Recording CHOKE

[asuhayda]

This is driving me nuts!  I am recording Bach English Suite #2 - Prelude for a certification that I am working on... I keep getting to the end (which is the same as the beginning) and right before I finish I get REALLY nervous and CRASH right before the end.

I can play this piece very well when the camera is off.  Once I hit play, I feel out of control. It's  all completely in my head.

GRRRRR... what am I doing wrong? I am getting very frustrated. I don't have this much trouble playing in front of a live audience.

[ajspiano]

This is driving me nuts!  I am recording Bach English Suite #2 - Prelude for a certification that I am working on... I keep getting to the end (which is the same as the beginning) and right before I finish I get REALLY nervous and CRASH right before the end.

I can play this piece very well when the camera is off.  Once I hit play, I feel out of control. It's  all completely in my head.

GRRRRR... what am I doing wrong? I am getting very frustrated. I don't have this much trouble playing in front of a live audience.

I would suggest you turn the camera on at the start of a practice session and just ignore it totally. Assuming that you will later disregard the footage..  If you happen to get a good take somewhere in the session then great, you can isolate that bit of footage..  if not, no big deal.

This will serve the purpose of potentially getting the recording you need, but also allowing you to practice playing infront of the camera without needing to put pressure on yourself. You're probably getting into a pattern of feeling a certain way with the camera on and you need to break that.

[asuhayda]

You're probably getting into a pattern of feeling a certain way with the camera on and you need to break that.

You're exactly right.  It's like I'm one of Pavlov's dogs or something! Anyway,  I got a decent recording of it. So, that took a little bit of pressure off to at least get through it.  Not good enough yet, but it's getting there.

I'll get it, you're right, I've just gotta get out of my head about the camera.

Thanks.

[ajspiano]

I'll get it, you're right, I've just gotta get out of my head about the camera.

Recording is a different ball game to live performance, live is live, once done its done the moment is lost. In recording you get to go back and watch it again and again and with each time you can become more and more aware of your performance flaws.

The more takes you do on any day the more flustered you will become, and even if you do get all the notes right on your 84th attempt it probably wont be your musical best. Its better to just give it 2 or 3 goes and if you don't get a good one try again later or the next day. Don't let yourself get frustrated, its like you said (about pavlov) - you don't want to go conditioning yourself to feel nervous while playing.

You want to capture a good musical performance, not get concerned with a technically correct one. The same way that you wouldn't practice a piece for 5 hours before a recital the same day (at least I hope you wouldn't ) you don't want to be recording something you've been playing all day.. the mood it puts you in isn't conducive to a good performance - things need to keep flowing freely.

[asuhayda]

Recording is a different ball game to live performance, live is live, once done its done the moment is lost. In recording you get to go back and watch it again and again and with each time you can become more and more aware of your performance flaws.

The more takes you do on any day the more flustered you will become, and even if you do get all the notes right on your 84th attempt it probably wont be your musical best. Its better to just give it 2 or 3 goes and if you don't get a good one try again later or the next day. Don't let yourself get frustrated, its like you said (about pavlov) - you don't want to go conditioning yourself to feel nervous while playing.

You want to capture a good musical performance, not get concerned with a technically correct one. The same way that you wouldn't practice a piece for 5 hours before a recital the same day (at least I hope you wouldn't ) you don't want to be recording something you've been playing all day.. the mood it puts you in isn't conducive to a good performance - things need to keep flowing freely.

Recording is a different ball game to live performance, live is live, once done its done the moment is lost. In recording you get to go back and watch it again and again and with each time you can become more and more aware of your performance flaws.

The more takes you do on any day the more flustered you will become, and even if you do get all the notes right on your 84th attempt it probably wont be your musical best. Its better to just give it 2 or 3 goes and if you don't get a good one try again later or the next day. Don't let yourself get frustrated, its like you said (about pavlov) - you don't want to go conditioning yourself to feel nervous while playing.

You want to capture a good musical performance, not get concerned with a technically correct one. The same way that you wouldn't practice a piece for 5 hours before a recital the same day (at least I hope you wouldn't ) you don't want to be recording something you've been playing all day.. the mood it puts you in isn't conducive to a good performance - things need to keep flowing freely.

Truth. I think it's time to pack it in for now.

Thanks for the encouragement.  I needed it!

[brendan765]

I hate recording too, but if you have a large video memory and a nearby wall outlet let it record your whole practice session; and do it just like you always do...think about the music not getting a good recording. If you do this you should be able to get a lot of good recordings assuming you know how to practice well... performing is much easier because well I had good teacher who had all her students usually performing well.

[slobone]

You could start by playing the piece all the way through without stopping at least a couple times of day, not recording yet. Maybe you're already doing this. But I thought I was doing it, then I realized that no, I almost never literally practice that way. I start off the piece, then halfway through I hit a measure that needs work, then stop and work on it. Forcing myself not to stop takes a lot of discipline.

[brendan765]

You could start by playing the piece all the way through without stopping at least a couple times of day, not recording yet. Maybe you're already doing this. But I thought I was doing it, then I realized that no, I almost never literally practice that way. I start off the piece, then halfway through I hit a measure that needs work, then stop and work on it. Forcing myself not to stop takes a lot of discipline.

A solution to the "stop to fix stuff problem" is this...fix it first then play through...although first sight at new piece and few more times after are an exception as well as difficulty of piece. I usually first and foremost pickup a new piece, play the notes and try to pay attention to accentuation and expressions.. basically create a good memory of the piece so its memorized in a few days and then before you play it too much more you better get expressions and fingerings and all that perfect because too much playing the notes and disregarding the music will cause a major frustration because it's hard to unlearn a piece and relearn it the right way. You should gradually work your way to be able to sightread increasingly difficult music and sight reading the music more perfectly.  I used to hate sightreading, because I couldn't do it. Now I love sightreading. I have this set of 2 classical library books that have a variety of the best pieces in them, and I love getting up in the morning and playing whatever sounds nice.

[slobone]

Another trick is to play it with a timer on, still not recording. Get a kitchen timer and press Start. When I did that I was surprised how nervous I got. I was just trying to find out how long the piece was, but already it made me almost as nervous as performing in public. Good thing to get used to.

[brendan765]

Another trick is to play it with a timer on, still not recording. Get a kitchen timer and press Start. When I did that I was surprised how nervous I got. I was just trying to find out how long the piece was, but already it made me almost as nervous as performing in public. Good thing to get used to.

Really I always thought its better to just think about the music and play the piano, not add pressure and think of negative thoughts which distract you from the
Music.  That's why most people screw up, because they feel pressure; piano and pressure don't mix.

[ajspiano]

Really I always thought its better to just think about the music and play the piano, not add pressure and think of negative thoughts which distract you from the
Music.  That's why most people screw up, because they feel pressure; piano and pressure don't mix.

We are talking about performance practice brendan. Playing under pressure so you learn to be uneffected by it.. learn to not think about it even when it is there. If you don't have that practice behind you it can be very intimidating to play infront of a crowd no matter how well you know your piece.

[brendan765]

We are talking about performance practice brendan. Playing under pressure so you learn to be uneffected by it.. learn to not think about it even when it is there. If you don't have that practice behind you it can be very intimidating to play infront of a crowd no matter how well you know your piece.

.

Yeah I guess, my grandma was really good with her students and comforting them to perform...she always said its just like the practice room and relax, they probably wouldn't hear a mistake anyways.

[michaeljames]

I suffer from this same phenomena.

Don't know if that helps, but at least you are not alone!