Singing assessments

Singing assessments have always been a fear of mine. I dread them- a lot. I get really anxious. My heart beats faster, my breaths are choppy, and my voice is quieter.

Believe it or not this is actually an improvement from my freshman year. Back then, I would literally be nervous with butterflies the whole night before. Now the nervousness doesn't sink in until right beforehand. The frustrating part is that I know I shouldn't be so nervous about the assessments- I am just singing in front of the people I always sing in front of right? I think my problem is that I lack the confidence. If I was more sure of myself and my skills I feel that I would definitely do better.

So how can I gain more confidence in singing by myself? Well, I have to practice singing by myself and eventually in front of others. This is hard for me, which is why I wish there were more smaller singing groups to participate in because it would give me the opportunity to be a little bit more "on my own" and yet still have the backup from the other singers.

Alison