Debussy Arabesque / First piano performance....

[violinist]

Hello,

I have my first piano performance coming up since I was about 9 years old.  I'm now in my third decade (yikes...!!! ).  I'm not really ready for this... but I'll make a swing at it.. We'll see how it goes.  I've had considerable stage experience with the violin.  Somehow it feels different sitting in front of a huge instrument.  I took piano lessons from about age 5 to 9, but not seriously, and didn't get very far.  Piano teachers hated me.  Thus I turned to violin because violin teachers loved me.

I'm going to be playing Debussy Arabesque #1 and I have it half-baked memorized.  I have trouble with the section that has chords.. it's so similar to each other these chords that I get the parts mixed up.  So much easier to memorize on the violin when there's only a few notes at a time to memorize.

Memory lapse is my biggest fear.  I've been playing this piece for about 3 weeks... off and on mostly on the weekends.   The performance is tomorrow.  Any pointers would be greatly appreciated for someone who's getting back into piano.  It really feels like it is my first piano performance in public, as I don't remember performing that much when I was younger.

I really love the piano... (and the violin too).

[abell88]

Score and page-turner? No shame, especially for a non-professional.

[violinist]

Score and page-turner? No shame, especially for a non-professional.

I played it... ack.. I had two memory slips... I wanted to play from memory

but I recovered.. first flub was on the first page, but I just made random stuff up till I got to the repeating theme again (top of second page).  Then when I got to the bottom of the second page with the running scale like thing with thirds in it, I got off track, and flubbed that too... but I kept going... no stopping. and the rest was great!

Memorization for piano is so different from violin.

Thanks for writing!

I can't wait for my next performance..
but I still want to perfect this piece.. so that my memory of is like STEEL.

[abell88]

Sounds like you made a good recovery -- and now you have time to read/practise all the great advice posted on the board about memory. Good luck!

[gruffalo]

well done. its good that you have made this step and made a performance after not having done so for so long.

[violinist]

well done. its good that you have made this step and made a performance after not having done so for so long.

I have signed up to play in another public gathering in November.  I'll work up another piece.  Meanwhile, I'm still polishing the Debussy Arabesque #1.  Everyone just wants me to play the violin... I gotta be firm...  Piano comes first in these things for me.