Becoming an Inside In Musician

To the musician, ears are the mirror to the soul. "The most important things I say in my life may well be whispered," said conductor Carl St. Clair about musical innovation in a 2011 TED Talk. In this presentation, Maestro St. Clair also demonstrates the difference between an "outside out" conductor, "inside out" conductor and "inside in" conductor. The differences are astounding.

Special thanks to my Virtual Choir friend and teaching colleague, Tresa Gilman Davis of Studio Da Capo for showing me this inspiring talk.

Learning to Perform Well While Terrified

Whether you're performing for grandma or the entire school, an examiner or the entire church congregation, stage fright happens. Your heart beats a little faster, your breath becomes more shallow. Maybe your hands get a little trembly.

It happens to everyone - even the pros! Check out some of these quotes:

“The terror of performing never goes away. Instead, you get very, very comfortable being terrified.”

~ Eric Whitacre, composer, conductor, 5th member of Depeche Mode ~

"I have had a very difficult time with stage fright; it undermines your well-being and peace of mind, and it can also threaten your livelihood."

~ Renee Fleming, soprano ~

"Because you get very nervous, sweetheart, you have to get this spot right 11 times out of 10 at home so that you can get it right 10 times out of 10 on stage."

~ Irina Ginzburg, piano teacher, pianist (to me) ~

So what's a musician to do? Well, as my one teacher, Irina Ginzburg was getting at, you need to know your music well. So well that your nerves can't get in the way. That means, you need to practice mindfully.

Another thing I've learned is that, it's not all about you. When people are listening, they are listening to the music. To the soundscape you are creating. Unless you're making weird faces and gestures, or wearing something distracting, they're really not focusing on you as much as you think they are. So don't worry about whether they thought "Oh dear, she messed up in Bar 23." Most likely, they don't even know. Depending on the performance setting, they really don't care about that "blip". If they don't care about it, then you shouldn't stress out over it.

Here's another point that I cannot stress enough: practice performing. At university, I was performing nearly every week. Our practice rooms had windows in them, so anyone could peek in and listen to you. I learned to manage my nerves then.

Now, I play in a church choir. I alternate with another pianist/conductor so we're "on" nearly every week in one way or another. Once, I had my hands in the wrong starting position for a part of the Mass. No big deal, I just calmly moved my hands to the correct position and the choir carried on. When hymns are changed at the last minute, I wind up chording and sightreading. Another time, I messed up cuing in the choir so we all fumbled a bit until we found our way. It was one of those funny stage moments, so I bent over laughing, while one hand continued to conduct.

Sometimes, I botch chords. Sometimes, my improv doesn't sound so pretty. So what? The choir and the congregation are still singing. I just have to join in on the next bar. Next time will be different.

Now, if I only played at church once every two months or so, then I'd feel a bit more pressure. However, because I play or conduct on a regular basis, blips here and there aren't a big deal. The more you perform, the more you learn how to handle your nerves.

The music goes on, there simply isn't any time to obsess about it. Just do the best that you can in that moment - be present in that moment - and move on.

Here are some articles with tips on how to deal with stage fright:

What Every Musician Should Know About Stage Fright

Becoming a Confident Performer

Blocked by Performance Anxiety

How to Deal with Stage Fright

Making Use of Music Festival Comments

You have survived this season's run of music festivals and competitions. You have your certificate. Maybe you even earned an award.

Perhaps now you're asking yourself, "Now what?"

Please bring your written adjudication sheet(s) to your next music lesson. If your music teacher was unable to attend your music festival performance - and your parents recorded your performance - do bring the recording to your next music lesson to review with your teacher.

Your music teacher can help decipher the adjudicator's handwriting and discuss with you how to incorporate some of the ideas that you picked up at the music festival.

I put the word "some" in italics. Bear in mind that music is a personalized experience, not just for you but for the listener. Your adjudicator is giving comments based on their skills, experience and educated opinion based on your playing at that moment. You may agree with some comments, but not all. The same goes for your teacher.

Your music teacher, the adjudicator and the examiner have similar "hot buttons" that they listen for: rhythm, pedalling, fingering, balance, technical fluency, command of the style. In basic terms, they are listening for whether you know the piece and if you're telling us a story.

What will differ are some of the ideas that they each have for you to try. Each of your musical mentors have a different set of skills and experiences.

Take the ideas that each have to offer and try them. Give them a solid effort. Keep what works for what you're trying to say with the piece and file away the rest. Who knows? It may work with another piece better.

Coping and Recovery Strategies

This month, my students are performing in our Winter Showcase. For some, this marks their debut performance. This week, we've been working on various coping and recovery strategies. As much as we would like to believe that we'll play everything cleanly, the reality is that nerves, distractions, physical and mental state, readiness and uncertainty can affect how our performance turns out.

I'd like to highlight a couple of the strategies that I introduced to them last week. First - I had them drop a hand out for a phrase or two - just enough to get through a wobbly section. If you do it in phrases, then it sounds like you meant to do it that way. Just make sure that you don't drop the tune.

Another thing they tried was to simplify either the melody or the harmony (chords). A couple are playing solid chords instead of the funkier groove that is written. If you have to simplify the accompaniment to maintain the beat, so be it.

The third thing we've had to do this week is to shorten some of the pieces. I instructed them to play through until their ear "found" a logical stopping place (Those of us who have been in music for a while would call that a cadence). In one case, we added a tonic chord in as the next beat modulates to mark a new section.

For these to be automatic on stage, however, these strategies must be practiced at home. Not just once, but several times so that you commit it to muscle memory.

For when it comes down to it, no one really cares exactly what you play. They just care how you play it. So long as you don't miss a beat, the piece is recognizable and the tempo is close to the marked speed, you're set.

Speedlinking December 19, 2011 Edition

One of these days I will get to musing on something regarding this teaching year. Today isn't one of them.

In the meantime, please check out these fantastic posts by my colleagues:

Contrapuntal Music for Young Students

Another Useful Accompanist Career Guide

More Thoughts on Slow Practicing

(c) 2011 by Musespeak(TM), Calgary, AB, Canada. All rights reserved.