A quick and cheap remedy for onstage nerves (which was suggested and endorsed by lots of the e-mail harplist group from around the world) is to eat a couple of bananas about 20 minutes before performing. There were all sorts of suggestions about why it works, but everyone on the list seemed to agree that it worked for them. It's related to Beta blockers somehow.

When I did my first and only solo harp performance - about 3 tunes - I took along a banana, but forgot to eat it. I did have a drink beforehand but it made me worse not better. It made me feel a bit calmer, but it made my fingers go everywhere but where they should have been on the strings.

The truth of the matter is that I was pushed into a solo performance before I was ready. If I had practiced the tunes enough and had brought my solo skill levels up to performance standard it would have been totally different. Practice to the point of autopilot helps a lot, I think. (I have still avoided solo performances because I still don't practice solo pieces religiously - well, not much at all, really.)

Helen