On stage

[paleotheist]

Tonight I'll be playing my first piano recital in years.  I believe it's been about 14 years since I've been on stage giving a performance of any kind.  I don't really count teaching as performing even though it involves getting up and talking in front of a lot of people, hundreds at times.  While a teacher generally wants to amuse their students

Comments

[traceracer]

You'll do great - good luck!

[kittenscribble]

At this point you've prepared as best you can. Recitals always terrified me, so I think that just the fact that you're taking one on is admirable.

Good luck with the performance and enjoy that ice cream!

[examorata]

Oh, you have my every sympathy. I hated guitar recitals with such a burning passion, and I was allowed to have my damn music in front of me!

I wonder why the emphasis on memorization in piano recitals? I mean, I guess it looks classier, and if it's a multiple-page piece you don't have to worry about staging it all along the music holder and/or having someone there to flip pages for you.

I'm sure you'll do well, however nervous you feel! I'm not sure what to say to help with the nerves. That ice cream is gonna taste GOOD, though!!

[paleotheist]

My teacher claims that being able to actually watch your hands allows you to put a lot more into the subtleties and dynamics of the piece. I must say that I agree with that. The memory really helps smooth things out because you become SO much more sure of the fingering and such. That's all well and good when you're playing at home, alone, with no one to impress! But nerves wreak havoc on memory so it's kind of a catch-22.

Ah well. I will bury my sorries at Rita's if it goes poorly tonight!

[p_sunshine]

Good luck tonight!
When I did theater, a few minutes before the house would open (and sometimes backstage right before a scene), I would take a moment to step out of my shoes and feel the stage barefoot - it helped me to center myself and calm some of the jitters. It probably sounds a little silly, but it always made me feel better. Maybe you could come up with something that would help center you beforehand?

[paleotheist]

Hah! That's so ironic because I've purposely been practicing with shoes on all week so I could get used to pedaling with soles. I always practice barefoot so I had to get used to the feel of thick rubber between me and the pedals. Funny!

[p_sunshine]

Hee! Yeah, I can totally understand needing to practice with shoes! =) How did it go?

[bkleber]

Hope all went well! What was the piece you played?

AS you may remember from college, I play everything with no sheet music - and I agree with your teacher, it lets me concentrate a lot more on what my hands are doing, and on making the music. And I take my shoes off to play :-)