help for nervous pianists

[hardy_practice]

Ya I know his track record. I didn't reply unguarded but wanted to give it a shot.

Well I liked your post!  Didn't 'horrify' me at all.  Nervousness is a phenomenon in much need of sensible discussion not agressive shot taking - isn't that one of its causes.  My problem is the extra focus you get means I see things in the music I'd not seen before - not good inthe middle of a performance!  Still, I've seen much worse

[hfmadopter]

Well I liked your post!  Didn't 'horrify' me at all.  Nervousness is a phenomenon in much need of sensible discussion not agressive shot taking - isn't that one of its causes.  My problem is the extra focus you get means I see things in the music I'd not seen before - not good inthe middle of a performance!  Still, I've seen much worse

Yes , well I just spoke with what was on my mind. I think others should feel free to do so as well. We all have a view on subjects like this and its good to air them for everyone to read. Many of us are not totally new to piano or music and other posters could garner something that may work for them even if that is not the op. Some people get shall we say over zealous and we can't help that.

[nyiregyhazi]

Well I liked your post!  Didn't 'horrify' me at all.  Nervousness is a phenomenon in much need of sensible discussion not agressive shot taking - isn't that one of its causes.  My problem is the extra focus you get means I see things in the music I'd not seen before - not good inthe middle of a performance!  Still, I've seen much worse

It wasn't an aggressive shot. It would simply be a sad world for music if the greatest artists decided to take huge pride in accuracy to the point that they deliberately aimed for less than wanted musically. This isn't about being unsympathetic to nerves. It's about the fact that you don't move a single person by not going wrong at any cost. You move people by aiming for your musical best. This is also a far better way of dealing with nerves than consciously using one that is aimed at trying not to go wrong. That just puts the elephant in your head.

Regardless, if a person really favours being seen not to miss any notes over striving for the closest they can get to their musical goals, it's up to them. Just don't expect to impress anyone who places musical qualities first, even if you manage not to horrify anyone who counts wrong notes. At the end of a concert with many pianists, nobody remembers anyone because they didn't play a wrong note. They remember those who made the piano sound different. If you didn't care about what anyone thinks, you wouldn't care about going wrong. But is there more pride in successfully blending into the scenery (with a dull performance that comes without disaster) or in taking a risk (in order to heighten the contrasts that make a piano speak or sing to people with a memorable quality)?

[hardy_practice]

It is also a far better way of dealing with nerves than consciously using one that is aimed at trying not to go wrong.

For many, at times, this is certainly an adequate goal.  Look down your nose at it if you so wish but Rome wasn't built in a day.  For blog read snob?

[nyiregyhazi]

For many, at times, this is certainly an adequate goal.  Look down your nose at it if you so wish but Rome wasn't built in a day.  For blog read snob?

That's fine for them if they are happy. But anyone who doesn't want to be seen screwing up therefore cares about what other people think. So why would they not wish to impress people with their ability to make a musical quality? If blending into a crowd unnoticed is really the goal, then compromising musicality is certainly the way. But why perform at all if you don't want to either express anything or be noticed as a musician? The safest way to overcome nerves is to appreciate that when you generate true musical qualities, nobody cares about a few flubs. If you start compromising musicianship then accuracy is all you have to hang your hat on- which actually puts even greater pressure on to be perfect. An accurate but ordinary pianist is just forgettable. A pianist who both makes slips and fails to inject any musical life is just painful to listen to. It's only when ordinary playing is happening that wrong notes feel unforgivable. When your focus is on expressing something, there's far less pressure- as a few slips don't compromise that aspect.

[hardy_practice]

That's fine for them if they are happy.

That's very kind of you!

[nyiregyhazi]

That's very kind of you!

Indeed, because most listeners will not be as generous. Listeners are usually more interested in whether what they hear pleases them than in how the performer felt. Only pianists who are always aiming for more in both practise and performance get to that point where even a layman can hear how the piano seems to turn into a different instrument that captures the imagination.

[hfmadopter]

That's very kind of you!

In my religious beliefs there is a redeemer. I only hope there is a means of redemption out of these deep and dark spots of terrible musicianship I have gotten myself into, ever growing deeper by the next message ! There may be no way out I fear, I must sell my pianos and stop creating this mundane trash or I'm sure to land in the Musical Hall Of Shame. Oh Lord I should have know better than to step down this  road of responding to this guy I was correct  in my very first posting and should have left it at that. I've gone from a 1 or 2% loser to nobody will listen to my blah music in less than 24 hours. It's so exaggerated at this point its almost beyond belief. But as they say, this the internet.

[hardy_practice]

Indeed, because most listeners will not be as generous. Listeners are usually more interested in whether what they hear pleases them than in how the performer felt. Only pianists who are always aiming for more in both practise and performance get to that point where even a layman can hear how the piano seems to turn into a different instrument that captures the imagination.

Exactly Mr N, nothing like bags of intimidation when it's time to give help to nervous pianists!

[nyiregyhazi]

Exactly Mr N, nothing like bags of intimidation when it's time to give help to nervous pianists!

Quite the opposite. A pianist who doesn't try to express themself musically is simply going to be judged more for wrong notes - both by listeners and themself. If you're sacrificing some musicality for accuracy and something goes wrong with that anyway, you've failed on what you set out on and cannot fail to judge yourself negatively after setting the goalposts that way. For the listener too, wrong notes are never more painful to the ear than when the pianist isn't creating any notable musical atmosphere. If primary goals are musical, ten wrong notes are not a failure. If the primary goals are accuracy, just a single one is. Moving the goalposts gives the chance to relax and stop pressuring yourself about things that are least important.

[hfmadopter]

Quite the opposite. A pianist who doesn't try to express themself musically is simply going to be judged more for wrong notes - both by listeners and themself. If you're sacrificing some musicality for accuracy and something goes wrong with that anyway, you've failed on what you set out on and cannot fail to judge yourself negatively after setting the goalposts that way. If your primary goals are musical, a wrong note is not a failure. It gives the chance to relax and stop pressuring yourself about things that are least important.

I have no problem agreeing with this  response. Those are reasonably true words if applied to the right situation and not an exaggerated point. Prior to this post you were off base as it applies to me personally. I do not back off so far as to wreck the performance and do apply a lot of expression in my music. Your indication was headed more and more toward a devastating  end to my performance level if applied to me. You went a bit too far IMO. And look, I seriously doubt anyone can perform 100% 100% of the time. And if they don't then they don't meet your strict demand for that. And based on previous words to this message I would get the impression that by your standards they then failed.

