5 STEPS TO A

FLAWLESS
PERFORMANCE

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 5 STEPS TO A
FLAWLESS
PERFORMANCE
As classical musicians, we all dream of one day walking out on
a stage like Carnegie Hall and laying down the greatest
performance of our lives. That’s why we “practice, practice,
practice” for hours every day – for that one fleeting moment.

But what if you suddenly got that gig at Carnegie and had the
opportunity to make that dream come true? How would you
prepare?

Luckily for us, hundreds of musicians have been on that stage

before and can share the steps you needed to succeed.
In this guide, we’re going to break down 5 distinct steps that
professional musicians use to nail their next big performance:

1. Set strategic deadlines

2. Cover every aspect of preparation
3. Do 'microscopic' practice
4. Critically listen to yourself
5. Recognize the learning process

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 STEP #1
SET STRATEGIC
DEADLINES
While this may seem like an obvious first step, setting
strategic deadlines is actually one of the best ways to
properly prepared for your performance.

Start by convincing yourself that the concert is actually in half the time you
have to prepare. For example, if you have a big concert or competition
coming up in a year, pretend that it is actually in 6 months.

The key is to make yourself believe that it’s the new deadline. You can even
schedule a concert with your friends and family for that date to make it more
real — whatever it takes! 

Then, when you’ve reached your 6 month deadline, re-convince yourself that
it is in 3 months; at 3 months, it’s in 6 weeks; and so on.

What this results in is an extremely relaxed and confident month leading up

to the actual performance. This is very rare for most of us who are usually
scrambling at the last minute to pull everything together!

THE KEY IS TO MAKE YOURSELF BELIEVE THAT IT'S THE NEW DEADLINE.

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 STEP #2
COVER EVERY ASPECT
OF PREPARATION
As we all know, running through a program in the practice
room is very different from doing it on stage.

Unfortunately the opportunities to practice in such a setting are few and far
between! To compensate for this, you need to cover both physical and
mental aspects of preparation.

You might be surprised to learn that the most crucial form of preparation is
actually muscle memory. Without muscle memory, your hands wouldn’t be
able to play the piece at all! 

However, there are two other forms of preparation that help us play our best
in pressure situations: mental and imagination.

For mental preparation, it’s important to be able to “see” the notes away from
the instrument and play through the entire piece start to finish in your head.
This ensures you are not completely reliant on muscle memory and will be
able to pick the piece back up if your fingers have a sudden lapse.

Imagination, on the other hand, refers to putting your mind in the setting of
the concert. For example, practice seeing yourself in the green room, walking
out on stage and bowing, playing through the concert, and walking off stage.

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 STEP #3
DO 'MICROSCOPIC'
PRACTICE
One specific way you can prepare while you’re in the
practice room is by doing 'microscopic' practice.

This essentially means taking out the metaphorical microscope and making
sure you are aware of every note’s distinct purpose.

This is especially important for more complicated pieces where there is a lot
going on.

For instance, if you have a Baroque piece with several different voices all
occurring at once, it’s easy turn your brain off and treat all the notes the
same. However, in a performance, this can backfire.

Giving a purpose to every note helps ingrain them deeply in your memory
so they can be recalled when the pressure is on.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE AWARE OF EVERY NOTE'S DISTINCT PURPOSE.

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 STEP #4
LISTEN CRITICALLY
TO YOURSELF
Another obvious strategy that most of us overlook or
don’t do effectively is recording and listen to our playing.

It is essential that you are able to step outside your performer mindset and
critique your playing objectively from an outsider’s perspective. In fact, you
should even pick on yourself as if you were the judge in a one person
competition. 

Try recording yourself playing through a piece and listening back with fresh,
discerning ears. What isn’t working? Don’t give yourself the excuse, “Oh that
part’s so technically challenging, it’s ok if I flub it a little bit.” No! Mark the
spot and try to find a new solution in tomorrow’s practice session. 

Leading up to the performance, start video recording yourself in as formal

of a setting as possible. This means renting a small hall, dressing in your
concert clothes and running through the whole program for a camera —
bows and banter included. Then of course, go home and critically judge both
the audio and visual aspects of your performance.

YOU SHOULD EVEN PICK ON YOURSELF, AS IF YOU WERE THE

JUDGE IN A ONE PERSON COMPETITION.

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 STEP #5
RECOGNIZE THE
LEARNING PROCESS
The last step is simply to give yourself a little perspective.

The fact is, performances are not life or death scenarios. Whether you
perform perfectly or make a giant flub, it’s all a learning experience. 

As the great leader Winston Churchill once said: “Success is not final, failure
is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

"SUCCESS IS NOT FINAL, FAILURE IS NOT FATAL; IT IS THE COURAGE TO

CONTINUE THAT COUNTS." - WINSTON CHURCHILL

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