Just found this excerpt in a rather insightful post by kerioboe, and it made me think of something I've been pondering for some time.

Before I start I should say that I know exam nerves are a very real thing that can prevent many of us, myself included, from performing anywhere near our best in an exam or performance situation. I've demonstrated this on multiple occasions, including stopping in the middle of a piece in an exam, and stopping several times during a piece in a certain forum concert (although the latter was due to lack of preparation).

When planning to do an exam most of us think about these exam nerves and prepare accordingly. Few are lucky enough to be not so badly affected, and such people can 'get away with' not doing this preparation, which is fair enough. However, I know that I must be prepared way beyond being able to play the pieces in the comfort of my own home (to be honest about 80% of my exam preparation is when I can already play the piece pretty much to the standard I will eventually do in the exam, at home). If I didn't do this, I could do the exams with clearly a fraction of the work; this work (and it is most of the work) is dedicated to getting things so ingrained that even with nerves I will somehow pull out a good performance, maybe I could get away with less, but I'm not chancing it.... Further the difficulty of pieces one can play is also affected by nerves: the more nervous one is, the more comfortably within one's ability one would have to play.

So dealing with the nerves is a part of the exam and it's not therefore fair for someone to say 'I'm grade 8 standard but I failed it because I was nervous' when there are many others that will have been equally nervous, have worked harder to compensate for this, and then entered the exam and wouldn't have even considered entering when they were as unstable as the previous player anyway, because they knew they weren't of the standard to do it under pressure yet. Does it not 'do down' the achievement of the exam to claim one failed because one was nervous? As the quote at the top of the post says, dealing with that is part of the exam, and for some of us, the biggest part of it. Is it any different to failing because one hadn't prepared for some other aspect of the exam? And isn't it often the case that examiners are reasonably good at seeing what is nerves anyway? Maybe nerves are blamed too much when the playing is at fault: nerves could make one stop in the middle of a piece, rush or similar, but they're unlikely to make one not hold down notes in counterpoint that one otherwise would, for example, or suddenly stop articulating the subject of a fugue.

Sorry this is a short reply to a question which deserves better - but I think - and would hope - that examiners can tell the difference between nerves and poor preparation. Your last sentence illustrates what I mean. Obviously if things are SO bad that continuity is a serious problem, then the examiner has to go on what he hears, but I would hope that he would be able to glean the potential there in order to mark accordingly - certainly up to a certain grade. I remember reading the old Guildhall syllabus, and the requirement for Grade 8 included 'an awareness of concert giving', so I suppose this must mean that nerves can be handled, but I know of several nervous performances which have attracted good marks regardless, up to about Grade 5. After that, consistency seems to become more important.

As for whether that is justified or not - I think it probably is. If the 'qualification' is awarded or otherwise, there's no point in the examiner saying, "This candidate can obviously play extremely well, but is clearly affected badly by nerves." Once past a certain level, anyone wanting to know whether a musician is dependable only wants to know whether they can come up with the goods when required . How they can play in the comfort of their own home doesn't really matter.

Not much comfort for those of us who get desperately nervous - of which I am often one (depends on the atmosphere) but I do believe that we just need to get over that. And one of the best ways to do it is just to keep coming back - in the realisation that, if we make a complete horlicks, the sun doesn't fall out of the sky, and that the person who remembers it most is ourself.

Music exams stress performance. If one is affected by nerves, one can't be a real performer.

In my Grade 5 exam just a couple of months ago, I was so nervous that when asked to play tongued, I played slurred and vice versa at least twice. I failed my scales but I did quite well for the first two pieces. I was glad of that because it's good to be able to perform the pieces well if performance is what I'm hoping to be able to do. I did Schumann's Fantastistucke the best of my 3 pieces.

But I must learn to overcome my fear of scales, which is why I've been practising my scales every day without fail nowadays.

I'd like to think of myself as a Grade 7 clarinettist but until I see a Grade 7 clarinet certificate with my name on it, I'm still a Grade 5 clarinettist. Exams mean everything.

I don't think exams mean everything... playing well, enjoying your music... lots of things are important.

