Help perfoming etc. in exams etc.

[newsgroupeuan]

This problem has been bugging me for ages and ages.

I practice a few pieces at home for a year until it is almost perfect for my yearly exam

the comes the exam:

!) The acoustics of the room are different
2) the piano reacts different
3) Some of the keys are greasy
4) My hands are cold and sweaty
5) I have someone sitting around me
6) the room is awfully quiet (I would much prefer if there were a conversation in the background to loosen the tension)

then I make loads more mistakes then when I practice at home,  I feel horrible and the stuff I play sounds reasonably awful,  I play too fast,  to slow etc.

Any advice?

[ayahav]

I went for a bit of pre-audition advice at the Guildhall, and the main thing the Head of Keyboard there told me was: Auditioners understand that you aren't going to be playing at 100% of your ability at the audition, and they lower their expectations accordingly.

[dj]

I went for a bit of pre-audition advice at the Guildhall, and the main thing the Head of Keyboard there told me was: Auditioners understand that you aren't going to be playing at 100% of your ability at the audition, and they lower their expectations accordingly.

ah yes, but if it is a competetive audition, odds are, at least a handful will play at 100%, wouldn't u think?

[Clare]

I have a problem with playing in exams too.

I'm way too nervous in an exam, but here are some ways I'm trying myself to get over it:

Record yourself at home playing. Think to yourself, "This is going to be on tape forever. It had better be good!" Then you'll get nervous and realise the different way you play when nervous. You'll know which bits need to be more secure. Then listen to it. It's never as bad as you thought it was!

Another way is to play on all sorts of different pianos. Last week I went to a piano shop and pretended I had terribly rich parents and they were going to buy me a top-of-the-range grand piano for my birthday. The guy in the shop said, "Go ahead! Play as many pianos as you want!" So I tried my pieces out and felt the way I had to adjust to each giant expensive grand. Also, another thing was, the guy was watching over me so I had an audience! If possible, practice on the piano you will be using for your exam. I will be able to do this for my exam in June, but I know not everyone can.

Yet another way is to play for as many people as you can. Tell your fellow piano student friends, "Examine me!" You could go to their house and make them examine you on their weird piano and get them to write notes down and everything. Do a concert for your grandparents. I found I was really nervous playing for my grandparents, actually. Play a piece at your birthday party. If you know another piano teacher, play for them. That's really scary. Last week, I played a piece in front of a class of piano majors at university. I was so scared, I messed up everything. But it taught me a valuable thing: Even if you totally screw up the piece, it's not the end of the world. I survived it, and wondered why I'd worked myself up into such a state beforehand.

Playing for auditions, however, I'm much less nervous. I don't know why, because in a sense, they're more important.  I think, "Well. I don't actually know these people. They don't know who I am, so I'm just going to have fun playing this Steinway." This attitude made me seem quite confident even though inside I was quite shy, and I managed to get accepted into all the places I'd auditioned at.

OK. That's all for now. I'll come back and post again if I make any more discoveries.

[ayahav]

ah yes, but if it is a competetive audition, odds are, at least a handful will play at 100%, wouldn't u think?

no one will play at 100%... They'll all be as nervous as you are...

[Clare]

I'm actually not sure about that. I have been not nervous at all in one audition before. I know there are people who never get nervous (though I think that would have its drawbacks too).

[bernhard]

Here is another way to say more or less the same thing that Clare said a few posts above:

You are suffering from lack of familiarity.

The best remedy is to perform as often as you can. Whenever you see a piano, take the opportunity to perform. When someone asks you to play, consider it a performance practice opportunity and do it!

I like to divide performances into formal and informal. Formal ones are the ones that really matter: public recitals, competitions, exams. Informal ones are the ones you do for friends, family and even strangers, but it does not really matter if you play well or dreadfully.

My rule is to never play any piece formally until you have performed it informally at last three times. If my students have an exam/competition approaching, I will try to arrange informal performances for them (e.g. organise a recital; arrange with the head of their school for them to play their exam pieces in school assembly, etc.).

Finally, part of your practice should be playing under pressure and distracting conditions. For instance, have your brothers/sisters/friends throw tennis balls (or spongeballs) at you while you are playing. Make a bet with a brother/sister/wife/friend that you will wash all their dishes for a week (or a similar chore) if you make one single mistake in your piece. You get the idea.

Most importantly, as you go through all the above, train yourself to keep going no matter what. Train yourself not to be unsettled by unexpected events (mobile phones ringing, bad mistakes, memory blanks, etc.).

I once saw a very good juggler doing a complicated routine with five clubs. He dropped one of the clubs. Before the audience had time to even think of feeling sorry for his flop, he did a split, got the club stood up straight again and continue the routine without missing a beat. Everyone burst clapping because the way he dropped into the split and the way he pulled himself up again were so amazing that everyone assumed that he had not dropped the club: It was part of the routine. The point is: he practised and prepared beforehand for that eventuality. He had a plan B. He did not do it spontaneously on the spot. He practised such a move a lot, just in case something like that happened.

So as you perform, everything that can go wrong will. You must therefore use these nightmare situations to learn from them (what can possibly go wrong) and to prepare for them.

Best wishes,
Bernhard

[ayahav]

I must say, I don't completely agree with you Bernhard... It is true that we have to learn to concentrate in distracting conditions, but not as distracting as the ones you mention... Personally, I find that for me the ability to calm down in stressful situations is an innate 'talent'... But as I have seen in friends, performance is a personality as much as anything... Some people are musicians by birth, but not public performers. But that can always be trained. I find that the best way iis to force public performances....