Essential tremor

[Johanna]

Are there any other concertinists out there who are afflicted by essential tremor?  Do you have any tips or tricks you use to minimize its affect on your playing?

 

I've had a tremor that's been noticeable enough for people to comment on for 15+ years now.  As tremors do, it comes and goes, and it's gotten progressively worse over the years - and I (hopefully) have a lot of decades of life left for it to get even worse.  It's still "not that bad" under most normal circumstances, but it really kicks in whenever I'm even a little bit nervous, which unfortunately happens whenever I'm the center of attention. 

 

I've recently gotten back into concertina-ing after a long hiatus, and I'm trying to dip my toe back into performing.  But no matter how much I practice a piece to perfection alone in my living room, as soon as I get up in front of people, I start shaking.  It (mercifully) doesn't seem to have much of an effect on my ability to find the right buttons, but it can be detrimental to my bellows control, and I know people can see it, which makes me self-conscious.

 

Here's a video of me that was taken yesterday.  Just at a local session, not even on stage with a microphone or anything.  In the moment, it didn't feel that bad, but you can tell that I'm really shaking.

 

Some thoughts on things I have/haven't tried:

 - The concertina I'm playing in that video, my brass-reeded Wheatstone, seems to be less sensitive to bellows pressure than my others (an Aeola and a Morse).  So it may be my best option for managing the tremor - and I like it for song accompaniment in simple settings like this - but it does get drowned out quickly in louder envrionments.

 - As you can see in the video, I have a weird playing posture, with the left end of the concertina resting on my right knee, and the right end moving freely.  I've thought that maybe it would help if I trained myself to play with the instrument balanced evenly across my knee, and opening the ends in more of a V shape.  But I haven't tried that yet.

 - I'm not currently on any medical treatment for the tremor.  In the past I've tried propranolol and the Cala Trio electrical stimulation device.  The latter helped more than the former - but unfortunately it's not covered by my insurance.

 - In my previous performing life (10+ years ago), I seem to recall that nerves were less of a problem when I was performing with a group rather than solo.  So the solution may be as simple as getting back into a duo or band (which is something I'd like to do anyway).  But that would involve convincing people to play my weird music with me.

 - Speaking of weird music, that language I'm singing in is Cornish.  Because it seemed like the thing to do.

 

Anyway, I'm curious to hear about anyone with similar experiences, and what has or hasn't worked for you.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

It is often said that the performers often worry far too much over their performance.. and the audience does not notice perceived imperfections quite so much ( and can be more forgiving)..🌝

I could not see on the video anything to criticise, in fact it added to the performance. As a viewers viewpoint even to me, having just watched your session here only briefly.

Don't worry ...enjoy🌝

 

[Johanna]

Thanks so much.   You're right, of course, that we always notice our own imperfections much more than anybody else does.  So to the extent that the problem is self-consciousness, all I need to do is just...not be self-conscious (although that's easier said than done).

 

But the larger point is that this is going to get worse (and sometimes it already is worse than that), so it's something I'm going to need to manage over time, one way or another.

[Tiposx]

This doesn't actually answer your question, but the performance was just fine. The tremor actually looked like a technique.

If you were playing single note melodies then it might not be noticeable at all?

Honestly don't worry about it. I couldn't achieve what you are doing.

Cheers

Tiposx

[gcoover]

Perhaps the twist in your posture might be an aggravating condition? Try putting the left side on the left leg as that will change the angle of your arms (and help prevent any future back problems as well).

 

Propanolol (Inderal) can be a very safe and effective beta blocker, but it's better to get to the point where you only get into the flow of getting the notes out, regardless of any audience or not. Playing in a band definitely helps diffuse the spotlight, but the key is to get past the worry. Your singing is confident and fine, so let your playing be equally at ease!

 

Gary

[wunks]

My band member friend who plays banjo has essential tremor that is quite severe.  He drinks a beer ( just one ) before playing.  His doctor says go for it.  A little mild whole body strength training might help.  I use a water rower.

Edited June 9, 2025 by wunks
more info

[Don Taylor]

You say that the tremor is much worse when you are under stress so take a look at "Cognitive Behaviour Therapy", CBT, see:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy

[Ryan Galamb]

I've got more or less the same thing! I've had essential tremors since middle school. (To illustrate the severity: I first noticed it as "not normal" when I tried to eat a meal with a fork and kept shaking the food off the fork before I could get it to my mouth. It's normally not noticeable, but sometimes it gets crazy.)

 

I'll dump my notes on this. Apologies in advance for the lengthy post. I'll try to keep it organized and skimmable.

 

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Similar to you, it only gets "bad" when I get nervous. And it only really affects the bellows. After having the tremors show up a few times during important performances, I've decided that I quite like them! It adds a nice vibratto to my playing. (Of course, once I decided I liked them, they stopped showing up as much.)

 

Personally, I think the tremors can make an otherwise boring bit of concertina way more exciting and dynamic. And we get it for free!! Others have to work way harder to get that nice vibratto without detracting from their button pushing. It sounds good with chords, but amazing with slow melodies. I just wish I could force myself to do it on command. (Instead, I've had to practice my vibratto like everyone else for the cases where I don't get nervous on stage!)

 

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I'm pretty sure part of the puzzle (for me at least) is hydration/electrolytes. It is at its worst at festivals where I'm on a hot stage and don't have access to water (and/or if I've been drinking the night before 🙈)

 

You may be hydrating, but it's easy to forget about the electrolytes. Nowadays, I keep a couple packets of Liquid IV on me when I'm performing. It might not fix your problem, but better hydration/electrolytes certainly won't hurt.

