Performance Anxiety Strategies: A Musician's Guide to Managing Stage Fright

Music performance anxiety has long frustrated the artistic community and, while tricks and folk remedies abound, a comprehensive plan to solve this problem has remained elusive. Accomplished violinist Casey McGrath combines her experiences with the research of Karin S. Hendricks and Tawnya D. Smith to provide a resource guide to the most current solutions and therapies, as well as educational applications, for both individual and classroom use. Divided by area of therapeutic interest, Performance Anxiety Strategies presents relevant and noteworthy research and insight into some of the most popular and many lesser-known therapies—including holistic, exposure, cognitive, behavioral, and medicinal treatments. Each chapter also features self-guided activities and exercises, words of wisdom from established performing artists and athletes, and suggestions for music teachers, as well as first-person narratives about the authors’ personal journeys with music performance anxiety both onstage and in the classroom. Including a wealth of offerings and approaches, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone who has ever experienced performance anxiety, from the aspiring classical musician to the garage band guitarist.