Performance

I would like to continue along the same lines as my previous post. Bud Herseth has said that if you get nervous in auditions you don't deserve the job. There are of course many people that would disagree with that, but let's try to figure out why he thinks that. It is pretty safe to assume that you do not get nervous when you are playing a song for yourself with nobody listening. At that point your thoughts are focused on the music. What changes from that to a performance? An audience of course, and it is when you worry about what they are going to think that you can get nervous. Bud recognizes that if music making is your only concern you won't get nervous, and music making should be your only concern when performing. A performance in which the music is the your thought will inevitably be a better performance. You are playing because you love to play, and that should be what is behind your playing every time the horn is on your face. You should approach playing so that not only do you not care how you sound, but you can't care what other people think. Play beautiful music and forget about everything else. With this attitude you will not only get rid of nerves, but you will enjoy yourself every time you play.