Musicians and food

WHAT DO YOU THINK MUSICIANS ARE SUPPOSED TO EAT BEFORE A CONCERT?

HOW DO THEY GET READY TO STAY ON THE STAGE?


...coming soon









Well, lots of people don't know that to get ready for stage is a tough task for every musician, and this issue doesn't normally end with food.





However the relationship between food and music is relatively modern.


Less than 50 year ago there was a common belief among teachers and students that the key-point to do an outstanding performance is studying, and this is the most important, but nowadays whoever professional musician would question this statement.


To eat the right food is very important to perform at your best.


You are what you eat. It's true.


From my experience, I remember very well a teacher of mine, in a masterclass that was really tough, who told students to eat bananas after a strong and stressful performance...we thought he was acting ironically, but he wasn't. It appears that thanks to potassium, bananas are very good after whatever stress you had.


So for musicians is very important to know how to distress, otherwise we risk a burnout.


Ok, this after, but BEFORE?


Well, musicians are very similar to athletes from this point of view, especially wind-players.


A lot depends on how you react when you get nervous. In general it is strongly advised to avoid very sweet or very savoury aliments, because this might alterate your temper or salivation. And salivation, sweat and temper are the first ones to be alterated by nervousness. They don't need a plus. So now what? There are many different opinions...someone says that it is good to eat meat and vegetables because this helps to keep your cool, but this doesn't work for people who have low blood pressure. People with low blood pressure should eat pasta or similar because they need energy very quickly, but in this case they should eat less but often.

On the other hand, musicians that feel their stomach is closed before a concert shouldn't force themselves in eating. This would be a useless torture. They should try to eat something easy to be swallowed, like yogurt or similar. In any case musicians never go on stage without eating at all or having eaten too much.

In summary, every musician should know how reacts before a concert. Unfortunately for us, we discover a lot after experience, so this means we got wrong lots of times and finally found what's suitable for us.

Do you have suggestions or comments on how food can affect musicians performance? Write!!! I'd love to hear!