As to scales, practice is vital so that you know your scales back to front, upside down and even the right way so that they won't go wrong, but then maybe if you could find a way to think of them as a performance and not just an exercise... conquer the fear, conquer the scales!

good luck

First of all AP thanks for developing what I wanted to say but was too tired to articulate properly last night. Until recently I would have said, like you, that nerves are blamed too often when techincal preparation is at fault (and also agreed with someone on another thread who said that people say they play better at home because there is no one with the ability to listen properly). However, since I have started having oboe lessons I have played in several concerts in which I have suffered the same crippling nerves as I do for an exam and it is my teacher, (unsollicited by me) who has commented on how much my performance is affected by nerves. This goes beyond rushing (and I never stop because I just want to get to the end as quickly as possible); according to my teacher the way I play in public is "unrecognisable" compared to the way I play in lessons and that it is difficult to believe that it is the same person playing.


I agree with this entirely, which is why I have no intention of doing another exam until I have mastered to a great extent my nerves. What I was pondering is that there are different types of performing. Obviously someone who wants to give recitals has to be able to cope with what I shall call for want of a better word "exam-induced nerves." Such people also need some stage presence and for performance certificates it would seem wrong not to take points off for nerves.

However, I'm not quite sure that this is equally true for someone who wants to play in an orchestra (or an ensemble). This was one of the things I was thinking about when I posted in the other thread; someone who scores 29 on all three pieces and fails the sight-reading is not necessarily going to be a better orchestral player than someone who scored lower in the pieces due to nerves but who is an excellent sight-reader and whose nerves dissapate when they are playing in a group. The problem is, of course, how to identify these people since the ordinary individual audition process does not usually include playing in a group.

Wrong! A lot of the top performers get nervous before recitals.......it just doesn't show.....and they've learned to deal with those nerves and harness them to advantage. In the past I've usually been nervous in the run-up to a recital, but when I get on stage and sit down at the piano stool and take a moment to compose myself, I use Carola Grindea's technique to focus deep down inside and although not all the nerves completely disappear, they are definitely more manageable.

True.


Yes. What I find interesting is how different people are affected differently by nerves. I'd far rather play in a concert than in an exam. I get nervous for concerts, and have been known to make a hash of things/make more mistakes than I "would at home", but generally the nerves are far less bad and affect my performance far less than in an exam situation. BUT I know people who have a totally different experience of that, whose nerves are far worse, say, in concert than in an exam.


This always strikes me as a huge fault of the autidion process too. After all, not only are there excellent ensemble players who would fall apart playing solo, but some players who are fantastic soloists are lousy in ensemble.

True, this is one reason I find it not to be so justified in a music exam as perhaps another type of exam. Suppose someone was a very good mathematician, for example, and they could do complex maths brilliantly all day long; however, when they got to an exam or pressured situation they couldn't do it. Would it be worth making concessions here? The answer is probably yes. If they're just going to be doing maths as there job all day long and won't be under pressure when required to do it that's fine, they don't need to overcome the nerves in order to do it: there's real hard evidence that at the end of the day they could do it, the questions are answered. However, with music, nerves are fundamentally a part of performance, if the nerves were artificial and only created by the exam situation then ignoring them would perhaps be justified; but because overcoming them is as much a part of the performance as playing the right notes (indeed it's often required in order to play the right notes, then it's not so justified to ignore this. How can we certify that someone can perform to a certain standard if they're so nervous no one can hear the evidence they can do so? We only have their word for it, and they're not qualified to judge. Anyone who wants to perform music in front of even one person has to overcome the nerves in some way, and if they can't do this then we really have no way of knowing if they can indeed play.


No, as others have said, if one can't play in spite of any nerves one may have, then one can't be a performer by definition because one can't physically do it. What one has to do is overcome these nerves and be able to play despite them; which for many, myself included, will probably harder than learning to play the instrument in the first place! (and that's not because I think the instrument is easy to learn!)



But here's the thing: if it were a fear of scales then would the extra preparation necessarily make you less scared of them? I'd guess not, it would simply make you more able to play them in spite of being equally nervous (or more nervous since there's more of your effort expended in them...).


