September 1997: "Growing" your performance abilities

Hello all:

Sorry this lesson is a tad late but come October SCP will have many new publications which have been taking up all my time. Nonetheless here t'is .

The ability to perform is a learned experience. Expecting it to happen perfectly, easily, and with no nerves simply because you have practiced ad infinitum is very unlikely. Yes, there are those people whose personalities will allow no hint of insecurity, but they are very, very few.

Rather, if you share your pieces with friends and family right from the very beginning and get used to it as you go along, then performance ability will grow along with you. One of the most unreasonable things that students do to themselves (especially adults) is to wait until"you are ready to perform" . Without growing the process, you will never feel ready so when you actually undertake the task you are completely unprepared for how you will feel, how you will react, and how you will handle the inevitable flaws that will occur.

Does this mean that you go out in public and inflict the products of your learning process on them - play weddings, recitals or other events - or even accept money for it? Of course not! Start by doing little get-togethers with friends, or if you have a teacher he/she might have mini-recitals or workshops. Don't hold back. Get in there and try. That's the correct learning venue. When you make mistakes, and you will, relax and accept your own humanity. If you set a goal of playing perfectly you will disappoint yourself. If you set a goal of trying to do the best you can at that given moment, you are bound to succeed.

How you prepare for a performance is just a little different from regular practice. In performance you must NEVER stop when you make an error. Instead you must continue going ad libbing if necessary, whatever it takes to create a smooth execution of the music. One of my more seasoned students had a bad day recently. She was to perform Nataliana as she had many times before. Her mind went blank. She started to improvise, then the real music was recovered, then she lost it again and improvised, recovered, etc. etc. etc. until she actually played more improvisation than she did the real thing. The other students who had played the real piece were stunned at her improvising abilities, those who had not played it never knew what happened.

When preparing for performance try using a tape recorder in place of the audience. Warm up, practice for a while, then make believe you are going out on stage. Turn on the recorder and play straight through the piece. Don't stop or hesitate no matter what happens or how many times it happens. Don't get disgusted with yourself when you make a error. Let go of it mentally and think of what you are yet to play. What's done is done and can't be undone so forget it. When you get to the end rewind and listen to yourself ( no matter how bad you think it was - do it anyway!) You will learn from hearing your own reactions and gradually there will be fewer flaws. If possible try to get at least one perfect a day during the week before you actually perform then you will have a "leg up" on the real thing.

See you next month.

Stephanie

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