Goal Be sure you are clear
to yourself on what your goal for performance is. Are you trying
to learn how to perform? Are you trying to play every note perfectly?
Are you trying to look good? Are you hoping to make it on stage
without tripping? Are you trying to make your parents feel proud?
While all of these goals are okay, they should not be your primary
focus when you walk onstage. When you walk onstage to perform,
they only thing in your mind should be the music.
Hopefully, you love music-it's why you play your instrument
and spend hours practicing to get better. Remember that when
you walk out in front of your audience. When we walk onstage
we should be ready and eager to communicate the beauty, message,
pathos, elegance, magnificence of your piece of music, as
well as your own love of music, to your audience. The composer
deserves no less. You deserve no less. The audience deserves
no less. The very worst goal is to get through the performance
unscathed. GO FOR THE MUSIC!
Listen to the hall Can
you hear how your sound is projecting? Do you need to reinforce
the sound by moving closer to the bridge and slowing down
the speed of the bow (big hall and/or loud piano)? Do you
need to articulate more or less to accommodate the resonance
of the room (large echoing space or "dry" room with
lots of drapes and carpets)? Can you afford to be more intimate
in sound with the audience (small room)? Free your sound-don't
squash it.
Memorization does not
equate to projecting intimacy with the music but it can help
to liberate you from reading/translating the score during
performance. During performance the score should be giving
you hints of what to do. If you find yourself trying to read
everything your performance will be stiff because you can't
read and concentrate on projection at the same time. If you
are using the music in performance, selective memorization
can be a great help in passages that are particularly hard
to "read" (lots of accidentals, patterns that change,
etc.). If you take the time to memorize a passage, you will
really learn the passage. Once you have memorized a particular
passage, define where you will look away from the music and
where you will look back so you don't get lost.
First performance vs. multiple performances
The first performance is the hardest because you are usually
concentrating on getting all the notes right and in the right
places within your own part and in ensemble with others. Doing
the same piece or pieces many times will give you the opportunity
to focus on the music more. The "right way" will
become second nature and the flexibility of the music will
be your primary aim.
Don't be afraid to make a mistake
Take musical chances. Obviously, we all want to do everything
right but spending your energy on worrying about making mistakes
or trying not to make mistakes will actually make it more,
rather than less, likely that mistakes will happen. Focus
on the music and on your cues for doing particularly troublesome
passages successfully and let go of any mistakes you might
make. One luxury you absolutely cannot afford during performance
is score keeping! If you focus on counting the number of things
that go wrong, you will certainly make more and more mistakes
because you are no longer thinking about how to communicate
the music.
What if you aren't the ideal performer
yet? Rather than spend time worrying about your
imperfections, simply admit to yourself that you are not there
yet; let go and concentrate on the things you CAN do. If you
trust your teacher, you know that (s)he will not send you
out to make a fool of yourself. Even if the performance will
not be perfect, it has the high probability of allowing you
to share something wonderful with your audience. Finally,
performing is one of the most deliciously exciting things
you can do without endangering your life.
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