school performance

I am pretty sure ive had SA for a couple years now, and i have improved my social skills on my own to the point of where i can have a normal conversation with someone without blushing or tensing up. But i still cannot perform or speak in front of an audience without shaking, blushing, and breathing difficultly. Recently my school held tryouts for the talent show, and thinking it was a good idea at the time, my friends and I tried out. When we tried out, we played Metallica's "One" in which my role was to play guitar and to sing. I have done it a thousand times before with my friends, but i chickened out and i didnt sing (i still played guitar, though). We never told the judges at the tryout that i was going to sing, so they assumed it was gonna be instrumental. Turns out, we made it in, and now my friend is pushing me to sing, even though, i dont think the judges will let me, becase i didnt sing at the tryouts.
Just incase they do, though, i want to be prepared, and right now i am scared out of my mind. I want to sing because the song isnt the same without it, but at the same time I really dont wanna do it.
I am fine just standing and playing guitar. i might get shaky and blush a little when i head bang and stuff, but i have learned to deal with that. Its the singing that scares mne to death. By the way, the show is in front of the whole school, including my girlfriend which will make me even MORE nervous! i need advise on what to do!

[Maggie May]

A lot of musicians and other performers get stage fright and their voices or hands tremble, making to hard to sing and/or play. The shaking is caused by adrenaline, which your body releases a ton of when you are nervous. Many performers take a kind of mnedication called a beta-blocker before performing. It slows down your heart so it isn't pounding like crazy and gets rid of the trembling.

And even better, you don't have to take beta blockers every day for them to work, you could take one before you go to sleep the night before the performance, and one the day of the performance. You can also take them before rehearsals so you can rehearse the song more easily. You can get lots of experience successfully singing the song over and over during rehearsals, which will make you more confident and experienced when you go to sing it in performance.

Basically, every time you are able to sing the song al the way through during rehearsal without passing out and doing an unintentional stage dive into the pit, consider it a "victory". The more victories you have before the talent show, the more comfortable you'll be. So get as many victories as you can. Consider asking someone to come watch your band rehearse when you get a little more confident. If that's too scary at first, play in front of the dog, then move on to children and close friends or family. You can also recruit a close friend to take a video of the band or take a lot of digital photos while you rehearse so you can get really comfortable being observed, "on the spot" and "all eyes on you".

Try to get about 20 victories before your first dress rehearsal. Then you'll have a few dress rehearsals wth the rest of the people in the talent show, who will probably watch your band, which will be a few more victories.

Remember, any time you sing the song without passing out is a victory.

Beta blockers are not addictive, that's why it's a big favorite among performers. You'd have to see a doctor to get a prescription, but if you explain what you need them for and that you just want to feel a little more comfortable while you're performing, I bet he or she would go for it.

I've done a lot of performing, so I know how great it can feel, and I want that for you!

Keep us posted, let us know how things go.

Maggie