[nyiregyhazi]

I have no problem agreeing with this  response. Those are reasonably true words if applied to the right situation and not an exaggerate point. Prior to this post you were off base as it applies  to me personally. I do not back off so far as to wreck the performance and do apply a lot of expression in my music. Your indication was headed more and more toward a devastating  end to my performance level if applied to me. You went a bit too far IMO. And look, I seriously doubt anyone can perform 100% 100% of the time. And if they don't then they don't meet you strict demand for that. And based on previous words to this message I would get the impression that by your standards they then failed.

I did distinguish though between achieving and aiming. I simply can't see how a person can aim for less phrasing than they really want and not compromise it significantly. I'd accept that my very finest phrasing and voicing will not always be there, but I'd never accept not trying for it. That's the start of a very slippery slope of beginning to accept the ordinary, rather than aspiring to the special. For me, to downgrade the aims for musicianship even a fraction is outright sabotage. Not achieving is fine but not trying for your musical best is something I just find unacceptable. especially given how much exaggeration is takes to make the piano sound like more than a piano.

Concerts are the time to expect the very highest for what is in the future, but to be accepting of anything and everything that has already gone by (rather than look back in judgement).

[hfmadopter]

I did distinguish though between achieving and aiming. I simply can't see how a person can aim for less phrasing than they really want and not compromise it significantly. I'd accept that my very finest phrasing and voicing will not always be there, but I'd never accept not trying for it. That's the start of a very slippery slope of beginning to accept the ordinary, rather than aspiring to the special. For me, to downgrade the aims for musicianship even a fraction is outright sabotage. Not achieving is fine but not trying for your musical best is something I just find unacceptable. especially given how much exaggeration is takes to make the piano sound like more than a piano.

Concerts are the time to expect the very highest for what is in the future, but to be accepting of anything and everything that has already gone by (rather than look back in judgement).

Sometimes you don't have to get too far into a piece and realize today is not your best day. I would not plow ahead expecting top performance in that case. At what point is it that you know you will not articulate your "finest phrasing and voicing" and decide you shouldn't go for that in your performance ?

[nyiregyhazi]

Sometimes you don't have to get too far into a piece and realize today is not your best day. I would not plow ahead expecting top performance in that case. At what point is it that you know you will not articulate your "finest phrasing and voicing" and decide you shouldn't go for that in your performance ?

When you feel you are below par, aim higher not lower. Almost no one plays to their intention. But if your aim is lower, you will still tend to fall short. When the aim is high, falling short may still be good. When the aim is diminished, even reaching it may be mediocre.

This is why we should always aim high, but accept whatever is in the past and save attention for the future. When you stop striving for something special, even if you achieve what you wanted then it's merely bland. When you shoot for the moon, falling short may be superb. When you aim lower, success may be completely forgettable to everyone.

By the way, tempo is the exception here. If you go slower to achieve greater voicing and phrasing, that's not a musical compromise. It's a compromise of one musical issue for the sake of greater musical gains in other areas. If you  slower and simply play notes without shape, it's an empty achievement if you avoid wrong notes. If you listen to horowitz's mephisto waltz, he takes a very slow tempo for the famous skips. But he uses it to make the most outrageous contrast between pp and FFF. Although it avoids risk, it opens the door to a musical contrast and turns into a positive. When something is done only for safety without also serving a musical purpose, the pianist is only blending into the background at best, or being both boring and less than note perfect at worst.

If you want  make an impression, forget limiting yourself to be possibility of making it through something so mundane and forgettable ad avoiding wrong notes. Make it by striving for a sound that is not necessarily even obtainable, yet which gives interesting results even when you fall short of your goal.

[theholygideons]

Not making any mistakes is more or less an egoic thing. It's quite silly to use the music itself as a vehicle for competition, and hence make a mockery out of the composer. When you're nervous, you will feel as if others are judging you when they are actually not. Therefore, you shouldn't get too carried away with the whole act of producing the sound, for “it's like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.”

[kevin69]

Sometimes you don't have to get too far into a piece and realize today is not your best day. I would not plow ahead expecting top performance in that case. At what point is it that you know you will not articulate your "finest phrasing and voicing" and decide you shouldn't go for that in your performance ?

You can still aim for the best you are capable of on that day.
It may well be that your best on that day isn't your best ever, but you are still playing as well as you can without compromise. I think that for your own musical integrity its important that you can always say 'today i played as well as i could', but that isn't the same as saying that every performance needs to be better than the last (whatever better means).

[outin]

Sometimes you don't have to get too far into a piece and realize today is not your best day. I would not plow ahead expecting top performance in that case. At what point is it that you know you will not articulate your "finest phrasing and voicing" and decide you shouldn't go for that in your performance ?

I am afraid N will not be able to even understand what you are talking about. He seems to be one of those people whose brain and body work like a train, consistent and reliable (and sometimes seemingly lacking the railroad switches). He also does not seem to be interested in learning to understand how different it is when your system is often failing you and what surviving that requires. He would rather label you either lazy or ignorant if you don't always operate as he feels is the only correct way. But I would not wish for him to have to learn learn the hard way either, by disease or age.

Anyway, I wish for more better than worse days for you 

[in31l]

Um... its an internet forum: what were you expecting?

Considering we're trying to help an OP that doesn't care enough to respond, this thread is useless. It should probably be locked, but I'm not sure how the mods work here.

[outin]

Considering we're trying to help an OP that doesn't care enough to respond, this thread is useless. It should probably be locked, but I'm not sure how the mods work here.

The mods would have a full time job if they locked every thread that goes off topic here 

[hfmadopter]

When you feel you are below par, aim higher not lower. Almost no one plays to their intention. But if your aim is lower, you will still tend to fall short. When the aim is high, falling short may still be good. When the aim is diminished, even reaching it may be mediocre.

This is why we should always aim high, but accept whatever is in the past and save attention for the future. When you stop striving for something special, even if you achieve what you wanted then it's merely bland. When you shoot for the moon, falling short may be superb. When you aim lower, success may be completely forgettable to everyone.

By the way, tempo is the exception here. If you go slower to achieve greater voicing and phrasing, that's not a musical compromise. It's a compromise of one musical issue for the sake of greater musical gains in other areas. If you  slower and simply play notes without shape, it's an empty achievement if you avoid wrong notes. If you listen to horowitz's mephisto waltz, he takes a very slow tempo for the famous skips. But he uses it to make the most outrageous contrast between pp and FFF. Although it avoids risk, it opens the door to a musical contrast and turns into a positive. When something is done only for safety without also serving a musical purpose, the pianist is only blending into the background at best, or being both boring and less than note perfect at worst.

