First paid performance?

[Molly]

I have been considering when the best time would be to book one’s first paid performance. I’ve been a student for the past two years now learning Suzuki repertoire, and would classify myself as a late beginner/early intermediate. I have my teacher’s blessing to reach out to a retirement home and see if one would be willing to host me as a student performer, but I am still not feeling ready to some degree. I know maybe one or two longer pieces that could hold up well on their own, but the only other repertoire I have is shorter little beginner pieces coming from Suzuki book 1 and the first three songs of book 2. I just don’t know that many people would care to listen to those types of songs, since they are shorter. But maybe I am selling myself short and could play a mixture that would flow better.

I would like to gain experience with performing, but I just don’t feel like a professional. I know everyone has to start somewhere, but I’m just not sure when or how to dive in with how limited my repertoire is. My teacher had suggested a retirement home would be more than happy to hear my simpler music. I could probably put together about 30 minutes of solid playing time. What are everyone’s thoughts on this?

[mayremaquine]

Hiya, I would not worry to much about playing flashy pieces. Pick something that you are really comfortable with. A lot of people have never heard a harp live or even seen one. They will most likely be listening to the sound of your instrument and not much to the difficulty of the piece. Another thing to keep in mind is that depending on the mental state of your audience it might not be a quiet environment to play in. My harp friend regularly plays in a ward for people with dementia and sometimes people talk thought her or start walking around. It might be nice to play some really well known songs maybe even children’s songs. Almost everyone knows them and I’ve found that they often get appreciatet more than the difficult piece that you have worked months on. Break a leg 🙂
(English is not my first language I don’t mean to offend anyone in a retirement home. I apologise if I used the wrong wording. )

[Molly]

Thanks for your response! Actually I wouldn’t mind if people were milling around or chatting, it might take some of the pressure off. My teacher has also said that children’s songs would be welcome in these types of environments, and goodness knows I’ve learned quite a few of them from my early beginner days. I suppose I could revisit some of my earlier music. I guess I just have an idea in my head of what a performance should be, and I don’t think about the fact that most people are simply happy to see and hear a harp in real life. I remember being amazed by the instrument the first time I saw my teacher play.

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