5 Pointers On Nervous Situations Out Of Your Control - Part 1

May 02, 2025•5 min read

"People haven’t come to watch you play the piano, or at least I hope they haven’t. Rather, they have come to worship God. That fact separates the time of worship apart from any other musical concert or performance because it’s not about you!"

As church piano players, how do we manage nervousness, fear, and anxiety, and what triggers these?

Well, over the next several weeks, we'll be looking at 10 different triggers or situations that can cause us to become nervous or experience fear or anxiety as a church piano player, and also some pointers on what we can do about these.

To make it easier to understand, I've separated these triggers or causes into 2 separate categories - those that are out of our control, and those that are within our control.

In other words, those that we can do something about, and those that we can't.

Of course, we will be able to do something even about those situations out of our control, but it will be a different approach. It's more about learning how to deal with it internally, than perhaps externally, or more about embracing the situation than trying to change it.

So here goes then, under the category of “Out Of Our Control”, I’m going to be talking about the following 5 triggers or situations that can cause us to be nervous…

Fear of playing in front of people (stage fright)
Interpersonal issues with others within the congregation
Difficult emotional/spiritual issues in our own lives
Being criticized, or having an unsettling conversation right before we play
Unexpected situations during the worship (bad sound, wrong notes, mistake in leading)

Then, under the category of “Within Our Control”, I’m going to be talking about the following 5 triggers or situations that can cause us to be nervous…

Fear of playing wrong notes / making mistakes
Expectations that others have of us in our role
Having to play a difficult song
Lack of preparation / practice on our part
Getting the songs too late in the week

Now this isn't an exhaustive list - I'm sure there are other triggers. But these are the typical ones you generally will come across or experience.

So over the next few weeks, we'll be looking at those things that are “Out Of Our Control”.

Here's the first point for this post…

Fear of playing in front of people (stage fright)

There’s no doubt this will be one of the most common fears. Though ironically, we’ve all put ourselves in this situation (well, apart from those of you who perhaps feel you had no choice as there was no one else to choose from) but either way, it’s a reality, and we have to deal with it.

This is something I don’t like myself - in fact the kind of piano playing I prefer to do in public is when I ask people to close their eyes and listen so I know they're not watching me!

However, this is not an option when leading worship, and I guess the bonus for those who play, but don’t lead is you certainly have less eyes on you.

Of course, some of you may be in churches with a dozen or so people, and some of you may play piano in a church of several hundred - but if we don’t particularly like playing in front of people, the numbers are kind of irrelevant, because the nerves are still there.

So how do we deal with this then?

Well, one of the most helpful pieces of information I can give you is this little nugget of truth…

...Most people are not actually thinking about you as much as you think they are.

This is very important to let sink in, because more often than not, a pre-occupation with self, and what others are thinking, is the main driver of the nerves. Once we realize there’s probably not as many people watching us or analyzing how we are playing, it can actually be a great relief.

We do well to take on board those words of Paul in Romans 12:3, where he says…

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Of course, the source of this is pride, and pride is a sin, which means we can confess this to God, be forgiven, and move on.

Another thing that can help here is understanding that this is not a performance.

People haven’t come to watch you play the piano, or at least I hope they haven’t. Rather, they have come to worship God. That fact separates the time of worship apart from any other musical concert or performance because it’s not about you! Rather, it’s all about Him (you might enjoy reading this post about our goals as church piano players) and as such, the people are mostly going to be focused upon the Lord, and the words of the songs they are singing, and not on your playing.

If we keep these truths in our mind, and remind ourselves of them when we get nervous, even confessing and repenting where necessary, it will help us to be less fearful of playing in front of others at church.

Sometimes it’s just the activity of playing in front of others that makes us nervous, but sometimes it’s other factors in the mix, which we will look at in the next post.

[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]

This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.

Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.