If you want  make an impression, forget limiting yourself to be possibility of making it through something so mundane and forgettable ad avoiding wrong notes. Make it by striving for a sound that is not necessarily even obtainable, yet which gives interesting results even when you fall short of your goal.

Yes but you didn't answer my question. When do You, N, decide that your " finest phrasing and fingering" ( note the quotes, it's from your earlier posting) will be compromised ? I'm curious, is it at the the time of execution or going into the piece that particular day or maybe a bar ahead of that point ?

[hfmadopter]

I am afraid N will not be able to even understand what you are talking about. He seems to be one of those people whose brain and body work like a train, consistent and reliable (and sometimes seemingly lacking the railroad switches). He also does not seem to be interested in learning to understand how different it is when your system is often failing you and what surviving that requires. He would rather label you either lazy or ignorant if you don't always operate as he feels is the only correct way. But I would not wish for him to have to learn learn the hard way either, by disease or age.

Anyway, I wish for more better than worse days for you  

I know how he works, but he is human outin !

I've been great lately, not so much in performance but my health. Time will tell this summer if last summers events are well past me or not ( as you know I had a serious downgrade in my health for a time there, hospital trip etc). My music is going well and I play for our bible study monthly. I do have a problem, my right fourth finger is acting up. I have not concluded yet if it's piano related or work related or both. It's very difficult to make a fist in my right hand due to that finger. It doesn't hurt to play though. About five years ago I was diagnosed with early carpel tunnel, very light not worth fixing. It may have advanced. I'll give this another week or two and if it isn't any better I'll go see that neuro guy. I've been out straight at work, emails txts, written reports that take days, filing and then the other extreme, using hand tools, Then piano. My next vacation is in May then another in June and I can't wait !

[hfmadopter]

You can still aim for the best you are capable of on that day.
It may well be that your best on that day isn't your best ever, but you are still playing as well as you can without compromise. I think that for your own musical integrity its important that you can always say 'today i played as well as i could', but that isn't the same as saying that every performance needs to be better than the last (whatever better means).

Certainly but it will be diminished from the full potential in ones self. I think probably this is more my point. Accepting the fact that the performance will be diminished and that it's just the one performance not a practice ritual or goal for future performances. It's not that, well I'm just going to back off in performance, it's about the one performance not overall. And I would ask you the same as I asked of N, at what point do you personally make this choice ? You know that you are not up to par this day, will you bail on your top best of say a particular movement or passage when you get there and realize it's not going to fly at your best or do you mentally let off before hand ?

OK for instance, Tuesday past I had to play for our bible study group. Four solo pieces of music, three of which are mine and only written in my head, no score. It was not my day literally, I felt lousy, the weather was lousy, the work day was streesful. I played anyway because it was expected I would. I played as well as I could but I knew it was not going to be stellar going in. Everything I could do up to par I did and the harder spots I let slide a little bit. I made it through, my wife and I know I can do better.  Nobody else knew any differently and actually especially the pastor loved the music. I graciously thanked him, made no excuses. I just played a little off my best and I would say it was in every category. The compositions suffered a tad overall in expression, articulation and speed. So be it, I lost no sleep over that. It was what it was, an off day. If I pushed any harder than I did it would have sounded artificial at best and totally derailed at worse. My rhythm would have suffered in one piece that syncopates long. I did not run that risk, I do believe it would have fallen apart under the circumstances ( that is about speed though). In another section there is a pulse, the beat and off beat get extra punch during that section, it got a little less emphasis Tuesday. Actually the piece I read went off the worse, I had to slow down as my reading caught up on the page, I was not reading ahead far enough and started to lose my place. The last two pages are memorized, the right hand could have been more delicate than I played it. It's all PP, it went off as P. That happened because the left hand was too loud going but it's also all 1/16th notes and I wasn't backing off till the repeat, I did let up on the repeat but you know what?  It almost sounded deliberate so I accepted it. Nobody has the score in front of them but me which in that section I was not reading anyway.

So what would you guys have done ? This is good to know ! It's good for me to know and it's good for others to hear and it may help the OP if they ever show back up.

[nyiregyhazi]

Yes but you didn't answer my question. When do You, N, decide that your " finest phrasing and fingering" ( note the quotes, it's from your earlier posting) will be compromised ? I'm curious, is it at the the time of execution or going into the piece that particular day or maybe a bar ahead of that point ?

You missed my point, as I already answered that. I don't. Phrasing is never willfully compromised. It  falls down if I lose control, sure, but never willfully. Failure to reach what you actually want is something you accept in the present, not something you intend in the future. All it takes is acceptance of falling short and appreciation that falling short of your most musical goals is actually normal. Aim for a level of phrasing that may not even be possible and the way you fall short should be gloriously superior to when you have negative compromised goals.

Also as I said, tempo may sometimes be pulled back but again I'd never tolerate slowing down and playing less musically. If I had to slow down for technical reasons, I'd at least take the chance to exaggerate voicing and shaping- so it served more of a music gain than a loss. If making a technical compromise use it to make something musically better still.

[nyiregyhazi]

I am afraid N will not be able to even understand what you are talking about. He seems to be one of those people whose brain and body work like a train, consistent and reliable (and sometimes seemingly lacking the railroad switches). He also does not seem to be interested in learning to understand how different it is when your system is often failing you and what surviving that requires. He would rather label you either lazy or ignorant if you don't always operate as he feels is the only correct way. But I would not wish for him to have to learn learn the hard way either, by disease or age.

Anyway, I wish for more better than worse days for you  

If you think my system never fails, you're having a laugh. I have a truly awful track record when it comes to being note perfect. Music is an art however. In order to aspire to something artistic (rather than an accurate production line job) we have to accept our failings and still aim high. During a struggle people can leave out a few notes or fake a passage or whatever. But if the means of survival is to deliberately diminish musical goals then it stops being music making and it loses any chance of being an art. Cheating is fine to keep music on the rails, but playing without striving for a desired sound is just pointless. We should never lose our goals due to negative thought patterns. Also, remember that when you diminish musical goals accuracy is all you have left. If that goes it leaves nothing but a negative experience and a totally compromised result. When you keep doing your best to make an atmosphere and a musical quality, you can be on your worst off day yet still have notable success on those terms. It's only when you start putting those things second that failings really are notable failings.

