Handling the Stress of Performance and Overcoming it

1. pg. 47 I think it depends on the situation. In group situation normally a live performance will excite me and I’ll thrive most likely. After doing those relaxation exercises in class I feel like it some form of breathing and doing those tension and release exercises could be helpful. I might start to do small forms of that before performances.

Pg55 1. I think when a piece of music ‘speaks’ it sounds like more than notes. It sounds like a story. It creates an images. It creates a feeling. It is as if the audience can understand what you are trying to say through your music. I think the things I mentioned are how the audience feels or is moved during a performance. It makes then thoughtful, happy, sad, and so many other emotions.

Pg 55 2. If I feel well practiced or rehearsed I definitely have an easy and mostly operate out of my right brain. I don’t think I ever completely play without judging myself. I think you make a mistake and you think, “Dang, I should have hit that.” The thing is I know that to succeed I have to let that roll off my shoulders. I can’t let it ruin the next phrase or the whole pieces. I know I will always make minor mistakes, but that is life. It is really hard to be perfect. Even though I am a perfectionist I have learned that this attitude is good for practice, but not rehearsal or performance. I practice going through large sections of my piece and continuing every time I make a mistake so that I get comfortable with continuing after mistakes.

I watched a TED talk by Dan Pink on motivation. http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation?language=en

2. This was a really interesting talk. It seems as though rewards for work does not actually benefit. We have to want to make ourselves better. Trying to give incentives doesn’t always work and won’t work for musicians because it is all cognitive. We have to want to get better, we have to find something that inspires us. So maybe if your professor is making you play this piece you really don’t like, of course you need to work on it, but maybe working on something else that you like as well can help you grow in your technique and sound too. This is my translation of how Dan explained the 20% thing where you get to do what you want for 20% of your time. This way you have something that is making you happy as well as being productive.  Also it tells me that it’s not always how many hours you put in, but what you put in to those hours. There are some companies where they give you complete flexibility and people get their jobs done in less time or on their own time and are much happier. So saying everyone should practice this much everyday is necessarily true.

I’m not really sure what you mean by referring to terms he used in the talk to my practice session. My practices are kind of disorganized. I tend to start working on something and then I remember I need to email so and so or I text a friend, I scroll on Facebook, and then I practice for a little bit and then I do that again. So I guess I don’t really have effective practices. Sometimes I get candle problem and I can’t get over certain little passages in the music and all I can focus is on it. I don’t see the big picture.

3. I just read this assignment this morning so I haven’t had a chance to create a practice log, but I think I’ll try and blog it every day.

So here is the outline

a.       What sections did you spend the most time on?

b.      Were there any sections of the piece that were left out of your practice?

c.       Did you use variety in your practice, or did you use the same strategies every day?

d.      Did you start at different parts of the piece every day, or did you always start at the beginning, the end, or a specific section?

e.       Was each activity purposeful, and did you accomplish the task that you set out to do?

f.       What strategy was most effective?

g.      Did you use efficient time management?

My plan for the next week is to practice more! I have been finding it hard to find time. I will try and practice twice on the weekends and 2 to 3 times during the week. My goal is to finish learning the third and fourth pages of my solo. I also really want to spend some time working on my lip flexibility as it has gotten worse over the summer.