Interesting, I do agree that there are genuine cases where nerves affect what would be an otherwise much better performance, and even though I haven't heard you play, from reading your posts I do believe that you are one of them. However, I also believe that there are also an equal number of people who are 'normally nervous' (for want of a better expression) but because they were nervous in an exam will say that their performance was below what they would have expected because they were nervous, when in fact it's just flaws that they don't hear themselves. One only has to look at youtube for loads of recordings of people saying 'I'm amazing listen to this recording, although I only got 23 for this piece in the exam because I was nervous'. One can then sit there listening thinking 'crikey you're lucky you got 23 I can hear a lot of serious flaws in your now perfect and not as nervous playing' .

Equally there are those in the middle ground, which is what I was really focussing on, who will genuinely be able to play the piece quite well at home; but not in an exam because of the nerves there. However, had they done more practise, or an easier exam would have been able to play under pressure. The exam they claim to be 'as good as' should be the one they can do under pressure, not the one they can do at home because that's the time they're actually on level footing with the people who have actually passed the exam: I'm sure most of them could have done better at home too!


An interesting conundrum, and one to which I have no answer!

My fear of scales at the last exam about two months ago had everything to do with the fact that I had not prepared myself for the scales. I had thought that with good memory, I should be able to get the sharps and flats right but I was wrong!!! Scales are not like the multiplication tables. That's the beauty of music. It's got a soul of its own and it punishes those who have taken their scales for granted. Now, I have learnt my lesson and will play my scales as religiously as a Vicar reads his Bible.

Not necessarily. I know of performers who've never conquered their nerves, or those who've suddenly devloped nerves after a really bad mishap in a recital.

Many performers wouldn't admit to taking them, but beta blockers have saved many a professional musicians career. I have very little connection with the acting professsion, but it wouldn't surprise me if they aren't quite popular amongst nervous 'lovies' too.

I would say that it is very easy to blame nerves for poor exam performance, and perhaps an easy way for someone to justify a low mark. But there is a real difference between nerves, and what I suffer from, which I think can be described as a full blown phobia about music exams. I can't even think about them without feeling sick and starting to shake. I'm having trouble typing this post, because of that...

On the other hand, I passed all my exams up until 7, with decent passes, despite what I know are poor aural skills. Saying that, I suspect with a bit more practise, I'd have been able to improve those, if I wasn't so shy of singing loud enough to hear myself properly!

I failed 8, however I was even more chronically scared in that exam, because I knew I wasn't really ready for it. So perhaps lack of preparation is the real reason for failing that exam. If I'd been better prepared, perhaps I would have been able to keep a grip on myself. Not play Handel with such a strong vibrato because I was shaking so much, not messed up so many scales I could play perfectly acceptably, because my fingers kept slipping of the keys, because they were damp, and so on.

So I think overall, nerves can certainly be listed as a contributary factor in poor exam performance, but good preparation can counter this to some extent, certainly enough to acheive a solid pass. It can only help so much though, if you suffer from something closer to a phobia, than just nerves.

Have you ever considered getting help to overcome your difficulties? If your anxiety is stopping you from doing something you want to do, then it might be something worth considering . AmandaL mentioned beta blockers, that's one possibility; there are also various forms of therapy that can help you to reduce the extent of your negative thoughts.

I'm another one who coudn't function without beta-blockers at one point, and I probably would have floundered for good if I hadn't used them temporarily. There are other threads about this, though, which I'm sure would come up with a search.

I got a little book yesteday, called 'Keeping Your Nerve", by Kate Jones, pubished by Faber Music, which is interesting to read. It was only a couple of pounds, and is very short, but was worth getting. It describes how some well-known musicians deal with nerves.

After G8, I swore I would never take another music exam! It had taken all the fun out of music, and I was sick of rushing from one exam to the next without expanding into other advanced level repetoire. I get nervous about other exams, but not in anything like the same way, so it seems a bit excessive to become medicated for it. My hayfeaver dopes are bad enough...

On the other hand, I am lucky enough to now have a very musical boyfriend who is confident about peforming himself, and encouraging me to learn other skills. I am considering taking Jazz piano lessons this year to fill in some of the the gaps I have from learning the flute, although that really depends on the ole student budget! I'll juts have to make it clear from the beginning exams are out, at least unless I feel ready! Shouldn't be an issue too soon, what with me being a complete piano novice!