[hfmadopter]

You missed my point, as I already answered that. I don't. Phrasing is never willfully compromised. It  falls down if I lose control, sure, but never willfully. Failure to reach what you actually want is something you accept in the present, not something you intend in the future. All it takes is acceptance of falling short and appreciation that falling short of your most musical goals is actually normal. Aim for a level of phrasing that may not even be possible and the way you fall short should be gloriously superior to when you have negative compromised goals.

Also as I said, tempo may sometimes be pulled back but again I'd never tolerate slowing down and playing less musically. If I had to slow down for technical reasons, I'd at least take the chance to exaggerate voicing and shaping- so it served more of a music gain than a loss. If making a technical compromise use it to make something musically better still.

No I got your point. I wanted clarification on your personal approach is all. That's fine, you answered more directly now.

[outin]

If you think my system never fails, you're having a laugh. I have a truly awful track record when it comes to being note perfect. Music is an art however.

Not being note perfect was not quite what I meant with system failure. In general I would agree that music making should be more important than being note perfect. But there are times when those are not the choices.

[nyiregyhazi]

Not being note perfect was not quite what I meant with system failure. In general I would agree that music making should be more important than being note perfect. But there are times when those are not the choices.

If a situation arises where music has to come second to accuracy, obviously a person would need to do what it takes to get through. But that's when it's time to stop and ask questions so you can avoid putting yourself in quite such an unpleasant and thankless situation again. This is central to the nerves issue-as a person who ends up in a situation where the best they can hope for is a musically compromised but accurate performance (and the worst is a musically compromised performance that wasn't even accurate either)  they will naturally become more disposed to nervousness. You can try to be as positive as you like but such experiences will always leave negative feelings. At this point they need to ask themself whether the piece was too hard or whether they've been practising in a counterproductive manner that didn't set them up suitably. For myself, I simply can't see how such a situation can arise unless musicality is not being properly considered in practise. Only when musicality is felt as a separate "add-on" would it take attention away from how to play. When it's part and parcel of how you practise, it would more likely feel damaging to the security to try to strip any away than it would to carry on in your normal manner. You can't force musicality on top. It has to be imbued into the very technique of how you learn the piece. If musicality is something you have to remember to do, rather than what you always do, it won't ever manifest itself properly to an audience.

As I say, there's no shame in trying for something but falling short, but if I ever found myself in a situation where the only way through was to actually AIM lower musically, I'd have to stop and have a serious rethink. If the only way out is not to even try for your best musically, something needs urgent attention- in order to prevent such a completely unrewarding ordeal having to be experienced ever again. I can't imagine anything that would be more likely to contribute to long term nerves than routinely compromising music first- and leaving accuracy to be the only area in which notable pride could be taken.

[hfmadopter]

If a situation arises where music has to come second to accuracy, obviously a person would need to do what it takes to get through. But that's when it's time to stop and ask questions so you can avoid putting yourself in quite such an unpleasant and thankless situation again. This is central to the nerves issue-as a person who ends up in a situation where the best they can hope for is a musically compromised but accurate performance (and the worst is a musically compromised performance that wasn't even accurate either)  they will naturally become more disposed to nervousness. You can try to be as positive as you like but such experiences will always leave negative feelings. At this point they need to ask themself whether the piece was too hard or whether they've been practising in a counterproductive manner that didn't set them up suitably. For myself, I simply can't see how such a situation can arise unless musicality is not being properly considered in practise. Only when musicality is felt as a separate "add-on" would it take attention away from how to play. When it's part and parcel of how you practise, it would more likely feel damaging to the security to try to strip any away than it would to carry on in your normal manner. You can't force musicality on top. It has to be imbued into the very technique of how you learn the piece.

As I say, there's no shame in trying for something but falling short, but if I ever found myself in a situation where the only way through was to actually AIM lower musically, I'd have to stop and have a serious rethink. If the only way out is not to even try for your best musically, something needs urgent attention- in order to prevent such a completely unrewarding ordeal having to be experienced ever again. I can't imagine anything that would be more likely to contribute to long term nerves than compromising music first- and leaving accuracy to be the only area in which notable pride could be taken.

I should let her answer for herself but I suspect she was alluding to one form or another of physical impairment as part of the issue.  That may be the case. Some of us work around some issues.

My own the other night was that I did not feel well but had committed to playing. So I did. Now I need to work on next months pieces which at the moment I haven't a clue what those are, except I will play one or two of my own compositions. Beyond that I have not picked the music yet.

[kevin69]

Certainly but it will be diminished from the full potential in ones self. I think probably this is more my point. Accepting the fact that the performance will be diminished and that it's just the one performance not a practice ritual or goal for future performances. It's not that, well I'm just going to back off in performance, it's about the one performance not overall. And I would ask you the same as I asked of N, at what point do you personally make this choice ? You know that you are not up to par this day, will you bail on your top best of say a particular movement or passage when you get there and realize it's not going to fly at your best or do you mentally let off before hand ?

Personally, i wouldn't bail before i started playing but soon after starting playing i will have a feel for how well i am playing: sometimes my fingers feel clumsy, sometimes my timing seems a little off, sometimes i don't really feel the pulse well: for every aspect of playing i could feel there is an issue. If i am listening carefully to what i am playing, i can adapt.

The opposite of this, and what i think is bad, is not listening to how you are playing and therefore ruling out the possibility of adapting to your abilities on the day. Thats just a lazy performance, and reflects badly on the performer imho.

OK for instance, Tuesday past I had to play for our bible study group. Four solo pieces of music, three of which are mine and only written in my head, no score. It was not my day literally, I felt lousy, the weather was lousy, the work day was streesful. I played anyway because it was expected I would. I played as well as I could but I knew it was not going to be stellar going in. Everything I could do up to par I did and the harder spots I let slide a little bit. I made it through, my wife and I know I can do better.  Nobody else knew any differently and actually especially the pastor loved the music. I graciously thanked him, made no excuses. I just played a little off my best and I would say it was in every category. The compositions suffered a tad overall in expression, articulation and speed. So be it, I lost no sleep over that. It was what it was, an off day. If I pushed any harder than I did it would have sounded artificial at best and totally derailed at worse. My rhythm would have suffered in one piece that syncopates long. I did not run that risk, I do believe it would have fallen apart under the circumstances ( that is about speed though). In another section there is a pulse, the beat and off beat get extra punch during that section, it got a little less emphasis Tuesday. Actually the piece I read went off the worse, I had to slow down as my reading caught up on the page, I was not reading ahead far enough and started to lose my place. The last two pages are memorized, the right hand could have been more delicate than I played it. It's all PP, it went off as P. That happened because the left hand was too loud going but it's also all 1/16th notes and I wasn't backing off till the repeat, I did let up on the repeat but you know what?  It almost sounded deliberate so I accepted it. Nobody has the score in front of them but me which in that section I was not reading anyway.

