Survey Question #6
You can see that I have quite a few less responses to this question than some of the others. I just left it up to the students each week to decide if they wanted to answer the question or not.
What performance tips have been the most helpful to you?
* Just focus on your piece and take a lot of deep breaths.
* Just keep going if you mess up.
* Take time before you play.
* Practice, Practice, Practice!
* Good job.
* Stand up straight and smile.
* Practicing.
* Practice it a lot before.
* Memorizing.
* Be prepared! Have your piece learned well enough to play in your sleep. (When you get nervous your brain won’t work - your fingers have to know what to do!!)
* To smile when walking up.
* Pretend the audience is not there.
* Focus on what you’re playing.
* Sit straight.
May 29th, 2008 at 3:13 am
I particularly liked this one:
Be prepared! Have your piece learned well enough to play in your sleep. (When you get nervous your brain won’t work - your fingers have to know what to do!!)
In my experience the major cause of nerves is not being well enough prepared. It brings to mind another couple of quotes:
‘Really right, not just nearly right’
‘Amateurs practice until they get it right, professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.’
Enjoy your practice!
June 1st, 2008 at 11:38 pm
All too true! I love that last quote and have used a variation of it often with my students. BTW, Mike, I am LOVING your website and wish I could just take hours to explore every facet of it. You have tons of great info and ideas on there!