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 The Joyful Musician Blog

What do Adele, Taylor Swift, and Luciano Pavarotti all have in common? They get nervous before every performance. If the world's biggest stars still feel those butterflies, maybe the problem isn't your nerves — maybe it's that no one ever taught you what to actually DO with them. Here's why "just get more experience" is terrible advice, and what really works instead...

You've been visualizing your performances all wrong. Lying in bed imagining the perfect show — nailing every note, crowd applauding. It's the advice everyone gives. But then you step on stage and panic. Your hands shake. The fantasy crumbles. Here's what no one tells you: the problem isn't that you're visualizing success. It's that you're visualizing the wrong thing entirely. What if there was a different approach that actually reduces anxiety instead of fueling it?

Feeling lost after music school? Your worth isn’t tied to grades or applause. You’re more than your music — it’s time to believe it.

For as long as I can remember, people have been saying that perfecting your technique is the secret to acing auditions. It’s like this...

Have you ever felt like your love for music was slipping through your fingers? You started out so excited, dreaming of the day you’d get...

Ever felt like you’re not good enough to call yourself a musician? Like you're one gig away from everyone realising you’re a fraud?...

Ever feel like you’re putting in all the effort but still not performing at your best in auditions? You’re practising your pieces,...

The goal of every musician  is to perform with confidence and share their music with the world . But with performance anxiety (stage...

Many musicians dream of performing with confidence and gracing the stage, but often get stuck feeling overwhelmed by their goals. They...

Repeating positive affirmations is one of the most common pieces of advice on social media. But this approach can do more harm than good.

The nerves are always worse right before stepping on the stage.Here are some of my best tips for preparing yourself mentally and physically.

How to build confidence for musicians… This question comes up in musician and music teacher communities often – when we see musicians not...

Stage fright is the tense, nervous, uneasy feeling that comes just before you take the stage. Here's what you need to know to overcome it.