So what would you guys have done ? This is good to know ! It's good for me to know and it's good for others to hear and it may help the OP if they ever show back up.

As above, i have no problem with this.
You played as well as you could (on the day).
You paid attention to how you were playing.
You adapted to give the best performance you could.

This is the opposite of a lazy performance: you were thinking about the music all the time and you gave a performance the audience enjoyed.

You could have just said "oh well, it won't be great today, they probably won't notice" and mentally switched off, not caring about the rest. That would have been lazy, and thats the attitude i dislike. Since you didn't do that, i see no issue with what you did do.

[kevin69]

As I say, there's no shame in trying for something but falling short, but if I ever found myself in a situation where the only way through was to actually AIM lower musically, I'd have to stop and have a serious rethink.

OK, i'm currently learning a piece where its a challenge for me in terms of tempo, dynamics and pedalling. If i concentrate on any one of these three elements, i can do it reasonably well but i can't do all three at once (yet). For me, the dynamics are the most important part of the piece musically. So if am i playing it today, i'll concentrate on doing a good job with the dynamics and play a little slower than i think best, and i'll use a little less pedal that i think is ideal (in this piece, i think keeping the pedal on for too long sounds much worst than releasing a little early).

This is a big set of compromises, but reflects the most musical outcome that i think i can produce today. In a months time, i expect i could play it much better in all these aspects, but thats in the future and this is now.

Is this lowering my aim musically?
I am lowering my aim in some aspects of the performance, but thats in order to produce the best overall result.

[hfmadopter]

Personally, i wouldn't bail before i started playing but soon after starting playing i will have a feel for how well i am playing: sometimes my fingers feel clumsy, sometimes my timing seems a little off, sometimes i don't really feel the pulse well: for every aspect of playing i could feel there is an issue. If i am listening carefully to what i am playing, i can adapt.

The opposite of this, and what i think is bad, is not listening to how you are playing and therefore ruling out the possibility of adapting to your abilities on the day. Thats just a lazy performance, and reflects badly on the performer imho.



As above, i have no problem with this.
You played as well as you could (on the day).
You paid attention to how you were playing.
You adapted to give the best performance you could.

This is the opposite of a lazy performance: you were thinking about the music all the time and you gave a performance the audience enjoyed.

You could have just said "oh well, it won't be great today, they probably won't notice" and mentally switched off, not caring about the rest. That would have been lazy, and thats the attitude i dislike. Since you didn't do that, i see no issue with what you did do.

Thanks for your point of view.

[outin]

If a situation arises where music has to come second to accuracy, obviously a person would need to do what it takes to get through. But that's when it's time to stop and ask questions so you can avoid putting yourself in quite such an unpleasant and thankless situation again.

As I already wrote, full note accuracy is not the point here. Sometimes it's not a choice between full accuracy and musicality, but the choice between getting through the piece decently or end up not being able to even get through at all. I do not see how it will help someone who already has nerve issues to be publicly humiliated? Assuming this is someone just taking the first steps as a performer, not a seasoned performer. It's true that some people can toughen up after hardships, but as many will end up worse. Telling people they shouldn't perform if they have to compromise on musicality is not something I would expect from a teacher and cannot see how it is helpful to anyone except the really advanced (you are here arguing with amateurs and students, not professionals). It's a great ideal and in theory I would agree, but real life is more complicated than that.

I was having a very interesting lesson with a visiting teacher, who insisted that I play a piece with "feeling" and forget about the notes and details. It is a piece I have worked on for some time and do know quite well. I was not nervous in any way, since it was only a lesson. Unfortunately as soon as I began to play I realized it was one of those days when my muscle memory does not work properly and I also had difficulties to adress the few technical difficulties of this piece because of my hands acting up. When that happens, the only way to keep playing at all is to "toughen up" and use my "crutches" (concentrate on certain details in my mind helping me to remember how to do the more difficult spots). For me hearing the music playing in my head is what I need to play fully musically (which I think is what he meant when he talked about playing with "feeling"). If I need to consciously work on retrieving from my memory details about the next measure or prepare for a fingering, I am unable to keep the music flowing in my head. Multitasking is not one of my strengths. So in those spots my playing will be more dull.

But this time since I was told to do so I tried to just keep listening to the music and play, not thinking so much about the details. I didn't just end up playing a few wrong notes, but could not find my way to the piece again after losing some notes. I ended up stopping and restarting several times in this short 2 page slow piece. But never mind, it was a lesson. It showed me two things: When I do manage to not think about the technical side of playing, I sound better. But it also once again showed me that I do not have such consistency that would make it possible to do that on every occasion or the whole piece.

Should that happen when one is supposed to make a performance should one make the audience (who's expectations are necessarily not that high) suffer with several restarts and messing up the piece or quit after you notice that you won't be able to give it your best? Or just play the piece through as well as you can, even when the musicality is partly compromised? The latter obviously, unless one cares more of one's ideals than for the listeners' comfort.

So if you say one should avoid getting in such situations again, does that mean one should never agree to perform, if one does not know beforehand that one can manage to play freely and musically that day? That's an option as well, but it means only those should perform who does not have such inconsistency as many of us do. And those would usually be professionals with extensive training (or talent enough to enable such consistency with a little less). So much for music making to be for everyone to enjoy  

[hfmadopter]

OK, i'm currently learning a piece where its a challenge for me in terms of tempo, dynamics and pedalling.

In time the pedal should come almost automatically. And then as you gain control over dynamics the speed should come almost automatically as well. Knowing the composition well helps. Also your mind and body need to be fresh, playing up to full snuff is taxing on both and especially so if the composition is fairly complex.

Is this lowering my aim musically?
I am lowering my aim in some aspects of the performance, but thats in order to produce the best overall result.

I think ones level of overall accomplishment has to be taken into consideration, as you describe your situation it sounds like you feel as though you have taken the best course you can for now. However in N's view any time you back off you lowered your aim musically, especially on dynamics. In one way I agree in the other, if you are producing music from your piano for someone they really don't want you falling all apart on them. Sometimes there has to be some compromise till it all comes together or its just a better day.

