Book Tip: Stage Fright, Its Causes and Cures in Violin Playing by Kato Havas

April 23, 2015, 12:58 AM · This episode is all about the causes and cures of stage fright.

I always want my videos to serve you best. After a survey it appeared that the thing most of you struggle with is confidence... playing with confidence. It’s about playing for your friends and family, playing together with others, playing in an orchestra and important auditions and concerts. That’s why I’ve made some videos around this topic.

I’ve suffered from stage fright a lot myself and I liked reading the book ‘Stage Fright, it’s Causes and Cures in Violin Playing' by Kato Havas.

It’s a small book, but it’s stuffed with valuable information. It’s very detailed in describing the causes of stage fright. The causes can be very different.

I never knew that for example ‘the fear of dropping the violin’ is a cause of stage fright for a lot of people. Other fears in the physical aspect are a trembling bow arm, being out of tune, fear of high positions and shifts.

Mental fears are the fear of not being loud enough (also new to me), not being fast enough and the fear of memory lapse. There are also social causes of stage fright: the fear of not being good enough.

The books offers very practical solutions including technical exercises you can do to while practicing to make your fear go away. The cures differ very much per cause. They include the power of words and the power of imagination.

Also the book covers the shame around stage fright... nobody wants to talk about it while the majority of musicians suffer from it.

The book talks about the symptoms of stage fright... what happens to you exactly when you experience stage fright?

The main takeaway from this book for me was that music is something you give. It describes the relation to your audience. It’s good to have a giving attitude instead of trying to impress people or prove yourself and your abilities. This removes the ‘ego’ and is an altruistic view on making music.

The book describes the gypsy violinist who likes to play everywhere for everybody with a lot of ease. As classical violinists we can take an example of that.

You can discover the cause of your stage fright in this book and read some valuable tips and tricks on how to get control over it.

Click here to get this book!

Is this video helpful to you? Please let me know in the comments below! If you like it, share it with your friends!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions or struggles on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com and I might dedicate a Violin Lounge TV episode to answering your question!

Book Tip: Stage Fright, Its Causes and Cures in Violin Playing by Kato Havas

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