"I imagine musicians similarly experience intense nerves before stepping onto the stage" - it depends. There's a saying among musicians. "The amateur practices until he can get it right. The professional practices until he can't get it wrong". Music is written to be achievable and a pro who knows and loves the piece is rarely nervous. Usually, they are showoffs relishing a chance to entertain an audience that wants them to succeed. Even so, some are nervous. I can't find the anecdote immediately, but I understand that Fyodor Chaliapin was a bundle of nerves before performances.

Contrast that with sport, where there is another team trying to make you fail and some proportion of the audience wanting exactly the same thing. Even then, nervousness is individual. Keith Miller famously dismissed the idea of there being pressure in test cricket with the words "Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse". Of course, in his era, a day's Ashes cricket was always followed by an evening drinking with old pals like Compton & Edrich. Apologies to those whose geography makes this incomprehensible.

Regards,

John Davies

Update 2018-05-23: At least one musician reports feeling no nerves on at least one big occasion: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5761181/Teenage-cello-prodigy-played-royal-wedding-reveals-WASNT-nervous.html

Update 2018-08-09: I was chatting to a professional musician today (we'd both have preferred to be watching cricket, but after 6 weeks of perfect weather, we had non-stop rain) and I asked him specifically abouut nerves. He said (a) that everyone is different, (b) that the young are less likely to be nervous than the old and (c) that most (not all) musicians are very nervous before a performance, but not once the music starts. He said that a certain level of nerves is desirable, as the feeling "here we go again" would lead to a boring performance.

In reply to Re^6: Rosetta Dispatch Table [OT] by davies
in thread Rosetta Dispatch Table (Interview Question) by eyepopslikeamosquito

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