Quote:
Originally Posted by davidjohnson  play more in public.
go to the courtsquare and sound taps on veterans day, play at a church for offertory or maybe a community thanksgiving service, star spangled banner at events...the more the better until it helps. |
Uhh, all these American songs in Redhill, England? Maybe not the best idea. While we can have confidence based on our past successes, in order to create confidence we don’t yet have there are a few tricks.
1. Practice breathing – memorize the feel of a full breath, the sound as you inhale, etc. Our bodies love to lie to us under stress, and we can be tricked into thinking we’ve taken a full breath when we are actually experiencing extreme tension and mistake resistance for a full breath. Take time before your first entrance to take in a super effective breath and the first note should come out the way you want. After that, just play.
2. Our endurance falters under stress. As a rule of thumb, if you can play through the program three times in a row and not be worn out you can make it through the performance once. Don’t practice like crazy the day before – use that time to rest and focus on the excitement of the coming performance.
3. Fear and excitement feel the same to the body – it is our attitude that makes the difference.
4. Don’t neglect all the other things to do in practice – create the balance in the practice room. If the pieces are high and loud don’t forget to practice low and soft, too.
5. Remember that the audience is your friend (unless you’re playing in some parts of Germany) and are pulling for you. Entertain them and yourself. Don’t try to show off, bur rather make music.
6. Have fun – we live to play!