Concert Preparation

Because concerts are so important, we need to prepare for them well. The most important thing we can do is to practice; but it's also important to know how to practice, as well as how much to practice. Other factors such as listening to a recording of your piece, never skipping practice days, and even getting a good night's sleep can greatly improve your overall performance.

So, how do you prepare for a musical performance?

Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice...

Never skip a day

Obviously, when we perform, we want our skills to be SOLID. This means that our skills must be developed to the point that there is no possibility of making mistakes. The best way to make sure that your skills are SOLID is to never skip a day of practice.

When we skip a day, we spend that day forgetting. So, the next day of practice is spent making up for that lost day. This means that there are really two days spent not improving. You need to be improving every day, not just forgetting and remembering again.

When we practice every day, the improvement that we make is like an unbroken chain. That chain gets stronger and stronger the longer we can keep it going. If you practice a piece of music for weeks and weeks in an unbroken chain, your skills will be unbreakable. Then, no matter how scary it might be to get up on stage, your performance will still go perfectly smoothly.

Work for higher standards than you normally would

The most important kind of standard we learn from playing in concerts is how to make things SOLID. It's easy to play something without mistakes when you're at home, and you're comfortable, and there's no pressure on you. When you go into a pressure situation, then you learn just how well you really know your music. A common mistake students make is to assume that if they're able to play something without mistakes at home, that means they'll play it without mistakes in a pressure situation. This is not true! Your level of preparation needs to be way above what you need to play the piece in your living room.

There are five levels of solidity when learning a piece of music:

- At home, comfortable, no pressure
- In the lesson
- Playing with someone (group class, with teacher in lesson)
- Rehearsal with piano
- On stage

Therefore, just because you can play without mistakes at home doesn't mean you know it well enough to play without mistakes in a performance. You have to be able to play your piece at performance level even when you're at home. That's why playing in a lot of concerts helps us judge just how well we really know our pieces, and that helps us practice effectively, because we know what to expect.

To help judge the level of your preparation, put yourself in some pressure situations as a test. Invite friends or family over and play your piece for them. What's even better is to play for someone that you don't know. Always keep in mind that there's no limit to how SOLID your skills can be.

Work on the hard spots more

In any piece of music, there are places that are easy, and there are places that are more difficult. It's tempting to practice the whole piece evenly, but you shouldn't do that. In fact, it's very tempting to only practice the easy parts and ignore the hard parts, but you definitely shouldn't do that! You have to look ahead to the concert and imagine yourself on stage, and decide which parts of the song you're going to wish you practiced the most.

If you have questions about which sections of the piece to practice the most...listen to your teacher!

Play through the piece...intelligently

Although it's often a bad idea to waste practice time playing through a piece over and over when you don't need to, it's a very important part of concert preparation and should be taken very seriously. You have to get used to playing the song the way you would play it on stage, from beginning to end, with all of the musical ideas intact.

However, it's very important to get a lot of practice playing the piece the way you would on stage, not lazily or half-heartedly or way too fast. Think ahead to the concert and imagine yourself on stage, and realize that careless mistakes you might make at home will not be good enough for a performance. These are the things you should be working for when you play through your piece at home:

- No missed notes
- Steady tempo
- Attention to musicianship: bow strokes, dynamics, phrasing
- Good tone

The speed of the piece should be the speed that your teacher suggested. Also, when you practice playing through, DO NOT STOP for anything, even if you make a mistake! Stopping the piece for one second is worse than the ugliest wrong note in the world. Keep it going, no matter what, because that's what you'll have to do in the performance and you need to practice playing that way.

Listen to the recording

In the week or two leading up to a concert, listen to your piece more than you normally would. It's important to have the song solidly in your head so that even if you're distracted when you're up on stage, you won't have any memory slips. Remember, there are many different levels of knowing a piece of music, and you want to make sure that your knowledge of the piece is SOLID.

Relax, too

It's also important to be loose and carefree about a musical performance. If your emotions are locked up and tight, then the music will sound tight; if your emotions are happy and free, then the music will sound free. When you practice, do it with a positive attitude and remember that you will be fine if you practice well. When you're not practicing, imagine yourself on stage playing the piece really well. And don't let friends or family members make you nervous. Your musical performance is for you, and you have the right to enjoy it!

BACK TO HOME                                BACK TO CONCERT INFORMATION