How to build confidence in your art
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- Опубликовано: 28 янв 2025
- If you’re a musician or artist who is waiting to feel confident before putting yourself out there, this video is for you.
I’ve mentioned in previous videos that I used to struggle with performance anxiety and a lot of self doubt around my music-making. I wanted to share a shift in perspective and thinking about the idea of confidence that completely changed my life-and has helped many of my students move through their own challenges. It’s simple, but powerful, and I hope you find it helpful too.
Special thank you to the wonderful folks who shared their stories in this video: Jay Moore, Jevin Almazan, Alan Genzel, Lauren Korba, George Carr, Jared Kozub, Nathan Plante, Vidmantas Girskas, Aren Steinbrecher, Frank Humphries, Ipek Eginli, Caroline Jesalva, Shoutin' Kount Brockula, and Anja Kreysing
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Sarah Belle Reid is a Canadian performer-composer, active in the fields of electroacoustic trumpet performance, intermedia arts, music technology, and improvisation.
www.sarahbellereid.com
This is such a great reframing for confidence. I say the same thing about inspiration. We think we need to be inspired in order to take action, but most of the time the inspiration comes after taking action. It's helped me get past the fear of getting started! Love the guest spots in this video too!
I'm reminded of something Philip Pullman said - that if he waited till the days when he felt inspired to write, he would only do it 2 or 3 days a year, and that's no good for someone who wants to be a writer.
I have a postit on my desk, a quote I heard someone say : "Do something even if it's no good" and it is genuinely helpful.
This may be one of the best videos I’ve seen on RUclips. The advice is spot on. The openness of others expressing their own experiences only reinforces how valuable putting yourself out there is while pushing the emotional worries aside.
This topic not only helps with music but so much more. Thank you!
I’m really glad you persisted and got to where you are, because you’re clearly doing what you were meant to be doing. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and positivity. It’s an inspiration ❤
From an audience perspective: I always feel more invested in a show that's "imperfect" than one that is perfect and polished. Seeing somebody fail a little, but then get back on track is so much more involving. It's almost like you're there helping, and thus everything is more gratifying.
And from a performer’s perspective it’s great to have people like you listening, the wind beneath our wings. Thank you 🙏
@@pumphreygooch4124 🩵
I love hearing the stories from those who've used the technique as it really brings the idea to life. It's funny because I feel like I've just applied this by joining a song writing course even though I'd never written a song. I'm now in the process of completing my third one of the course, which also involves live sharing it with a small group of fellow students. This required some bravery on my part but it paid off. It won't be long before I'm also looking for an open mic where I can also begin to perform live. A friend had suggested this to me but I wasn't sure about it, but this video has shown me it's the right thing to do.
Awesome and great to hear feedback from your students. I was deeply inspired by a silly poster from nearly 30 years ago that said "if you can't do something well, learn to enjoy doing it badly." I have come to embrace imperfection and to look forward the discovery which can happen through uncertainty and personal doubts that are so common with the creative process.
This is a great thing to be reminded of. Even after a lifetime of being a composer/performer I still struggling with this!!!!
I recently met a professional puppeteer, and she told me that people always ask her how to get started in puppeteering. And she said she always answers the same way. “The best place to start,” she says, “is to START.” Thank you for being willing to be vulnerable and share this important message.
This is a very helpful thing to hear from someone that’s already an established musician / creator. Keep up the great work, you’ve been killing it!
Thank you! This is a great reminder for those of us who are chronically lacking confidence. For me, the fear of bombing is always the worst part of getting ready to present something, but usually at some point in the middle, I forget that I was worried about anything and just let the moment happen. As one gentleman in your video noted... most people won't be aware that you ever made any mistakes.
This came at a great time for me, though. The weather sucks, and I'm kind of at a personal crossroads. I needed the encouragement and the reminder that I can't get where I'm going unless I start walking.
Thanks again.
This video is some great food for thought. Thanks.
After a period of being too scared of doing shows I recently decided to go to an "open mic" event for experimental/electronic music after an artist I look up to suggested it to me several times. While preparing to do a performance with my modular I noticed a growing discontent with the patch I cooked up and deciding to change up the patch only made it worse. I was about to just abandon the plan when I realised that would probably only heighten the barrier in the future. This realisation made me decide on tossing my Lyra-8 and an FX/Looper pedal into a bag and head out to the venue.
The atmosphere at the event was awesome and very supportive and seemed like a very safe space to just try something. Even though I'm not really sure how to feel about the quality performance itself I do feel content that I decided on jumping over the hurdle instead of giving up and staying home.
Next edition of it is in half a month and I hope I can tap into that feeling and do it again, with a different device this time.
