Basic stress-management in piano performance, composing and improvising : Based on personal experiences and self-reflection

There is a lot of information and it is not always easy to find the right bits, and to apply them. Therefore, stress-management in music world is underdeveloped. Musicians struggle in situations, where even basic psychophysical knowledge would already relieve the stress considerably. Thus, this paper aims to help musicians of all levels with as simple, universal, efficient stress-management tips as possible, without any medicine involved. The end aim is to help with the organization of personal creative life as optimally as it can be in any given personal circumstances, even if stress already occurred and has become chronic. The research is based on my personal experience as a classical pianist, composer and, nowadays, also improviser. I will support my methods and discoveries with relevant reference to authoritative sources. My results up-to-date, with using the stress-management described in this thesis, are: completing a ten-page variations (included in this thesis) based on a Depeche Mode song, already performed at my graduation piano exam together with a one-hour classical program, 46 piano improvisations recorded and published on YouTube under the name Keys of Fate, setting up a personal website www.keys-of-fate.com, and last but not least, defining the nearest future music path to follow as a piano performer despite my history of personal challenges related to piano performing. My only wish at this point is that stress-management based on wholesome psychophysiological methods is included into music education not only in short introductory courses, but also as a deep, ongoing and compulsory educational process throughout the study years