I love music and I love playing the violin. I practice an hour a day plus I play at school. I am a very shy person who gets nervous alot. This year, I have gone from a pereson who could not play at all in front of anyone to a person who can play in front of a small audience. When I am alone, I can play complicated pieces with a beautiful vibrato. I can actually hear the music and it is wonderful. When I play solo tests at school, the music becomes dead and my fingers won`t slide or move correctly. I can`t count anymore. I just auditioned for an orchestra and did terribly. I know I can do so much better... Why do I play so badly when I`m nervous and how can I get better?

Everyone gets nervous when they r about to perform.it can be for anything not just for violin.make sure you know the piece of by heart and then you can work on other stuff like vibrato.after time u wont get so nervous and will be able to play your heart out in front of millions!just keep tjinking somrthing like when ive done this im gonna treat myself to a shopping spree!or whatever you want!hope this helps!

hey, i`m 14 i love playing the violin too, and like you i also get very shakey and nervous, i played a solo at my orchestra concert and totally messed up, infront of our town mayor and M.P! all i do is tell my self i am nigel kennedy/vanessa mae and that i can do it and eventually i do and sound great! good luck!

I don`t play teh violin, but my sister does, and like me, when she is nervous she jitters and shakes, so she uses the shakes and puts them in her arm and turns it into a beautiful vibrato, takes practice, but then it actually will sound better when you are nervous.

I don`t agree that nervousness will be a good thing in any performance. Only controlled adrenaline can be of put to good use.

I think that nerves come from worrying about how others will think of your playing, or that you may make a fool of yourself.

You just have to know how to relax in these situations. Concentrating fully on the music is the best solution.

James
http://soloviolin.com
Violinist Forum

just wait till you feel that YOU are READY then think about what your gonna play, about the life in the song and the rythm and beats moving thru out it then play(a good thing to do is to inhale deeply at the start exhale at the end of the next mesure and keep doin that to keep ya self all calm)