I recently picked up the book by Malcom Gladwell, The Outliers.
The second chapter in the new book Outliers is titled The 10,000-Hour Rule. Malcolm Gladwell shares his research about people who become the best in their field, after putting in at least 10,000 hours of preparation.
”The closer psychologists look at the careers of the gifted, the smaller the role innate talent seems to play and the bigger the role preparation seems to play.”
Whether it’s Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, the Beatles, Mozart, or Warren Buffet, one can only get to their best after putting in 10,000 hours. If you put in 40 hours a week, that’s 5 years. If you only put in 10 hours a week, it will take 20 years. It’s the sheer hours of work that will set you apart from the rest.
Now, have you started to put in that 10,000 hours? My own personal experience of improvement indeed came after hours and years of sheer practicing for hours and hours everyday. It has indeed shown over my last 10 years of singing.
Understand that you don’t have to be born with extraordinary talent. Just find your passion and put in that 10,000 hours of practice and doing. You’ll surpass those with more natural talent and find success that you have never dreamt of. Nurture surpasses Nature.
Well, the only thing I don't quite agree on is that the book states that music teachers are those who put in less hours; I guess that is only true for those who didn't choose to be teachers but were assigned to be due to the lack of ability to perform professionally. Those who put in 10,000 hours to master their teaching skills; that will be one awesome music teacher. Well, at leas that is my goal.
As I have started on my new schedule of teaching and performing, I totally enjoy the new challenge of a brand new routine. Especially now that I have made a comeback in performing, I have soon come to realised that i have a whole list of essentials for every performance that is a must for me; resulting in me bringing a larger bag around:
1. File of lyrics (you never know when u need to sing extra songs)
2. Compact powder, lip gloss, eyelash glue, blusher
3. 500ml bottle of water (with a dash of honey)
4. Fortacold throat lozenges (the ultimate lozenges with manuka honey and propolis; stops all itchy throat)
5. Heels for stage (i go out in flats)
6. Extra dress/top (in case i spill a drink on myself)
7. Bread (for curbing hunger))
8. Ipod player
9. Nail polish (for last min chip)
10. Moisturizer (for cracking skin)
11. Sunglasses
12. Audio cable (in case CD fails to play; just plug in the ipod)
13. Umbrella (v v impt!)
14. Jacket (for cold locations)
Yep... A whole load of things I bring around for performance :) You shd try; this conquers Murphy's law!
EXERCISE 4.
Breathing is a fine way to reduce anxiety. Inhale evenly through the nose, taking four or five long, deep breaths. Then exhale to the same count through the mouth. While exhaling, focus on your relaxed hands. Repeat the process, but this time focus on relaxed shoulders, jaw, or neck.
EXERCISE 5.
This is known as ratio breathing. The length of the exhalation should always be double that of the inhalation. It combines relaxation and concentration. This method is useful both before and during performance. Inhale deeply through your nose to the count of 5. Exhale through the mouth to the count of 10. During the exhalation the focus should be on watching yourself perform well.
EXERCISE 6.
For those who must deal with too low on motivation level, this exercise can be helpful. There are three possibilities:
1. Do a short physical workout like running in place. This will raise the heartbeat.
2. Use inspirational music to make ready for performance.
3. Use strong verbal cues to lift the energy:
This is tough music; I love it when it is hard.
I thrive on pressure. Let’s go.
I’m ready. Let it come!
Have a great performance!
Shirlee Emmons
Before applying any strategies that will help manage and control anxiety, the symptoms of both physical and mental anxiety must be recognized. Therefore, use the first two self-awareness exercises to help reveal your choir’s pattern of anxiety and the symptoms that accompany it.
EXERCISE 1.
Think back to a performance that was ideal, one in which you performed very well. Recall all the things that were done before the performance: the travel arrangements, the time of arrival, the kind of warm-up, etc. Note all the details that can be remembered. This performance represents the ideal arousal zone and will also give an idea of how it was achieved.
EXERCISE 2.
