Playing Piano In Front Of An Audience Might Be Intimidating, But It Doesn't Have To Be
I can remember the first time I ever played piano for what seemed to me like a large audience. I remember it clearly. Realistically, it was a fairly small audience, but I was still nervous nonetheless, as I was just a kid. My so-called piano performance that day didn't last very long, but it seemed like it did. I was unsure if I could even complete my piano playing. I didn't know why I was nervous, because I knew I had practiced and was perfectly capable of playing the piano music that I had planned on.
After the performance I made a remark to my mom about how nervous I was during the performance and told her wasn't sure why. Of course she told me I played the piano fine and that she didn't think I looked nervous. I knew otherwise. I later realized that my problem was that I was feeling self-conscious the entire time I was playing piano on stage in front of that audience. I was concerned about what I looked like, what the music sounded like, what the audience and even my mom was thinking about my piano playing, and probably many other things that were racing through my brain while I was playing piano on stage. I just couldn't relax and enjoy the time.
How does a person correct this problem of being self-concious while playing the piano? For a majority of people, playing piano or any type of performance in public in front of an audience can be a nerve-wreckign experience, but it doesn't have to be be. The idea is to keep performing, and graduallyy your confidence will grow and you won't have that fear when you perform. Some people feel more confident playing the piano in front of an audience than other people do, and it's OK if you are not 100% comfortable. There is nothing wrong with being nervous at all.
In my opinion, one of the best ways to overcome this is to simply start playing the piano in front of small audiences, even if it's only one or two people, and eventually work your way up to playing the piano and performing in front of larger audiences. If you can play piano in front of just one person, then you can play piano for a large number of people too! You just have to know that a large audience is simply a group of smaller crowds and individuals. Instead of beginning your piano performing career in front of large audiences, where it's only natural to be nervous, you should begin by performing in front of small groups and you won't have to experience that fear nearly as much, and your confidence will grow without you even noticing it. That confidence will shine through when you begin playing the piano in larger venues for bigger audiences.