Today’s tool
Practicing for performance
Assignment: Practice your piece in different clothes, in a different setting, or with someone listening.
No matter whether you are playing for a concert hall full of strangers or a few family members in your home, performance pressure feels a lot different than playing in the calmness of your normal practice space. Practicing under pressure will help you get used to the feeling. Today, create artificial performance pressure: invite a friend to listen, or set up your phone to record (even if you never watch it, trying to capture a perfect recording creates pressure). Try practicing while intentionally distracted—with the TV on, after exercising, or first thing in the morning before warming up. Practice in different clothes, including your performance outfit. After you get used to performing under deliberately difficult conditions, you’ll be better equipped to handle the surprises a real performance can bring. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s learning that you can keep going when things aren’t ideal.
Learn more:
Conquering Nerves—part 1, with Rhett Barnwell
Learn how to take the focus off yourself In Part 1 of Rhett Barnwell’s series on how to conquer nerves at Harp Column Academy.
Music ideas:
Easy Classics, by Meinir Heulyn
In the amazingly useful collection Easy Classics, Meinir Heulyn has arranged 12 well-known melodies from the classical repertoire for solo lever or pedal harp.