I took a lesson once with David Russell, who is one of the finest classical guitarists in the world. I was quite nervous, and it showed in my playing. After I played the first movement of the piece for him (Concierto De Aranjuez), he stopped me, and said "You're nervous, aren't you?"

I replied "yes," and I expected him to say something to help me calm down. After all, it was a private lesson with David Russell, so being nervous seemed natural. Instead he simply said "You will always be nervous when you perform. Learn to handle it."

His point was that you have to learn to manage your nerves just like you learn all your scales. It is simply one more skill to master so that you can perform well.

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