As I write this post, it is late December 2014, and I have just been asked one of the hardest questions I’ve ever been asked. I am currently playing in a theatre show. After one of the shows, I was on my way into town for some food, when a young boy, aged maybe eleven or twelve, approached me and said: “you were the bass player in the show just now, right?” I told him that I was. He told me that he’s just started playing bass in his school band. “I really enjoy it”, he said, “but I get quite nervous before we do concerts. How long will it be before I stop getting nervous?”. This question stopped me in my tracks completely. I understood where he was coming from. We’ve all had nerves at one point or another, so I was able to give a stock, but true, answer along the lines of “just keep practicing and try not to think about it. The more you play and get experience the better you’ll be able to handle your nerves”. But I was genuinely struck by how big a question this was. I don’t really get nervous now when I perform. I thought “well I’m quite experienced now” but I stopped myself and began to realise that I don’t always have prior experience of some of the gigs I do. Surely I should be nervous then. Also, how could I class myself as experienced when I haven’t done some of those gigs before? But most curiously of all, why am I able to reap the benefits of experience (not suffering from nerves to name one)…