Check the following list of symptoms to see which you exhibit. Not all somatic symptoms are negative. Pounding heart, increased respiration and adrenaline need not be negative signs. However, the presence of physical symptoms together with mental symptoms may mean that the level of arousal has gone too high. Then you will have to lower the level.
Mental Symptoms
Indecisiveness
Feeling overwhelmed
Inability to concentrate
Feeling out of control
Narrowing of attention
Loss of confidence
Fear
Irritability
Physical Symptoms
Pounding heart
Increased respiration
Decreased blood flow to the skin
Increased muscle tension
Dry mouth
Trembling and twitching
Nausea
Loss of appetite
Increased adrenaline
EXERCISE 3.
Imagery is a potent method for coping with mental anxiety. Recall your ideal performance (as in Exercise 1) and watch yourself in imagination performing as well as you can. This is a very effective way of reducing mental anxiety. If it is done often, it will be a reminder of how it feels to perform really well.
Reducing mental anxiety can also be done by thinking about images that produce great calm and relaxation, such as running water for example.
Shirlee Emmons
Two kinds of anxiety
The relationship between performance and the performer’s arousal level is the result of the interaction between two kinds of anxiety: cognitive (mental) anxiety and somatic (physical)anxiety.
Cognitive anxiety results from concerns and worries about the demands of the situation. This fosters a lack of confidence and self-belief, and an inability to concentrate. As a rule, this type of anxiety manifests itself days or weeks before the performance.
Somatic anxiety results from the information given to the performer by the body: butterflies in the stomach, sweaty palms, muscle tension, and frequent visits to the bathroom. This type of anxiety shows itself much closer to the beginning of the performance, might even disappear after that.
An eminent British psychologist, Lew Hardy, has discovered that performance depends on a complex interaction between your two levels of anxiety. Given a relatively high physical anxiety but little worry, performance can have a steady decline. Given a high level of mental and physical anxiety, your arousal will reach an optimal level, after which the bottom will dropout, hence the word catastrophe in the title of Hardy’s study. Recovery from catastrophe takes longer than recovery from a slow decline.
The term “arousal” describes the result of interaction between the two types of anxiety. This interaction will produce either a state of emotional readiness or one of instability. At one end of the arousal scale the performer will be highly charged and “psyched up,” perhaps even aggressive. At the other end the performer will be calm and very relaxed.
There is no standard ideal level of arousal for everyone. Each person requires a specific arousal level of his/her own to perform well. The first thing performers should do is to identify their own ideal level of arousal. This could vary depending upon the nature of their coming performance.
To the performance psychologist, anxiety is a complex emotional state. To the general public, anxiety is synonymous with worry, fear and forebodings. To a singer, it is public enemy number one!
Is there anything good about anxiety?
When singers freeze or commit a blunder in a big performance moment, anxiety is either the root cause or the outcome. For the most part, anxiety is the result of other unsolved problems. Performance, by its very nature, places stress on performers and makes demands on their mental and physical energy. But it also offers the participants a challenge, great opportunities, and a chance to push back their own personal boundaries, all of which can be very liberating. Yet it does produce some uncertainty, some doubts–how will it go? Consider anxiety as a reflection of uncertainty. Yes, this powerful combination of stress and uncertainty is the villain, but it is the kind of villain that could turn out to be a blessing as well.
What kinds of anxiety are there?
Whenever a performance is imminent, what thoughts run through performers’ heads? How important it is? How much it means to them? The probable consequences of the outcome? Do they ask themselves certain questions? Will I do well? What might happen if I blunder? Will the result mean something great for my future? If I don’t do well, will that diminish my reputation?
Not only singers have doubts. Anxiety, characterized by worry and tension, is a demon for everyone. These doubts and worries can either make a performer anxious or free from anxiety. They can add to their confidence or they can crush it. How they perceive any performance, what they say to themselves about that performance--these things will trigger their emotional reactions.
But....if they were able to change their way of thinking about what the performance means to them....if they were able to change their way of viewing their own ability....if they were able to deal with the situation in a positive way, then they could transform their emotional responses. The only change would be in their self-perception or their interpretation of the performance. It could, in short, be the means to free them from fear and anxiety.
