life, you know? This is also what I used to calm myself about the abovementioned piercing. I rationalised that hey, it was 2 minutes of fear for a lifetime of a nice piercing, and it's what I really wanted so the fear was worth it.

5. Try to get to the root of your fear...what are you ACTUALLY scared of? What is the absolute WORSE thing that could happen?

(a) You do badly and everyone laughs at you?

(b) You do badly and they vomit? lol

© You do badly and don't get into the school?

(d) You do great and everyone loves you?

(e) You do great and you get into the school?

(f) You do ok but not your best and you feel disappointed?

There aren't really a whole lot of options here...(a) and (b) are jokes. (d) and (e) are great positive outcomes and probably not a cause for your fear.

So what's left? © and (f), the deep root of your fears perhaps. Not getting in, and being disappointed in yourself...and there's not a whole lot we can do to prevent this happening except simply try your best, have confidence in yourself (you wouldn't be auditioning if you weren't good), and just go for it. The worst that can happen is you don't get in. But no wait, the REAL worst that could happen is if you never even tried in the first place.

Good luck.

Love Can Build The Bridge youtube.com/watch?v=1UM4fJ_UFMI

Performing may be part of being a musician. You might consider if you are ready for school. It is likely that some music school will be accepting students next year.

You might work on developing performance skill by singing outside in a park, or on the street, or visit bars on open mic night http://openmikes.org/ and craigslist.org.

You might consider how drugs have helped you reach your goals in other areas of your life.

Just practice in the way you want to perform. Then when you do perform, visualize it as just another practice session. If you KNOW your songs, it will be easy to do. Be confident in your abilities and make it happen.

You should practice those pieces TO DEATH. This is possibly the most important audition of your life, and you don't want to lose it due to lack of practice. Know them backwards, forwards and upside-down. If you can, perform for your folks/family/friends - the first couple of performances are terrifying, but it gets easier each time.

Once you get there, realize that you're an awesome human being and a great singer who's totally prepared for the task (which you will be after the practice). Take a breath, look them in the eye, and don't be intimidated by them. If you still have the shakes, move around - the large movements should help disguise the smaller ones. And they'll think that you're "feeling it", which is always nice.

Please post in this thread again after the audition and let us know how you did. And good luck.

One more thing - You should pick songs that highlight what your voice is great at. If you have beautiful warm low notes, or gentle high notes, or whatever, let the panel know that through your song selection.

Practice it for a couple minutes as close as possible to the actual time of the audition. If you can dip out into a private room or out back of the place right before you go on and run through it for even 30 seconds, it might help. This has been my experience and it may not be everyone's, but whenever I have a chance to do that it helps me a lot because once I get in front of people I'm less worried about singing well since I JUST did it 5 minutes before hand.

All great advice and the best without doubt was/is PRACTICE the hell out of those 2 songs. Know them line for line, pitch on pitch right to the very core.

Your self knowledge of knowing your material is BY FAR your greatest partner in overcoming your fears and nervousness.