Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Studio Class

I played in Studio Class today. It did not go well. I'm worried about my recital. How can I practice so much and still play so badly? I came home ate souffle and pizza, watched an hour of Frasier, introduced myself to Facebook Scramble, practiced a little more, and am now writing on my blog. (Obviously.) Any ideas or tips?

6 comments:

A Dose of Joy said...

Hey Mary,

It's easy to get really flustered in practice and performance when you're coming up to something big. When I was about a week before my recital, I agreed with myself not to have panicked practice, and to work only when I could be totally engaged in my practicing, searching for ways to do things a little differently or solve little puzzles (puzzles, not problems!) I was really happy with how I felt during my recital this year, and I think it was because I didn't allow myself to get upset when I was getting a little stressed about it. You know you're a good player, and you know you've worked hard to develop your skills, so don't let your worries be what dominates your thought process when you pratice. Also, the way I made sure my memory was going to be fine was, I'd pretend to have a little "panic moment" in some of the difficult spots, and think quickly about what was about to come next. What I mean is, in my brain, I'd rehearse what usually happened to me onstage, which was a jolting moment of, "OH MYYYY, WHAT COMES NEXT!!!" and I'd let my brain deal with that calmly, and give me that information a little early, like, "Okay, the next thing I'm going to need is a 2nd finger on the A-string," so that my brain had no reasons to freak out during performance...it knew what was coming next. That really helped.

That was really long---I hope some of it is a little helpful :)

Also, just praying to keep calm works wonders---I'll have you in my prayers this week, too :)

-C

Unknown said...

Chloe, you are so awesome! Thanks for the great advice. I'll definitely take your advice and try to apply it these last few days: calm, engaged practice, puzzle solving, and practiced freak out moments. OK. Thanks for the prayers, too. I always need those. :)

Tonya said...

careful...scramble is soo addictive and you might not get any practicing done with that new outlet :)

Audrey said...

Okay, so I don't know, but ice cream--a really yummy (probably expensive) brand always makes me feel a tiny bit better. I will feel guilty later about eating such a high fat treat, but in the moment, I feel so blissful.

Anonymous said...

Ice cream, yes. Haagen Dazs "Sticky Toffee Pudding". Also something I heard once (since I'm not a trained muGician): Make like your music is a gift of love you want to give each listener and you are driven to communicate the power and joy of it with your whole soul - right to their hearts.

Cory & Alli said...

I don't have any tips for practicing, but I think you did just the right thing to comfort yourself!!! You can't go wrong with pizza! Chocolate also never hurts!