[Trombone-l] Beta-blocker info requested

[Scott Garlock]

Greetings all--

am at home and don't have this at my fingertips--so, am sorry for the  
rather apochryphal look to this, but...

There's a survey that was taken w/in the last ten years or so of  
auditionees for an orchestral gigs. if I'm remembering this properly,  
the respondents were players that were able to offer their practices  
involving beta blockers anonomously. In any event, (and again, this  
is from memory--maybe somebody can help me on this) over 70% of the  
participants at these auditions used beta blockers prior to their  
auditions.

Certainly there is a stigma involved in being so 'weak' as to use  
them in such a situation. Perhaps that is why so few folks have  
volunteered that they have used them prior to important engagements.  
It would appear that the use of them is perhaps more widespread than  
the list might indicate. Certainly also it' s not what one would want  
and the suggestions that folks have made have all been solid.

I must confess that i have used them perhaps 9-10 times in my 30yr  
professional career. i've never had troubles and i have found them to  
be an aid in situations that used to be rather debillitating for me.  
i don't recommend them to my students but I certainly spend a great  
deal of time talking to them about performance anxiety.

Regards,
Scott
On Nov 12, 2006, at 4:36 PM, Carole Nowicke wrote:

> Quoting james meador <jamesmeador at hotmail.com>:
>
>> So THAT'S what did it?!?  I thought it was my 'daily routine'...
>>
>
> It's a common side-effect of beta blockers. In a previous day job at
> the Kinsey Institute we had frequent questions about medications
> prescribed for hypertension. At much higher levels than prescribed for
> state fright. Since you can't get high on them, we don't hear much
> about them in my current day job.
>
> I'm wondering when solo and ensembles festivals will start
> urine-testing students to find out if they are taking them before
> competitions.  I have no doubts that they're able to score them from
> older friends, college students they study with, etc.
>
> They're banned in Olympic competition for sports where lowered heart
> rate and fine motor control is an advantage.  Banned in NCAA golf,  
> too.
>
> One of my former professors has a beta blocker prescription for
> hypertension. I didn't ask him about "other" performance but he  
> said he
> didn't like the way they tamped down the feeling of excitement--he
> liked being "up" and playing on the energy.
>
> Carole Nowicke
> cnowicke at indiana.edu
>
>
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