3 Tips to Quiet Inner Dialog in Performance
Table of contents
It’s a common scenario: We muster the courage to share a tune with someone (or someones). But once we start playing, our mind sabotages us.
We talk nonsense to ourselves. Like a berserk monkey, our inner dialog makes a mess of our focus and concentration. This lack of focus scares us, and we freak out (adrenaline, stress, palpitations)
So what can we do to quiet this inner dialog? Here are three possibilities.
Tip #1: Soften the Muscles Around Your Eyes
One way to quiet the inner chatter is to soften the muscles around our eyes.
To help this, we can notice the edges (the periphery) of our vision. This brings our focus away from “pin-spot” focus, to a broader, softer focus. And this broader focus activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
The parasympathetic nervous system calms us down. It tells our body that everything is okay. It reverses the “fight or flight” responses and helps us relax. Goodbye “stage fright”. Adios performance anxiety.
Related: How to Use Your Eyes to Play (and Feel) Better
Tip #2: Release the Back of Your Tongue
Another way to quiet the inner dialog is to release the muscles in the back of the tongue.
Try this:
1. Let your tongue widen and come to rest over your back teeth
2. Notice the slight tugging on the middle and/or back of your tongue.
3. Stop the tugging (just do it, don’t use words or tell yourself anything). If you need to, softly exhale through your mouth.
To talk to ourselves, we use the muscles in our tongues. It’s as if we’re speaking aloud (only not).
We may not notice all the small movements in our tongue when we talk to ourselves, especially if our entire tongue is flexed (if our tongue is hard).
Releasing the tongue muscle stops the talking.
Tip: if you need to, gently bite the tip of your tongue between your front teeth.
Also, we combine this tip with tip #1 for double focusing power!
Tip #3: Use Your Inner Dialog to Guide the Action
If we’re in the moment and the inner dialog is raging, we can also use it for good.
Instead of letting the chatter run the show, we can choose what our internal voices will say.
We can direct the action. We can say nice things to ourselves. Or, perhaps more useful, we can repeat reminders that help us focus on each musical moment.
Instead of distracting inner conversation, we can call the shots. We can verbally (silently) tell our hands what to do.
After a few moments of this, we may find that the inner voice quiets, and we’re calm, focused and aware (the best way to play guitar).
Related: Ace the Tricky Spots: The Moves and the Mouth
Bonus Tip: Practice in Practice
It may seem that the inner chatter is something that only comes up when we’re on the spot. But more likely, it’s always there, in the background. We only notice it in moments of extreme awareness, such as when we play for people.
How we practice is how we play.
How we practice is how we play. If we allow our minds to become distracted in practice, our minds will also become distracted in performance.
So the best way to ensure that performances are focused and successful is to program our “autopilot” to focus by default. And we do this by focusing in practice. Over time, we automatically enter a calm, focused, and aware state when we sit down to play.
When we use our guitar practice time to train our “focus muscles”, we not only increase our chances of a successful performance, but we also enjoy our practices more.

Hi, I’m Allen Mathews.
I started as a folk guitarist, then fell in love with classical guitar in my 20’s. Despite a lot of practice and schooling, I still couldn’t get my music to flow well. I struggled with excess tension. My music sounded forced. And my hands and body were often sore. I got frustrated, and couldn’t see the way forward. Then, over the next decade, I studied with two other stellar teachers – one focused on the technical movements, and one on the musical (he was a concert pianist). In time, I came to discover a new set of formulas and movements. These brought new life and vitality to my practice. Now I help guitarists find more comfort and flow in their music, so they play more beautifully.
Click here for a sample formula.
Since a year ago with my subscription to CGS it has been for me a pleasurable adventure and a discovery of all the facets of the classical guitar.
Your dedication and enthusiasm, as well as your talent, in the tuition is quite contagious (well, lets hope also for your talent) and has made it fun and useful in my progression. Also the weekly tip that you mail us and the Facebook group is excellent.
~ Michel Donnet
-Michel Donnet
I just started level 1C...I was able to look at a Carulli piece, albeit a simple one, and understand it. And that understanding allowed me to play it much more easily on the first run through, and I expect it will allow me to make it fully musical at tempo quite soon. That's a huge personal victory for me. Until very recently my mindset was: "Notes on a page. Jimi didn't need them and I don't either." But I ain't Jimi, and now I want those notes on a page.My work in CGS, even at these early levels, got me to that personal breakthrough. And that's given me more confidence that continued work will get me to greater places in due time. So to answer your question: yes, I absolutely feel like I'm making headway and moving forward in my playing. Thank you for that.~ Matthew Ecker
-
Click the button to take a step towards an
organized, effective guitar practice. >>>