Practicing Performing

It has been said that the first 1000 performances are the worst. The theory is that after you've done 1000, you've got the experience to get used to performing, what to expect, and so on. The problem is, many of us won't ever get to 1000 performances. Even if you're a fairly regular performer - say for example, 2 ABRSM exams a year, an your teacher's bi-annual Studio Concert, it would still take you 250 years to get up to 1000. So how can we get more practice performing, without necessarily performing? https://nursyakirah22.blogspot.com/2019/02/practicing-performing.html

Perform more often

Well, first of all, you can find more opportunities to perform. Going over to your grandma's house? Take your instrument, and perform. Talent night at church? Play something on your instrument. Got a friend over? Ask if you can play something for them. These are great because they're often informal, so there's less pressure, you don't get as nervous, and you can really practice performing. Plus, performing for grandparents has the added bonus that no matter how badly you play, they'll always love you for it and shower you with praise. Even better if you play fantastically.

Visualise Performing

The next thing you can do is visualise performing. One of my lecturers advises on working backwards. He says, Imagine that you've finished the concerto, the audience is clapping, cheering, you're feeling great. Now take that feeling, and transfer it to the last page of the final movement. https://nursyakirah22.blogspot.com/2019/02/online-poker-tips-for-beginners.html

You're in full flight, and you're really enjoying it. Now transfer it back a page, and then to the whole movement. Now to the second movement, and finally the first movement. Now transfer it to when you walk on stage to take your bows. Now transfer it to when you're sitting in your practice room, waiting for the call.

You've just imagined a whole performance, going fantastically and feeling great the whole way through. Then what you should do is practice doing a complete run through of your piece, feeling this way. Imagine there's a large crowd watching you. You come in, pick up your instrument, and play. https://nursyakirah22.blogspot.com

Don't stop if you make a mistake (very important, because you can't stop in a performance), so practice getting it right the first time. If you do this every day, you'll quickly put in 1000 performances, and your mind can imagine a variety of different concert venues to visualise yourself in - from your local church hall, or your grandparents lounge room, through to Carnegie Hall. When you actually get to performing, you'll be so used to it, you'll be glad to have someone there to actually listen to you play.

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