And then to keep this all on track, do you get nervous ? That actually is what this thread was about. In my case I have some nerves still after all these years going into the first piece, then it backs off. But this may depend on the day as well. Give me a super low pressure weather system with high winds and that pressure dropping, I'm as nervous as scared cat to begin with. So that is not going to be my best performance day, it just isn't going to be my best day for much of anything till the storm is passing and the pressure starts rising again. Been like that all my life..

[nyiregyhazi]

As I already wrote, full note accuracy is not the point here. Sometimes it's not a choice between full accuracy and musicality, but the choice between getting through the piece decently or end up not being able to even get through at all. I do not see how it will help someone who already has nerve issues to be publicly humiliated? Assuming this is someone just taking the first steps as a performer, not a seasoned performer. It's true that some people can toughen up after hardships, but as many will end up worse. Telling people they shouldn't perform if they have to compromise on musicality is not something I would expect from a teacher and cannot see how it is helpful to anyone except the really advanced (you are here arguing with amateurs and students, not professionals). It's a great ideal and in theory I would agree, but real life is more complicated than that.

I was having a very interesting lesson with a visiting teacher, who insisted that I play a piece with "feeling" and forget about the notes and details. It is a piece I have worked on for some time and do know quite well. I was not nervous in any way, since it was only a lesson. Unfortunately as soon as I began to play I realized it was one of those days when my muscle memory does not work properly and I also had difficulties to adress the few technical difficulties of this piece because of my hands acting up. When that happens, the only way to keep playing at all is to "toughen up" and use my "crutches" (concentrate on certain details in my mind helping me to remember how to do the more difficult spots). For me hearing the music playing in my head is what I need to play fully musically (which I think is what he meant when he talked about playing with "feeling"). If I need to consciously work on retrieving from my memory details about the next measure or prepare for a fingering, I am unable to keep the music flowing in my head. Multitasking is not one of my strengths. So in those spots my playing will be more dull.

But this time since I was told to do so I tried to just keep listening to the music and play, not thinking so much about the details. I didn't just end up playing a few wrong notes, but could not find my way to the piece again after losing some notes. I ended up stopping and restarting several times in this short 2 page slow piece. But never mind, it was a lesson. It showed me two things: When I do manage to not think about the technical side of playing, I sound better. But it also once again showed me that I do not have such consistency that would make it possible to do that on every occasion or the whole piece.

Should that happen when one is supposed to make a performance should one make the audience (who's expectations are necessarily not that high) suffer with several restarts and messing up the piece or quit after you notice that you won't be able to give it your best? Or just play the piece through as well as you can, even when the musicality is partly compromised? The latter obviously, unless one cares more of one's ideals than for the listeners' comfort.

So if you say one should avoid getting in such situations again, does that mean one should never agree to perform, if one does not know beforehand that one can manage to play freely and musically that day? That's an option as well, but it means only those should perform who does not have such inconsistency as many of us do. And those would usually be professionals with extensive training (or talent enough to enable such consistency with a little less). So much for music making to be for everyone to enjoy  

As I already said though, if the best that can be is a fight for survival, it's a totally thankless task. At best people are are indifferent about an empty but accurate performance, at worst it's neither musical nor accurate. Do what it takes to survive once but then do everything in your power never to face that type of situation again. Being in these underprepared situations (where survival via low musical goals is the most positive outcome) on a regular basis is exactly what will create long term nerves. If a student has to work that way, they need to stop and rethink about whether they aimed too high in that piece or whether something different is needed from the preparation.

This isn't an elitism issue. It's the same at any level. A student needs to prepare so they are a musician within their level and not so they scrape through notes. Again, as I said, if thinking about musical shape prevents awareness of notes, something needs attention in the preparation- to eliminate the divide between execution and music. Next time you have a performance, do you want to be in that situation again? If you want to avoid such situations, you need to know suitable practise procedures that involve linking music and technique more. Also, from what you describe, you're heavily reliant on muscle memory. This is exactly the type of situation where things are derailed by anything other than running an identical auto-pilot every time. If you work that way, musicality has to be programmed into that autopilot itself or its VERY difficult to add it in as adjustments. It's a matter of finding the best practice techniques so musicianship never feels like a hindrance or an add on to what you would do anyway- not some nonsense about banning people from performing.

[nyiregyhazi]

OK, i'm currently learning a piece where its a challenge for me in terms of tempo, dynamics and pedalling. If i concentrate on any one of these three elements, i can do it reasonably well but i can't do all three at once (yet). For me, the dynamics are the most important part of the piece musically. So if am i playing it today, i'll concentrate on doing a good job with the dynamics and play a little slower than i think best, and i'll use a little less pedal that i think is ideal (in this piece, i think keeping the pedal on for too long sounds much worst than releasing a little early).

This is a big set of compromises, but reflects the most musical outcome that i think i can produce today. In a months time, i expect i could play it much better in all these aspects, but thats in the future and this is now.

Is this lowering my aim musically?
I am lowering my aim in some aspects of the performance, but thats in order to produce the best overall result.

If you use the pedal, either get it exactly right or go back and correct things. Quite honestly, releasing early in legato changes is one of the worst sins-as it puts a great big gap in the sound. There's nothing more important than getting things right at the the outset in pedalling, otherwise habits don't change easily later on. Don't either settle for holes in legato pedalling or blurred changes. When you see the right habits, pedalling will becime second nature. Either leave it out altogether for now or get it perfect.

It's fine to take things in stages. My point is that if you don't get everything together in a single whole by the performance, every performance will feel like a struggle and compromise. That's what breeds nerves. You can work in stages, but ultimately every aspect needs to feel part of the natural whole-not like add ons that you have have to think hard about getting.

[outin]

Also, from what you describe, you're heavily reliant on muscle memory.  

As little as possible, since mine is very unreliable. But some amount of muscle memory is required, it's simply not possible to be conscious of every finger or arm movement in two hands. Many players can take it for granted, but I never have.

I am not sure we are even talking about the same thing when we talk about musicality. Playing correct does not mean only to press the right notes for me, it also involves touch, dynamics, pedalling and phrasing, so to try to keep the performance together already requires a lot more than being note correct, even if one is not aiming for the best interpretatation.

[nyiregyhazi]

As little as possible, since mine is very unreliable. But some amount of muscle memory is required, it's simply not possible to be conscious of every finger or arm movement in two hands. Many players can take it for granted, but I never have.