 

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Regarding posture, if your tremor is like mine (and it looks/sounds very much like mine), posture won't "fix" it. I perform standing up. I jam sitting down. I've played with all sorts of postures. The posture/position doesn't seem to impact it much.

 

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Propranolol: eh, it might work. I take it every now and then for other reasons. (I only recently learned about the tremor-reducing side effects.) I've occasionally taken it on performance days, and I haven't noticed much impact. (But then again, I don't really think about the tremors much while performing anymore. It's there or it's not. Don't have much control over it.)

 

Since learning about the tremor-reducing side effects, I've actually started avoiding taking it on performance days when I can. I don't want to unwittingly grow dependent on meds to perform. Plus, again, I like the way the tremors make my playing sound.

 

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Regarding nerves: This is general advice that you may already be doing, but I've already written this much, and it's relevant to the tremors.

 

I can practice at home all day, but the first few times I'm playing something new in public, I'll flub it up. There's distractions, there's nerves, and yes, often more tremor.

 

When working up a new piece, I'll practice in public somehow. Maybe it's at a park. Maybe it's at a friend's house. Or maybe it's at a friendly encampment at a festival. If people can hear it but I'm not the center of attention, it's perfect. (You may end up drawing a few listeners in. That's fine too.)

 

I'll get used to the distractions (and make a bunch of mistakes) in the low stakes environment. Then when it comes time to do it "for real" I'm much less nervous and won't get thrown off as easily by distractions.

 

Again, this advice applies to most performers, but managing nerves is much more important for us. So it's worth bringing up.

 

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tl;dr The tremors actually sound pretty good in most cases. Hydration and electrolytes might help you keep it from getting too crazy.

 

Managing nerves can help, but sometimes you simply won't be able to avoid the tremors and that's fine too. Enjoy the gift when it shows up!

[RAc]

It is important to point out that an essential tremor (ET) is not a diagnosis in the sense that, for example, infection with the xxx virus, hypertension or a vertebral compression fracture are distinguishable medical conditions. The diagnosis ET is an acknowledgement of the physician that a) you suffer from something and b) they can not match it to anything they know about (diagnosis by exclusion).

 

Thus, all that two patients diagnosed with ET have in common is that their conditions are neither Parkinson nor Dystonia nor anything else in the universe of tremors that has a name yet.

 

Consequently, there is little point in comparing notes. I have an ET history of my own, but from what I can tell, it is too distinct in nature from everybody else's mentioned here to be useful to spread out.

 

All I can recommend is to systematically observe the condition, ie analyse which factors aggrevate or counter your tremor and from those observations come to a conclusion what the root cause of your tremor may be. Note that nervousness and resulting neuroligical irregularities are normal, so you need to find a way to filter that out (which of course is hard in this case). Note also that that analysis may well turn out to be a dead end in the sense that either you can not pinpoint it or that you can but not do anything about it (in which case you still have the option to make the best of it as Ryan suggested).
 

Edited June 15, 2025 by RAc

[Matt Heumann]

You are not alone! Even after 52 years, I'm terrified of performing in public. I prefer to play "background music" at friends' events. Sometimes busking is a good way to acclimate to playing in public, no static audience. I also show a slight trembling when I'm very nervous or playing a piece for the first time in a video. If you watch my last 2 videos, I was shaking like crazy because I hadn't learned the tunes to memory and I'm not a strong sight-reader. Don't sweat it!

As far as audience perception, I have a friend who plays Celtic harp and at a wedding several people came up and asked what the beautiful tune she just played. Her response: "I was just tuning it!"

[wunks]

The confidence we develop when we are young erodes quickly on several fronts as we age.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

12 minutes ago, wunks said:

The confidence we develop when we are young erodes quickly on several fronts as we age.

Oh don't think that.  I believe in lifelong learning ( taught an art class) with all ages young and old mixed together everyone has something to contribute ( experience cones with age).

[Lappy]

On 6/9/2025 at 8:02 PM, Don Taylor said:

You say that the tremor is much worse when you are under stress so take a look at "Cognitive Behaviour Therapy", CBT, see:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy

The beer solution seems better…..😁

[Anglo-Irishman]

On 7/27/2025 at 10:09 PM, Matthew Heumann said:

As far as audience perception, I have a friend who plays Celtic harp and at a wedding several people came up and asked what the beautiful tune she just played. Her response: "I was just tuning it!"

I have read that, in the days of Thurlough O Carolan and his colleagues, the "tuning prelude" was often regarded as the most beautiful part of a harper's performance. The strings of a harp have to be tuned individually to the diatonic scale over a couple of octaves, and if the harp has no pedals, the tuning has to be just tempered, so as to avoid jarring intervals. To achieve this (without recourse to an electronic tuner!) the harper had to run through all the chords and arpeggios he was going to use, identifying any irregularities, correcting them and playing them again, just to be sure. With a bit of imagination, a harper can assemble wild and beautiful chord progressions, far more complex than what is needed to perform a simple tune.

The concertinist can't have this experience, because the manufacturer or technician does the tuning for him. I learned to appreciate it when I took over my mother's old, diatoic Autoharp in the days before electronic tuners. The major scale can be tuned more or less correctly by someone with a singer's ear (like my mother and me!), but you can only be certain that the temperament is correct when you've strummed all the chords.

Cheers,

John

[TimPiazza]

I used to fret about any small error I made while performing and it only grew worse as I continued on because I thought I was ruining the show. I don't remember how it came to me, but when I realized that the audience is actually there to support me, not criticize me, it made all the difference. I'd play a thousand notes and fret over the one I made a mistake on, while the audience was only thinking about how much they enjoyed the other 999. 
 

I learned to let it go, and I eventually learned to improvise around any surprises that came out of my hands, making them opportunities, rather then errors.

 

perhaps my experience is helpful to you.