Hi everyone, I hope I've chosen the right discussion room.
I wanted to ask you, since in less than two weeks I will be taking my diploma exam, how do you handle the nerves? Do you have any particular tricks or strategies? How can one achieve proper relaxation before a performance?
My problem is that every time I perform in front of someone, at the beginning I make many mistakes and gradually I manage to regain concentration and detach myself from the outside world. However, during the exam, I wouldn't want to start off badly, even though I realize that the committee will surely take the initial nerves into account.
L
Ludovica
Member
Reply 2 by Ludovica
Posts
298
Even if it was for a composition diploma exam, maybe it can help... a lot of energy and concentration are required there too... and for a month straight (... not to mention before)
Even if it was for a composition diploma exam, maybe it can help... even there a lot of energy and concentration are required... and for a month straight (... not to mention before)
Aside from dietary aspects and taking nice walks to avoid mental fossilization before the exam... in my opinion, at this stage it is important not to neglect certain things, including control, for which for every piece I would follow this strict order:
- performance at tempo with recording
- listening to the result and identifying areas for improvement
- in-depth analysis of the case
- slow-motion practice a couple of times to maintain control of all aspects
- re-performance at tempo with recording
- re-performance in slow motion to maintain control of all aspects
And so on, repeating. From my point of view, you must sit down playing as if it were the exam and you must stand up after a slow and careful study... making heavy use of the recorder
Aside from dietary aspects and taking nice walks to avoid mental fossilization before the exam... in my opinion, at this stage it is important not to neglect certain things, including control, for which for every piece I would follow this strict order:
- performance at tempo with recording
- listening to the result and identifying areas for improvement
- in-depth analysis of the case
- slow-motion practice a couple of times to maintain control over all aspects
- re-performance at tempo with recording
- re-performance in slow motion to maintain control over all aspects
And so on, repeating this. From my point of view, you must sit down playing as if it were the exam, and you must get up after careful... slow-motion study, making heavy use of the recorder.
Thank you
Generally speaking, you have listed more or less what I do, although I don't make heavy use of the recorder... I guess I should!!!
Your input is nonetheless very useful to me as it confirms that I am on the right track.
From what I understand, then, for you managing emotion happens through confidence in one's own abilities... is that so, or have I misunderstood?
Unfortunately, however, what happens to me is that, even though I know the piece almost perfectly, emotion still leads me to make mistakes, even ones I've never made before. This situation generally lasts for the duration of the first piece; then gradually I release the tension and everything settles back into place.
Sometimes to disconnect, it's also necessary to take about half an hour to "mess around" with some pieces outside of the program... just to disconnect and read something else
Sometimes to disconnect, it's also necessary to take half an hour to "mess around" with some pieces outside the program... just to switch off and read something else
I am too afraid to do it. At this moment my mind is a glassworks. I am not playing anything else for fear of messing up my memory.
But if this blessed exam goes well... Chopin sonata, wait for me, I'm coming!!!
Unfortunately, what happens to me is that, even though I know the piece almost perfectly, emotion still leads me to make mistakes, even ones I've never made before.
Setting aside Marta's precious suggestions, if you have the chance, try to perform the entire program in one go in front of an audience, even if it is small and composed of acquaintances. The more you do it, the more you will loosen up... furthermore, a recording not only makes you more alert but also allows you to understand afterwards which are the most vulnerable points.
Aside from Marta's precious suggestions, if you have the chance, try to perform the entire program in one go in front of an audience, even if it is small and made up of acquaintances. The more you do it, the more you will loosen up... furthermore, the recorder not only makes you more alert but also allows you to understand afterwards which are the most vulnerable points.
This is also a trick I am using. Very often friends and relatives come to listen to me and effectively it goes better every time. At the same time, however, every time I face these small performances at home, I sit at the piano with the awareness that those listening to me do not have the expertise of an examination board, and therefore I approach the performance more lightheartedly. But I also know that, as has always happened in previous exams, in the presence of the board, concentration goes through the roof and I enter "bring your skin home safe and sound" mode.
What is truly helping me a lot is studying very slowly. A panacea, because it is not the same slow study done at the beginning of reading to learn the piece; doing it at the end allows you to keep perfect control over the dynamics and all the notes one by one.
In these cases (performance stress errors), I was told to do only one thing: “It's difficult, but just think about the music”. In short, it is important not to let yourself be distracted by certain thoughts that must be absolutely driven away as soon as they surface.
A dear friend whom I greet (a member of this forum whom I haven't read for quite a while) provided me with this brief little list to enrich as one pleases:
1) now I have to play that difficult passage, let's hope for the best...
2) that guy in the front row tapping his foot to the beat, I'd strangle him!
3) I can't wait to finish, I can't take it anymore
By concentrating only on the music, the mind practically never stops to contemplate the sound being produced at each moment, but is always leaning forward to "plan", to imagine, almost to "evoke" the sound that will be produced immediately after, so that the same has the right tension within the general form of the piece we are playing.
Unfortunately, one is not always fully satisfied with the sonic result compared to the idea one had in mind, but we do not have the time to complain about the "error" because we are already thinking about what comes next (this is the fourth thing not to think: "damn, it didn't come out how I wanted!")
Thanks to Maestro Roberto Altieri for this lesson he gave me several years ago, which I could not paraphrase any better
M
Marta23
Member
Reply 11 by Marta23
Posts
153
ivanricciardi wrote:
From what I have understood, then, for you the management of emotion occurs through confidence in one's own means... is that so, or have I misunderstood?
In these cases (performance anxiety errors), I was told to do only one thing: “It's difficult, but just think about the music”. In short, it is important not to let yourself be distracted by certain thoughts that must be absolutely driven away as soon as they surface.
A dear friend whom I greet (a member of this forum whom I haven't read for quite a while) provided me with this brief little list to enrich as one pleases:
1) now I have to play that difficult passage, let's hope for the best...
2) that guy in the front row tapping his foot to the beat, I'd strangle him!
3) I can't wait to finish, I can't take it anymore
By concentrating only on the music, the mind practically never stops to contemplate the sound being produced at each moment, but is always leaning forward to "plan", to imagine, almost to "evoke" the sound that will be produced immediately after, so that the same has the right tension within the general form of the piece we are playing.
Unfortunately, one is not always fully satisfied with the sonic result compared to the idea one had in mind, but we do not have time to complain about the "error" because we are already thinking about what comes next (this is the fourth thing not to think: "damn, it didn't come out how I wanted!")
Thanks to Maestro Roberto Altieri for this lesson he gave me several years ago, which I could not paraphrase better
Thank you Frank,
Your words and those of Maestro Altieri are absolutely right; and that is exactly what I should do. Think only about the music, close oneself inside one's own crystal ball and detach from the outside world. Sometimes I manage to do it and sometimes I don't. I am working on it and I hope to succeed in reaping the fruits of all the countless meditations I do during the day. Sometimes I seem like a misfit who almost talks to himself. I reflect continuously, I think about the notes, the scores, musical ideas, how I would want certain passages to come out, I imagine the sound, the touch... and then I imagine how that day will be, I imagine the committee right there in front of me, and I get anxious.
But I have learned one thing: before a performance I think "come on, now I'll show them what I can do", and it works!!! It gives me energy.
Marta23 wrote:
Let's say it helps
I have noticed it too; when you know well what you are playing, in moments of difficulty, perhaps due to distractions, lapses, etc. etc., it is easier to find remedies.
The problem is to limit such moments as much as possible.