Looove this!! I needed the reminder 🥰 imperfect action is a mantra to get out of your own way, bust out your heart and explode your creativity. It’s vulnerable, it’s valuable, it’s worth it, it’s freeing. Thanks for sharing this!
That mic stand knock while talking about imperfect action was, ironically, perfectly timed 🖤
Also, I needed this. Thank you
I've recently had to relearn how to sing, due to some significant changes in my life. This has shaken my confidence in my voice. But I have still tried, little by little, to improve, and put myself out there. This video is giving me the courage to try and take bigger steps in the future. It's exactly what I needed. 🧡
This video is full of good advice. Thanks for posting it. I also used to nervous at my juries in college. My hands would be shaking on the keyboard while I was playing, but I survived. As we say in church, sometimes, you just have to step out in faith. Again, lots of good advice here.
Thank you. This is important. Yes, confidence - like everything else - needs practice!
It helps me a lot before sharing music to not care if it might be liked by the people, I mostly care I like it.
Thank you Sarah for the motivation, amazing video and you also beautiful!!:))
ahhhh the secret is lifted! 😍😍😍 Great video!!! Thanks so much! Best regards from the directress of chaos ❤
There's a pretty good short book related to this, by Susan Jeffers. I think it's called 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway'. Because, to get confidence you have to take action. But to take action, you have to somehow press on, despite The Fear. On the practice until you are 'good enough', my performance teachers had some better advice than waiting. It was to take it step by step, starting small. Which was, as you say, start very small, and then incrementally increase the challenge. It's practice, but it's practicing performance, progressively.
A great booster for my confidence was having an experienced and very skilled musician say, " Hey, come play with us!" And invite me to improvise along with him and his group of musician pals. That was both my first experience playing music with other people, and playing in front of other people. Really helped that the performance wasn't about me, and there was a full band playing. I could just jump in with the odd doot, or some drum sounds, or bust a solo on the electric kazoo (hard to take anything too serious when you're tooting on a patently ridiculous instrument)
I don't think any of us are ready, but at some point you need to get out there and do it . I did an open mic in the nearest town which went down well. This gave me the confidence to go out and do more .
Thank you for this ❤
almost every time I've managed to make an album, i got a little bit through it, then decided a title, album art and release date and announced it so i had a deadline to finish it. that pressure has been useful. my next step is to approach a label about releasing something, and approach people about playing shows together rather than waiting for an invitation. I'm not there yet. this is actually a recent therapy topic, how hard i find communication.
i've also been hearing a lot of interviews recently from favorite musicians where they all say the same thing, that they deliberately leave imperfections in and try not to overproduce their music.
I totally agree. I know it very well, trying to become per4ect in a subject before using this skill. And this behaviour was a blocker to really proceed in the things I had in mind. Trust yourself, get risky and forgive yourself your crashes. All these experiences are useful. Rock on.
This came at just the right time 😊
Wonderful subject, thank you for doing this.
i always tell people that Performing in and of itself is a craft. And you have to practice the craft of performing as something that different than being able to play the music. They are obviously related but they ARE different skills that must be learned.
I made the decision to deliberately play "unconfident music" - all the flaws are part of our humanity so it's ok to be honest and express them. It's part of who I am. The audience don't know what it's "supposed" to sound like and it makes my music different
That appears to me as though you are playing the most confident music. Great way to go. Give yourself permission to err.
great concept @ unconfident music! Will listen / watch on your channel 😀
I am hoping you'd be willing to share your view on the idea that building confidence by receiving 99.9% of positive feedback for years can be completely destroyed by a single bad comment that throws you back in doubting myself. I'd be repeating that comment over and over again for hours or days to the point of wanting to quit, hide and don't feel moments like this. When I write this down I see it shouldn't have any impact. A single person (real or unreal) should have that kind of destructive power but then I realize I am allowing it and it slowly goes away.
this video got uploaded in the perfect time for me, i really hope i dont just keep procrastinating.
sometimes baby steps can help move out of procrastination! I find when I'm trying to think of too many things at once, I just stuck.. but if I can break things into small steps, they can feel a bit more manageable. Keep going :)
Hey there! What is your procrastination stopping you from doing?
@the_washington_monument_am9714 I want to start singing in my music, but the need for lyrics and the learning curve of finding how to control my voice to get to the one tone I like, I know I like a very specific tone, but I can only get to it when I replicate the voice of other artists when singing along.
thanks very clear ; the creative process is not systemic all the rest is control; easy to say but hard to live, but here we go.
Art is permission to fail
Early experiments may need a slightly different forum than when you achieve a sense of mastery of something. I think about the audience, if they have expectations from an experienced performance, the feedback to the performer may not be encouraging. If the audience's expectations are low, the feedback may be more encouraging.
Er...stop doing it for other people? Duh!