Dear Emma... I don't do all that much performing, per se, but am typically so shy about playing guitar and singing solo I can barely do it for friends. I unwittingly hit on a solution...I offered my services to convalescent hospitals and rest homes in the area, and now go regularly, once a week. Many people there are pretty much past it, some active but senile. I have had to try to keep singing while being patted, having my guitar case fiddled with, having the woman sitting closest to me singing loudly but an entirely different song... Under such circumstances it is impossible not to goof up, lose my way, forget chords, words, the works. But it is also a very forgiving audience, and now, after several months of this I've not only become relatively bombproof, I find it easier to play in front of friends and informal music sessions. It is also really wonderful to see a person who seems totally withdrawn, slowly begin to tap her feet to the music--makes me feel like a million dollars! Don't give up...shyness is NOT terminal!