I am not sure we are even talking about the same thing when we talk about musicality. Playing correct does not mean only to press the right notes for me, it also involves touch, dynamics, pedalling and phrasing, so to try to keep the performance together already requires a lot more than being note correct, even if one is not aiming for the best interpretatation.

Sure it's not possible to notice everything all the time, but it needs to be fully possible to be aware of every note or to ignore every note. An adjustment in a lesson can throw you, but if you can't bring it back then it was too much on muscle memory and too little out of self awareness and choice about the next note. If you can't observe every individual finger (in a slower tempo if need be) and make it it a conscious choice rather than necessity born out of habit, then muscle memory is replacing understanding. If you can do this, musical adjustments won't derail anything. It's when the hand expects to just charge forwards but the brain is trying to get it to do something different that musical details cause it to fall apart. Every note needs to be equally possible as a conscious choice or as an unconscious physical habit. A big part of being able to make music sound as you please is that sense of choice about the next note. It's good to play very slow in free time sometimes and see if you know it well enough not to get stuck when you take away the flow of the usual rhythmic impetus. Again, these kinds of practise procedures set up how much you're really in control of the sounds you make and how much you're just throwing fingers around without being able to either observe or truly determine their intensity at that moment in time. If you don't condition yourself to retaining full choice about every note (even in pieces that are well known) all you can do is repeat a pattern of movements in performance. Every movement needs to be have room for adjustment based on musical choice- as much as it can be breezed through on muscle memory. It's neither effective to have to force every note out by will nor to be trusting movement habits that you have no direct control over.

[nyiregyhazi]

Actually, it just occurs to me that this is why accenting different notes is a useful practise technique (ie. 1st of each group and then 2nd and then 3rd etc). It's about ensuring that you don't just learn a fixed physical path and turn your brain off. You have to be choosing accent or non accent out of conscious will and then moving accordingly without losing your place as a result of the adjustment. People who just learn to repeat the same path tend not to actually think about it much or to be capable of adjusting it without a major overhaul. To play musically every note needs to be learned in an adaptable context.

[hfmadopter]

Sure it's not possible to notice everything all the time, but it needs to be fully possible to be aware of every note or to ignore every note. An adjustment in a lesson can throw you, but if you can't bring it back then it was too much on muscle memory and too little out of self awareness and choice about the next note. If you can't observe every individual finger (in a slower tempo if need be) and make it it a conscious choice rather than necessity born out of habit, then muscle memory is replacing understanding. If you can do this, musical adjustments won't derail anything. It's when the hand expects to just charge forwards but the brain is trying to get it to do something different that musical details cause it to fall apart. Every note needs to be equally possible as a conscious choice or as an unconscious physical habit. A big part of being able to make music sound as you please is that sense of choice about the next note. It's good to play very slow in free time sometimes and see if you know it well enough not to get stuck when you take away the flow of the usual rhythmic impetus. Again, these kinds of practise procedures set up how much you're really in control of the sounds you make and how much you're just throwing fingers around without being able to either observe or truly determine their intensity at that moment in time. If you don't condition yourself to retaining full choice about every note (even in pieces that are well known) all you can do is repeat a pattern of movements in performance. Every movement needs to be have room for adjustment based on musical choice- as much as it can be breezed through on muscle memory. It's neither effective to have to force every note out by will nor to be trusting movement habits that you have no direct control over.

What I have found and my teacher back then warned me about, with muscle memory is everything works just great until the pressure is on. Then it all falls apart. I used to think I was memorizing pieces early on, I was not really. Put on a little pressure in one of our many work shops we had and it was useless to try and play by memory if muscle memory is the culprit. Easy to track down, just try and pick a piece up randomly at some point other than the beginning. If you can't do that it's not memorized. I know that is in a different vein than outin is speaking of but later on when memorizing pieces this will come into play.

[hfmadopter]

Actually, it just occurs to me that this is why accenting different notes is a useful practise technique (ie. 1st of each group and then 2nd and then 3rd etc). It's about ensuring that you don't just learn a fixed physical path and turn your brain off. You have to be choosing accent or non accent out of conscious will and then moving accordingly without losing your place as a result of the adjustment. People who just learn to repeat the same path tend not to actually think about it much or to be capable of adjusting it without a major overhaul. To play musically every note needs to be learned in an adaptable context.

Absolutely, on this I can 100% agree with you N ! Well other than it may or may not be correct for the composition, it will most definitely add security to phrasing and the piece in general. But these things come along as we learn. We all started someplace, probably a C scale !

[outin]

An adjustment in a lesson can throw you, but if you can't bring it back then it was too much on muscle memory and too little out of self awareness and choice about the next note.

Well, clearly this lesson was an experiment on how to AVOID making so many conscious choices. Which requires one to trust the muscle memory more and be aware of other things than basic details in the music. This was not a lesson on practicing.

My point was that sometimes one has to keep it on that fully conscious level (of details) to be able to get through, but at best that is not necessary and it rises the performance to a new level. But trying to force that on a bad day or when the piece is not well enough learned seems just a recipe for failure and that's what you seem to suggest.

[nyiregyhazi]

Well, clearly this lesson was an experiment on how to AVOID making so many conscious choices. Which requires one to trust the muscle memory more and be aware of other things than basic details in the music. This was not a lesson on practicing.

My point was that sometimes one has to keep it on that fully conscious level (of details) to be able to get through, but at best that is not necessary and it rises the performance to a new level. But trying to force that on a bad day or when the piece is not well enough learned seems just a recipe for failure and that's what you seem to suggest.

Musicality is not about having to stop noticing what you are doing on a practical level. The lesson you had on was on avoiding conscious choices, yes, but what the result showed was that you weren't ready for that to be reliable. In the end it's not about picking one or the other. If not thinking wasn't working and led to a situation where you couldn't easily bring it back, it shows that you actually need to be MORE thoughtful first, in order to become free not to need to think. As I said you need both extreme options to be available- to perceive and monitor every individual note or to let habit do it for you. Only when both ways are open can musicality be part and parcel of normal procedure rather than some weird process that throws you and makes you feel lost. When I do slow practice with the primary urge to monitor every individual finger, I don't stop phrasing or settle for a bumped note. If anything I aim to listen and shape even more carefully (even though the exact result is not the same as a performance version) . Likewise, when I'm primarily thinking of musical issues in a finished version it doesn't mean I can't observe what I'm doing. In fact, if I really have no idea what my fingers are doing I can't play musically. You can't be running an unconscious autopilot without awareness yet also exerting musical control over everything. The reality is a complex blend of habits and choices- but remember that even when things are instigated less consciously, the ability to observe what you are doing is part of both musicianship and security. That's what you didn't have when you broke down and what you need to develop in order to play both musically and securely.

