soothing nerves for auditions

[chopincat]

I have this audition coming up that's a pretty big deal for me. I guess you could say it's my first real competition. If I win I get to play in Carnegie Hall, so the stakes are pretty high. I really want to do well, for myself, but also for my teacher and my family. And my chances aren't awful: there are a few winners for each age group, and historically my teacher's students have done well. So I don't want to mess it up.

I have always had huge problems with nerves, and I can imagine that they'll be even bigger with this. So I was just wondering if anyone had any tips for how to handle that? Obviously I'm practicing like crazy and I will try to "practice perform" my pieces as much as possible. What else can I do?

[michael_c]

A few tips:

-In the last days before the big day, practice less. This effect has been demonstrated in sport: those who kept their training rhythm, or even intensified it just before a big event, performed less well than those who reduced the training period in the last few days, concentrating more on relaxation, getting enough sleep and keeping their energy for when it will be needed.

- Do you have any meditation or breathing exercises? If you already know some such exercises, make sure you do them as much as possible in the last days and on the day of the performance. You've done all the technical work you can: now is the time to make sure that you are as relaxed and focused as possible. If you need some inspiration for this, check out the Free Mindfulness Project.

- Concentrate on the music, what you love about the pieces you are performing, your inner sensations when you play them.

- When you're out there performing you will probably start wondering what the judges are thinking. Tell yourself that this is normal, but there's no way you can tell what they are thinking and you can't do anything to change it anyway. Let go of this thought and come back to focus on the music.

- If you make a mistake or a passage doesn't go as well as it did when you last practised it, remember that you're only human. Even the greatest make mistakes. Don't let it bog you down: tell yourself "I'll deal with this later" and concentrate on getting back to cruising altitude.

There are some good ideas on this subject on the Bulletproof Musician.

[amytsuda]

I never went to any audition or I am not a performer. But recently I am finding more experience I gain in playing the same piece on many more pianos, I feel more confident. Sometimes, when I play something at my friend's house or something, I suddenly get hit by this feeling of losing the control over the piece. And often, it is because what I hear is different from what I expect from practicing on my own piano. After practicing a piece so much on my own piano, what I want to express and how I coordinate my fingers get so tightly linked, I lose my ability to adjust to a piano that behaves differently. The more I play the piece on many different pianos, it gets easier to adjust to a new piano.

So in addition to practicing performing, I recommend playing them on many pianos. At friends' houses, at schools, or even at piano stores, just find as many places as possible to play your repertoires. Even if the competition gives you an opportunity to practice on the piano they offer, having audience in the hall v.s. not having audience, all these things change the way how they sound. You need to build a confidence that you can get the sound you want in any environment and with any piano.

Another thing is to pay extra attention to the softer, slower, legato section. For me, the fast and loud section is easier. Softer, slower, legato is nerve wrecking on a piano I am not used to. I need to practice breathing, support, posture, singing in the head on those sections, not to get panic on a new piano.

Good luck!