1,000 Days of Piano - Day 3: Taming the Tiger

I am not posting videos of my playing because I think they are impressive, performance ready, or even good enough to share. I am posting these videos as a way of taking the tiger in the room.
Fear of performing is real. It triggers a physiological response that is the same as if there were a snarling tiger in the room with me. Sweaty palms, trembling knees, thumping heart—these are all the body’s response to perceived danger. Blood rushes from the brain to the core to support vital organs in case of a serious injury.
Musical performances, however, are usually not dangerous...unless you count the danger of making a fool of yourself in front of an audience. No amount of preparation can calm that fear. Practice makes you a more skilled musician, not necessarily a braver one. For that I use a handy tool that I call desensitization. The more I perform, the more accustomed I become to performing, and the easier it is to calm my fears.
Feel free to push play and listen to me playing Écossaise from Book 2 and the Theme from Mozart’s Sonata in A Major from Book 7...without my daughter singing Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl in the background.