The problem with these inner game approaches about trying not to think is that you have to have the opposite (of being able to think about and observe every detail first). Otherwise it really is just asking for it to break down. In a finished product it's an extremely different thing to your experience in the lesson (which was of trying not to think of something that you did not yet have a fully internalised awareness of).

Speaking for myself, no amount of mind games would help me play a fugue truly safely from memory. I can do the physical side and sometimes that's enough but I don't have enough awareness or certainty of the construction to do it reliably by memory. For that reason, I always have to understand them from the score- both to help with my musical shaping of voices and to avoid falling apart. The score doesn't just remind me of the notes but also makes it more possible to observe what I'm doing - so I can exert more musical choice rather than be limited to autopilot for musical issues. The bulk of  nerve issues is down to whether you have something that sometimes works or whether you really have the foundations down in full. I don't know if I could ever feel that way about a four part fugue.

[outin]

Musicality is not about having to stop noticing what you are doing on a practical level.

Who said it was? There must be a balance.

And expressing musicality in a Romantic piece would be different than Baroque for example.

The lesson you had on was on avoiding conscious choices, yes, but what the result showed was that you weren't ready for that to be reliable.
...
 If not thinking wasn't working and led to a situation where you couldn't easily bring it back, it shows that you actually need to be MORE thoughtful first, in order to become free not to need to think.

And that's exactly what I was saying. So what's you point?

We are back to either not performing at all, letting things fall apart or playing overly carefully allowing one to be conscious of more details, even when it leads to a decline in musical depth (obviously not to a complete lack of musicality).

You are giving the impression that you as a pedagogue believe in not letting your students do any performing (even for their friends or family) until they are 100% sure on everything about the piece and aware of what they are doing every single time with every single note. A rare aproach indeed...

[hfmadopter]

 believe in not letting your students do any performing (even for their friends or family) until they are 100% sure on everything about the piece and aware of what they are doing every single time with every single note. A rare aproach indeed...

Hmmm, not to interrupt you guys conversation again but this sounds a lot like stepping back to my original backing off about 2% theory.   For the sake of making it through that is.

Continue.

[outin]

Continue.

I think some some piano practice will be more useful

[hfmadopter]

I think some some piano practice will be more useful

Oh probably so but it's entertaining here ( not that piano isn't but differently) !

[nyiregyhazi]

Who said it was? There must be a balance.

And expressing musicality in a Romantic piece would be different than Baroque for example.

And that's exactly what I was saying. So what's you point?

We are back to either not performing at all, letting things fall apart or playing overly carefully allowing one to be conscious of more details, even when it leads to a decline in musical depth (obviously not to a complete lack of musicality).

You are giving the impression that you as a pedagogue believe in not letting your students do any performing (even for their friends or family) until they are 100% sure on everything about the piece and aware of what they are doing every single time with every single note. A rare aproach indeed...

You're missing the point of what I said. What I wrote was about how you avoid ending up in such situations in the first place - by organising the preparation in a suitable fashion. You're working on the basis that thinking musically means not thinking about the notes at all and that thinking about notes means no music. You may have experienced the situation that way, but the best preparation will never put you there. The teacher may have portrayed it that way that the time but it will have been an experiment for the moment- not to say that musicality comes when you run habits without thought.. Forgetting about what you are doing is not a magic route to musicality and neither should musical thinking preclude any awareness of what is being done. Technique must be linked into musical thought and musical thought must be linked into technical preparation. If you experienced it that way, it's a matter of how you organise the preparation so you never have to choose. When I think hard about every note in practise I don't stop caring about music. When I go into a performance with musical goals I don't get forced to run my fingers on blind muscle memory minus awareness (which is actually wildly detrimental to controlling sound). It's all down to organisation of the ground work. Make links in ground work and the same links will just be there.

I don't refuse to let students play things that are not 100 percent ready. However, I do show them how to link music and technique properly- so that conscious awareness is an aid to both musical execution and technical safety. If they seem like separate worlds then practise must be organised to link those worlds. These processes protect students from a horrible situation of either having choose whether to lose the music or lose control. If they haven't successfully linked music and technique then certainly need to before performance. It's a serious foundation issue.  This isn't about elitism but about students knowing how to put them self in a good situation, rather than a very unpleasant one.

[nyiregyhazi]

To put that in a very concise summary- musicality feels natural when you have a foundation in true awareness of whatever you are doing. That's what makes things malleable and open to being sculpted at will- without damaging a chain of movement. In the situation you describe, you tried to use LACK of awareness to achieve musical results- but you're wrongly blaming musical thinking for the inevitable downfall of blind muscle memory. The right approach to preparation will prevent the choice you had to make.

You speak as if musicality and pragmatic awareness are mutually exclusive, but a pianist who plays musically under pressure does so precisely because they have quite such a strong link between the two aspects. This is at the heart of what distinguishes between a person who plays beautifully within their ability level and one who can only struggle to get from A to B. Ironically, some pianists who once played a piece very well go on to deteriorate badly over time-because habits become so powerful that they forget to come and remind themself of how to be aware of the details involved. Once they start merely repeating even a reliable autopilot without awarenesw, it automatically starts to deteriorate- and only having the patience to go back to proper awareness of the ingredients (as if learning it for the first time) can turn it back into a musically involved and controlled performance. Preferably this is done before things suddenly fall apart, rather than after

[outin]

You're missing the point of what I said. What I wrote was about how you avoid ending up in such situations in the first place - by organising the preparation in a suitable fashion. You're working on the basis that thinking musically means not thinking about the notes at all and that thinking about notes means no music.

I am not. That's your impression only and shows that it is indeed you who have missed several points others have made in this discussion.

[pianoplunker]

I know someone who took Beta Blockers to calm nerves before a performance.   This person also teaches and recommended this to the parents of her non adult students as a good method of calming nerves before a performance or exam.    I would not take a drug for nerves as this is dangerous and you can get hooked.

There are better more natural ways of calming nerves.    If I  was a parent being told by my childs teacher that Beta Blockers would help, I would think twice about continuing with the teacher.   

Maybe that is just me, so what do others think and how do you calm nerves.   

A piano teacher prescribing drugs - priceless.  That just sounds stupid to me. I think the piano teacher needs to be someone to give confidence not drugs. Example : " Although I criticize you over every little thing, you play this piece like no other that I have ever heard. You are ready. and I am proud to be called your teacher."