Wish me luck on my performance.. and tips too.

[Irock1ce]

Hey guys.. im performing the Waldstein 1st movement tomorrow.. and im getting more and more nervous. Wish me luck and if u happen to be in Berkeley California, run over to the First Congregational Church of Berkeley at about 2pm... = )

[faulty_damper]

If you were a dancer, break a leg.
Since you are a pianist, break 3 fingers.



No way I'm riding BART over to Berkeley.  I have to pass Oakland in order to get there and you know how easily those gangsters can gat you down.  But now those gangsters have come over to San Francisco and gatting down people.

[sharon_f]

Good luck. Enjoy the music (I love the Waldstein!) and just realize that everyone in the audience is there for you. They are all hoping you do your best. I'm sure everything will be fine.

[f0bul0us]

Just remember that if you mess up, you'll never be discovered.

Good luck!

[Irock1ce]

phew. i got through it ok.. but i missed a bunch of notes... because i RUSHED like MAD. I was so nervous that my tempo went from 150 (my right tempo) to about 200-230.. meaning that i end up missing a bunch of notes. But then.. it was realy really impressive... to the people who dont know the music. Cuz its just my hands moving up and down the key board and hitting lots of notes... Man i gotta calm down.. ill probably play this again.... and then one more time in may... but that'll be the whole Op. 53 Sonata meaning i got a LONGGG way to go. lol.

[janice]

Well.....how was it??  Did your playing meet your expectations? were you nervous? please fill us in!

[Irock1ce]

I definitely didnt meet my own expectations. I have made runs 1000000x times better. Its just that i was so nervous that I started to rush (above your post) and i missed a bunch of notes cause i was playing some parts WAY too fast. We're talking like instead of 150, i was playing 200 or so. I somehow managed to not derail and I somehow ended up finishing the piece. But i hope i get another chance to perform this piece.... should i get another chance, i would take the first movement apart completely and do techniques training on it.. intensively. But i'll have to do that anyways since i will be performing the whole Waldstein in May.

[rhapsody]

When I came down from the stage after performing, it's like all the nervousness and tensions are all gone, and feel so relieved that I think that if I had to perform again afterwards, I'd do better than the first one.
I thought I'm the only freak to feel this way but it seems that this forum also filled with freaks hehehe KIDDING!  

I think it just nervous, thats why I always believe that the music you produce in practice room won't be better to the one on stage (although not necesarry true all the time)

good luck on the whole waldstein, are u going to play the whole piace in may or just the 1st?

andrew

[nick]

I have done so much better on my performances over the years that maybe a tip will help. Everything depends on how one practices. If much hunch is corrrect, you may have such a desire to play fast, that this overiding concern caused you to play much faster than you had control of. I used to do the same thing, until I really got sich of playing with the lack of control. I then made a decision, concern for speed or music. This is not to say I continually strive to play at performance speed, and do what I can to achieve it, but that accuracy must be priority. One can play very musically with less breakneck speed. As Horowitz said, he always practices 'distinctly'. That has to mean accurately. Also, have a good sense of what speed you can handle perfectly, so that when performing, you can duplicate this. Get a few friends together and ask them to listen to you, and go for the musical, controlled performance, then take note of how it went, your feelings and accuracy.  Hope this helps!
Nick

[Irock1ce]

wow Nick. u sound like my piano teacher. That is almost exactly what my piano teacher said to me..
Im going to be performing the whole Waldstein in May.... thats my long term piece. = ) And i may perform the 1st movt. of the Waldstein in early August again. thanks guys.

[janice]

I definitely didnt meet my own expectations. I have made runs 1000000x times better. Its just that i was so nervous that I started to rush (above your post)  

DUH on me!  Sorry, I didn't read thru all the posts before I posted.  If I had, I would have seen that you had already played and that you thought that you weren't please with your performance.  So my apologies for having spoken to soon!  Next time I will read all the way to the end before posting!