Getting Ready to Perform on Stage

Performance Preparation

Ralph Waldo Emerson: “That which we persist in doing becomes easier—not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability has increased.”

Ernst Bacon: “The greatest freedom in playing results from the most disciplined preparation.”

When you’re not motivated, you have to be disciplined.

Without the goal of improving performance, the motivation to engage in practice vanishes.  When you mention discipline to most students, they groan and roll their eyes, but discipline is a good habit to develop to get us through those times when our motivation is at low ebb.

Too often, we return to the beginning of the piece rather than dealing with the troublesome passage itself. Knead those problem parts—get them worked out. Refuse to let them trip you up. Effort must eventually turn into ease. The idea is to make the most difficult measures sound (and feel) easy.

Sometimes we spend time on passages that we can already play. This can be a waste of valuable practice time. Spend your time working on what you can’t play so that you will eventually be able to play it. Play the things you can already play when you need a little bit of ego boosting or want to maintain learned skills.

“Almost” being able to play a piece isn’t enough.

Like climbing to the peak of a mountain, there’s a difference between being there and almost there. Keep practicing.

Prepare the piece over many months, practice the hard parts completely until you can play it automatically from memory. You do not have to perform the piece from memory though.
Be able to play it to 'performance standards' 3 times in a row.

I suggest performing one of your favorite pieces. One you have already learned thoroughly and have allowed to “rest” for awhile.

Performance Practice

About two weeks before the performance, begin your Performance Practice. Rehearse your complete performance.

a)    Play your piece through completely – no stops.

b)   Play your piece without warming up. No stops.

c)    Record your performance. Use an iPad or video device so you can observe your stage deportment.

d)   Begin performing in front of others. (see Opportunities…)

Opportunities for performance

• ·      Experience a recital before you perform in one.
• ·      in front of family and friends
• ·      in front of your class (only if the class has learned manners and respect!)
• ·      talent shows (Tanzania Night)
• ·      practice recitals in the band room or a studio setting
• ·      performance run-through before a lesson
• ·      performance run-through at the end of a lesson
• ·      performance run-through after a lesson (at home)
• ·      Dress Rehearsal on the stage with no audience (perhaps just your teacher or parent)
• ·      Piano Party & Picnic on the theater stage

Practice as if you have no limits. Perform as if this were true.

What do you have to lose by thinking this way? What do you have to gain?

When in doubt, breathe.

Few directives are more important than this one. Sir Edmund Hillary: “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” Before you begin to play,  breathe deeply twice. Let yourself breathe out slowly and comfortable. This technique tricks your brain’s “alarm system” into believing you are relaxed and not in danger.

Always do the best you can if not the best you are capable of.

Some days are better than others. All you can do is to play up to fullest ability in any given moment. Forgive yourself if it’s less than what you are capable of.  You may then learn from the experience and ask yourself what you can do to make your next performance even better.

What if  something “happens”?!

One of the principles of performance includes getting on if you make a mistake. Just go on without grimacing. Most audiences won’t notice or won’t mind anyway. One of my professors used to say “Flucht nach vorne” which means “escape forward”. Just focus and move on.

Establish points in the music where you could begin if you lose your place or if you, for some reason, have had to stop. Jump to the nearest point and off you go again. No problem!!

My daughter often mentions how pleased she is that she performed most of her young life. She has started her own business and actually enjoys presenting. That is one of the reasons I encourage playing in the recitals.

Plus – I love feeling proud of my students. They “feel the fear and do it anyway”!!