Similarly, I can avoid performing by myself, although I do enjoy playing with groups still, as long as I can be convinces no one is listening, and the atmosphere is suitably encouraging.

I doubt I'll ever be completely cheery about performing and certainly not exams, but its nice to find other ways to enjoy music where all those competative elements don't matter.

Yes, Proffetionals do get nurvous, but you can't tell




With a music exam, I tend to get nurvous until right before going in, but the nerves don't realy bother me after seeng the examiner.


With my Oboe exam, I was more nurvous than usual, but a banana and talking to my Oboe teacher was all I needed.

I would of talked to my teacher before my grade 3 flute exam....only she wasn't there as she was teaching the others at my school who also have woodwind lessons as the exam was on a Wednesday. I thought I'd failed the exam, I didn't. Thankfully.

There's just been a tribute programme about Pavarotti on television and the interviewer asked him if he still got nervous before the first performance. His answer was that he got just as nervous now as he did the first time he ever performed. He said that he wouldn't wish the 10 minutes before going on stage on to his worst enemy, and every time he wondered "why am I doing this". But the moment he went on stage, all was well

Thanks for all the replies . Just a few quick points:

Tamsin: firstly you're not alone, there will be people who fear exams as much (and some more) than you do . Some will never do exams, some will soldier on as you did, and some will eventually manage to control it in order to perform (although that won't be easy). It's more than acceptable to go and talk to someone about it if it troubles you; likewise you don't have to do another exam again if you don't want to: but if you do want to do it help is available for everyone, and that does include you, it's not excessive .


It is fascinating that nerves affect people in different ways; you'd never stop because you want to get to the end but clearly it affects you in a different way (not sure precisely how but I'm from what your teacher says it sounds dramatic). To me, my biggest fear is stopping and not being able to continue, like you I just want to get to the end as quickly as possible. I've never stopped because I want to stop, but it's a sort of self fulfilling prophecy: 'oh no, I'm going to stop and not be able to carry on' ad infinitum all day and surprisingly happens....

It's frustrating though that at the times one really wants to play one's best one can lose the ability to play .

Incidentally I don't believe that one can 'prepare the nerves away' just that more preparation will make the same nerves have less effect on the performance (or the same effect but the original standard was higher, so the new standard is higher). Although severe under preparation could cause nerves in itself. Interestingly though, in some sense maybe greater preparation can make one more nervous, one has more invested in it: if one is taking an exam one has worked so hard for one has a much greater desire to do well and much more to lose; if one hasn't put in so much effort because it doesn't mean as much (or it was easier for one to do to start with) then one may well actually be less nervous, any thoughts on that?

I am inclined to agree with this. The only instrument I have been able to play in public without suffering from excessive nerves is the flute. I had lessons for a year at school when I was eleven. Some fifteen years later, for reasons I won't go into here, I ended up playing the flute with another (real) flautist, two cellists and a pianist. I think because I knew that I didn't know how to play the flute properly (and so couldn't really play any worse than I usually did) I was totally unaffected by nerves.

I was reading in my new book, that I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread that the very first way to tackle nerves is to know that you're well prepared, but it depends on the situation whether this is true. Knowing something almost by memory is dangerous, for instance, because the automatic pilot that takes over can mean that you aren't concentrating on the page where it matters. And when I'm playing in church I often do much better if I don't go mad on working out the best fingering and so on - i.e. I just go with what works well enough with the least thinking about it! Then I don't get into a panic about a forthcoming passage that I spent time dithering over.

'Preparing the nerves away' can take on a new meaning, though, if we prepare under several different conditions. Something that I've just read is that it can help to run up and down the stairs a couple of times before a practice in order to simulate the physical effects of the stress of playing in public or in an exam! Also suggested is playing in a cold room/a hot room/on different pianos/with different people listening - or even talking - in the background. In other words, once the music is as well prepared in the comfort of your own home as it's ever likely to be, there are other aspects of a 'performance' that can be prepared for.

