Performance Tips

Performance tips for my students ... suggestions welcome!

BASICS

• Make sure you know your piece REALLY well, preferably from memory!
  
• Play the right notes, in tune, with the correct rhythm.
  
• Do what it says on the copy! Make the dynamics really obvious. Have you checked what all those little details mean?
  
• Are you playing it at the right sort of speed?
  
• Think about the character of your piece. Is it a dance? Is it happy? Is it sad?
  

PREPARATION / BACKGROUND

• Listen to some other people playing your piece - do you like it? What are they doing that you would like to copy? What don't you like?
  
• Who wrote it? When did they write it? What was happening at that point in history?
  
• Listen to a recording of your piece, while looking at the piano accompaniment - follow it along so you can understand what the piano is doing while you play.
  
• Watch a video of someone playing your piece - does it look and sound like a good performance? Why?
  

SOUND

• Project your sound - pretend you're playing to someone at the bottom of the garden.
  
• You can play much louder in a bigger space than you can in a tiny practice room - try in your school hall or community venue.
  
• Echo is a real thing - the more flat hard surfaces there are in a room the more your sound will bounce around.
  

SETUP

• Check the floor. Make sure you have the appropriate spike holder / floor protector
  
• If you're playing outdoors, bring clothespegs for your music so it can't blow off the stand
  
• Make sure you know where you're going to leave your case, and whether you have to go through any doors between the dressing room and the stage
  
• Get there in time so your instrument can get adjusted to the temperature in the venue (15-30mins is helpful)
  

PERFORMANCE

• Your performance starts the minute you stand up to go and perform, not when you start playing! Your performance finishes when have walked off the stage after the performance.
  
• Make sure you have rehearsed with your accompanist (if applicable). Make sure you give them the music in advance.
  
• Look over the top of the audience - don't shut your eyes!
  
• Put your music stand (if needed) somewhere it doesn't get in the way of you communicating with your audience - hiding behind it looks a bit silly!
  
• Remember to wait after your last note has finished, before you get up and bow.
  
• Always bow to thank your audience for listening.
  

NERVES?

• The better you know your piece, the less nervous you will be!
  
• Practice performing to your fluffy toys / pets / siblings / parents / friends / grandparents etc.
  
• Record yourself - this gives you some of the adrenalin without the exposure of having to play for someone real if you're still feeling a bit unsure.
  
• Practice the WHOLE performance - walk on, set up, play, wait, take a bow, walk off.
  
• Sit there and imagine your way through the whole performance - imagine everything going perfectly and you playing your best - visualise it - this is a technique professional sports people use and it's really helpful. The more detail you can think about the better it will go on the day.
  
• If your bow hand gets slippy, rub a sneaky bit of rosin on your fingers to help them to stick to the bow! (right hand only!)