Due to an editing error in this column Hannah Thurman’s e-mail address was listed incorrectly. Thurman’s e-mail address is hannahthurman@gmail.com.
The Daily Tar Heel apologizes.
Imagine you play a sport for which someone has found the miracle steroid. Pop a pill and your free throws double, your RBI shoots up or your time lowers dramatically.
The drug has almost no side effects, and best of all, it’s completely legal.
This is the scenario that some use to describe the current use of beta-blocking drugs in the classical music industry.
These cardiac medications, like propranolol, which subdue physical fear reactions and block adrenaline, have been used for years by professional musicians at auditions and performances.
Although the drugs can’t directly augment players’ abilities, they have been proven very effective in reducing anxiety obstacles. A violinist can play without fearing her hands will shake and her bow tremble; a vocalist need not worry his throat will suddenly dry.
It’s no wonder they’ve become so popular.
Around the world, the use of beta-blockers as tools to combat performance anxiety is on the rise. From symphonies to soloists, many musicians pop pills before they perform.
And why not? Audition judges don’t ask for a drug test before sight reading. Everyone’s doing it. So it must be okay — right?
Some say no. Mention the drugs around a group of musicians and at least one will denounce them as giving the taker an unfair advantage, or an unnatural performance. Even some who use the drugs are ashamed by the perceived weakness associated with stage fright.
So my first semester in the UNC flute studio class, I was surprised to hear several upperclassmen discussing their beta-blockers of choice.
I’d heard of people taking the drugs before, but never my peers. My teachers in high school had always stressed preparation and deep breathing exercises as an antidote to nerves. It had sometimes worked, sometimes not.
And although getting a prescription was tempting, I had heard before that once musicians start taking the drugs, it’s sometimes hard to play without them.
So I kept on with the yoga breathing, which had the added effect of unnerving other audition competitors who thought I had gone into a coma.
After a couple of years of college music and a few dozen performances, I get stage fright much less frequently and wouldn’t consider taking propranolol unless I were, I don’t know, playing for Oprah or something.
But the use of the drugs — and some controversy surrounding it — still interests me.
I talked to other members of the UNC Symphony Orchestra during one of our twice-weekly rehearsals to see what their views were. Several said they’d taken beta-blockers before; others said they had not but supported those who did (“Performance anxiety sucks!” said one).
The majority said they did not care whether others took the drugs, but the ones who did not agree with beta-blocker use felt strongly about it. They cited negative side effects and unnatural performances. This seems fair.
For me, adrenaline seems to improve my performances, making it more exciting to play music. If performers’ nervousness were completely taken away, it would make live concerts pretty boring.
So while the use of beta blockers is still left up to personal choice, I chose no, and I’m glad I did.
Hannah Thurman is a junior journalism major from Raleigh. Contact Hannah at sehodges@email.unc.edu.