I think these are vital words - the skill of playing when one is nervous is playing in spite of whatever nervous symptoms one has, as much as trying if possible to reduce excessive nervous symptoms. I suspect that some people will always be nervous no matter what. We cope by:

Combating them symptomatically - from drinking water for a dry mouth, up to taking beta blockers to combat excessive nerves/shakes.
Combating obvious causes of nerves - such as being well prepared.
Combating the damage the nerves cause to our performance - practising coping with nerves, for example playing in a forum concert.

Think those are the 3 obvious ways - any more??? I'm tired and should be in bed!


Ain't that the truth


Yes, I definitely think that balance is necessary... under and over preparation can both cause the collywobbles! But good preparation can help one feel more secure, AND guard (to an extent) against nerves wrecking the performance, by, as you mention, being able to play better than necessary so even a nervous performance is still pretty good.


Yes I can identify with that. If I could prepare as well as nerves compel me to for an exam, and then somehow not care about the result very much when it came down to exam day, I'd get the best of both worlds. Well prepared but not worried about the result so able to just enjoy playing... which is the balance I seem to be hitting more often these days with regards concerts (Just wish it would rub off on exams...) As it is, I care too much - which makes me prepare well but also makes me far too invested to be able to relax even if I know I'm well prepared. And there's the horrible knowledge that if one feels well prepared but then still messes up... can one ever trust one's "preparedness" in the future?

Something strange is that I don't get nervous about sight-reading under pressure or in front of others; in fact that's when I do it best. It's not because I'm a wonderful sight-reader, but I actually quite enjoy the challenge rather than get into a tizz. I wish I could transfer this to everything else. Any thoughts?

What a brilliant thread! I have to add my 2 cents worth here...

I was often told that I could train to be a concert performer on the Recorder when I was studying, but the one thing that stopped me was nerves nerves nerves! This was despite constantly playing the highest grade repertoire and getting a high distinction in my Grade 8. The symptoms were always the same; I would think about an upcoming concert (whether solo or in an ensemble) weeks before hand and not stop thinking about it until it made me really anxious, I would do my best to get out of it by feigning illness or something, I would also tremble and go pillar box red when performing. It was almost like my body thought my life was about to end, I hated it! I'd try to control it and be reasonable and logical but it never worked...I have recently been through counselling for depression and anxiety is STILL something that stresses me out, even as a teacher. As a one-to-one teacher I'm fine, but I'm about to start teaching a whole class of children Early Music (tomorrow is my first class actually) and I'm absolutely petrified! Yet, I know I could make a good teacher, I know this is what I want. But my anxiety still controls every facet of it, I think it comes down to being exposed as a fraud or having people judging me but that's another thread altogether...

I try and be over prepared but even if I am, if the slightest little thing changes in a performing situation or goes out of my control, I freeze up and it feels like time is going really slowly. I don't know how to deal with my anxiety or fear of performing, the truth is I have always wanted to perform and teach big classes but my anxiety is something that remains with me no matter what I do. I'll sure give it a damn good try though!

Must be tired....... I was skim-reading this too fast and my mind somehow took in "but talking to a banana and my ....teacher was all I needed." ...............

I've always felt nervous before exams, but only the 'usual' sort of pre-exam nerves. However, I'm currently experiencing a reluctance to take any more exams, set off by I think what were (for me) two rather disappointing exam results in the last few years.

I'm currently in the process of writing up my essay for DipABRSM Teaching: an exam I originally intended to take around 6 years ago. I may or may not make the deadline this time; I am actually closer to it than I have ever been before.

I have been working towards Grade 8 piano for three years (not, I hasten to add, by playing the same three pieces all this time), but I have a great reluctance to commit to a date for it.

I am also intending to take my Grade 5 singing some time next year.

And of course, there is the LRSM Flute Performance, which has also been on the cards for the last six years.

It's not the fear of exams that's stopping me: it's the fear of failure. And, although all my teachers think I should be ready to take the exams I am intending to take, I can't quite bring myself to make that leap of faith.

I can sympathise with that (isn't it always easier to see that someone else is so obviously more than fit to take exams and difficult to see for yourself? bah!)