By Penny Wayne-Shapiro
Many schools and teachers hold recitals at this time of year. For all those of you who have a performance approaching, here are some tips to help you walk out confidently, knowing that you're ready to give a strong and secure performance.
1) Of course, make sure you practice well. (This blog post may help.) Follow your teacher's advice about slow practice, using the metronome, how to clear up tricky passages and so on. Conscientious preparation will not just give you the best physical control of your piece, but will also help you to know, ""I've done everything I can to get ready,"" and to give yourself a pat of the back for that.
2) Practice performing. This is very different from practicing your notes. It's ""running the performance"" multiple times - just like athletes plan and run their races before their events - until you have the sequence down smoothly, so that even if you feel anxious or something untoward happens (a door slams, or someone sneezes right in front of you), you will keep right on going because you've done it many times before.
My students do practice performances in lessons, and several times a day at home, in the week or two before the recital. Although it's great if someone is available to watch you, you can just as well do a practice performance for the family dog, or even an audience of stuffed animals or basketballs! The important thing is that you create the feeling of a performance for yourself. Here is how my students do this, at Wayland School of Music and at home:
Walk up (carrying instrument and music) with a smile, and give a nice deep bow.
Place the music on the stand, prepare your instrument and hands.
Hear the beginning of the piece in your head; give a breath cue (this is both for yourself and for the accompanist, if there will be one), and start.
Play through as best you can - no stopping for mistakes, or ""advertising"" them with a frown!
Bow again, and walk off.
By the time you've been doing these performances several times a day for a week or two, the actual performance will be ""just another one"", rather than a new or scary experience.
3) Learn from these practice performances. I ask my students to find three things they liked about their performance, and three things they'd like to work on. These things may be general: ""I played all the rhythms right,"" or ""I remembered the repeat,"" - or specific: ""I missed the high G in measure 17,"" or ""My trill was a bit slow."" This is process of self-evaluation is very important, as it helps students to plan their subsequent practice effectively.
4) Remember that the goal is NOT perfection, but communication. Audiences are there to enjoy young people making music,. They appreciate the musical works as a whole, the freshness of the young people playing them, and the spirit of a performance; they are not there to mark it like an exam.
Parents, your attitude is huge here! Yes, in our lessons and practice we are always working to improve - but when students actually give a performance, at home or in public, please make sure you are encouraging them to do the best they can with what they've got right now, rather than criticizing them for ""messing up"" or not ""getting it right""!
My students always seem surprised when I tell them that professionals make mistakes too! The important thing is giving pleasure to the audience. Students should remember that although they, and their teacher, are familiar with all the details of the piece, the audience is not, and no-one will begrudge them the occasional wrong note or missed rest. (In fact, those small errors will likely go unnoticed if they have prepared well, and play their piece with enjoyment and spirit.)
5) Take the focus off yourself and find a person in the audience who looks like he or she needs your music. At WSM we do our recitals at the local senior residence, where quite a few of the audience members are medically fragile or lonely. For them, this will be the highlight of their day or week. There will always be someone in the audience who needs the comfort of your beautiful music. As you walk up to play, focus on the gift you are giving and you are sure to play well!
6) Try re-framing ""nerves"" (if you're feeling that way) as ""energy"" or ""excitement"". Although it may feel uncomfortable, don't run away from that feeling - take a deep breath and use it. Sometimes riding that wave of extra energy can result in your very best performances - the ones with with that extra bit of ""zing"" that really excites an audience!
7) Don't compare yourself to others. Some students have been playing longer than others. Some are serious about music and practice an hour or more every day, while others are competitive swimmers and spend much of their free time in the pool. Some have a musical parent at home who can help them with practice and some do not. As long as you have prepared to the best of your ability with the time YOU have available.
8) Give yourself a pat on the back! - no matter how it goes.Preparing for a performance, and then actually getting up and doing it, is rewarding but also challenging. Congratulate yourself for accepting the challenge and doing the hard work involved. That work is never wasted. Ask your teacher - we have all had performances we're proud of and others we'd rather forget! As long as you grow from all your performances, you're heading in the right direction. Do the best you can with what you've got, and then enjoy relaxing after the concert - you've earned it!