Anxiety is Internal
Some performers manage to sing well, stay confident, maintain their focus without too much anxiety. It is possible. It is possible because anxiety is not an evil ogre waiting out there. Anxiety is internal. It does not exist outside thoughts, outside the performer’s own head.
Stress resulting from anxiety is not imposed by other people or by the situation. One
might feel anxious about certain circumstances, but it isn’t mandatory that one become anxious. It’s not the situation that is anxious. It’s the performer! Ultimately, anxiety is always under one’s own control.
Anxiety results from one’s perception of an imbalance between what is demanded of him/herself and feelings regarding one's own capability to achieve what is being demanded.
Example: If someone views a performance as very important and if, at the
same time, he/she does not believe that the repertoire offered is “perfect enough,”
if he/she is convinced that it cannot reach the required level, then the imbalance,
the difference between the two, causes the performer to be anxious and stressed.
To remain in control of their anxiety, performers must keep the two sides in balance--that is, they must balance their perception of the performing situation and their belief in their own ability to handle that situation.
A certain level of anxiety is necessary to perform well, but too much anxiety can exert a negative influence on performance. It’s OK to feel anxious, but it’s not OK to be unable to manage this anxiety. To perform in an ideal way the performer needs some anxiety, just enough to feel excited and ready for performance. The ability to perform at an optimal level of anxiety or arousal at each performance is a skill that can make or break the ability to perform consistently.
Alan Thomas
Singers, professional or amateur, regard the spectacle of the Olympic Games as virtually identical to their own work. Even an inexperienced singer knows that performance is performance, whatever the field.
Professional and nonprofessional alike, performs everyday; be it in sports, singing, acting, taking an examination or making a business presentation. You have "performed" if you have worked to achieve competence at some activity and then done it in the presence of others. Now that is the difference: the presence of others.
In order to becoming an outstanding performer, you must learn how to perform your skills; not merely possessing the skills. The task is to learn how to perform your skills. It cannot be assumed that once you have learned the music and become skilled at your singing you can just spurt those skills out coherently in a performance situation. Ask anyone who panics in front of an audition panel or those who suffer muscle tension or those who never seem to sing well during singing lessons.
An average person only actualizes 5-20% of his/her full potential. Before reaching our peak performance, we go through different levels of performances: Optimal and Maximal, which we will explain more in the next issue.
The Power of Performance
Tips on How to Control Nerves, by Pete Thomas, musician
http://www.petethomas.co.uk/music-biography.html
1. Don’t practise until you know that you can play the music right, practise until you no longer get it wrong
2. Don’t take a big deep breath before going on stage, this will only cause hyperventilation and even more adrenalin, better to breathe moderately and evenly, concentrating on the exhale not the inhale.
Imagine the audience naked
3. Drugs or alcohol will not help a permanent ability to control or balance nerves
4. Allow yourself to smile if you do make mistakes
5. Concentrate on your last really good performance, remember how well you played
6. Concentrate on the audience applauding and gaining something from your performance
7. Look at the audience and imagine they are your fans and are waiting to be impressed by you
8. Keep fit, this will give you more self esteem and confidence
9. Wear something that you are comfortable in, but also that makes you feel like a performer. Not necessarily a suit or anything glamourous but it should be a bit different to your everyday clothes.
"A successful performance is the pinnacle of achievement in your musical development. In one sense, performaning entails a synthesis of thought, feeling, and physical movements; but in a broader sense, it signifies a supreme act of artistic giving."
With Your Own Two Hands by Seymour Bernstein
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"A peak performance exhibits the strength of the mind-body link.
A peak performer, what you think is echoed by what you do.
A peak performance is accompanied not by the fear of failure;
but rather by a confident and optimistic attitude,
not by an unsettled state of mind but a sense of inner calm,
and a high degree of concentration, a feeling of being in control of an apparently, effortless unforced result of a learned technique of physical relaxation and at the same time, an extraordinary awareness of body and surroundings."
Power of performance by Shirlee Emmons and Alma Thomas
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"Many are good; but few are great"
Sherlyn
