Folk legend Art Garfunkel has been performing small gigs in secret to build his confidence before he makes his big stage comeback.

The singer/songwriter has battled ongoing voice problems since he was diagnosed with vocal paresis in 2010, which forced him to embark on a lengthy silence and pull out of a Simon & Garfunkel tour.

Garfunkel is now almost fully recovered, but admits he has one last obstacle to overcome - his stage fright.

He tells the BBC Breakfast show, "I ran into vocal trouble about two years (ago) and I really don't know what caused it so I took a pause and stopped recording and stopped singing for a while. I don't know why one vocal cord got stiffer but I'm so thankful to God that it's mending. It's on the way. Privately, I sound fully like Arty Garfunkel now. The rest is (about learning how to) bring it on stage and deal with the adrenaline and the stage nerves, which has brought me back to age 12. There's the pressure."

The 70 year old reveals he is attempting to conquer his nerves by practising on smaller audiences before stepping back into the spotlight.

He adds, "I would say in the next few months I'll be back there (doing big concerts). I need to get a few more shows under my belt (first). I wanna work for audiences that are no advertising, no money - just to work out and make sure I'm comfortable."

The Bright Eyes singer attempted to stage a series of big shows in Europe this summer (12) but he scrapped the dates after deciding he wasn't ready to return to the road.