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: Set strategic deadlines Cover
every aspect of preparation Do 'microscopic' practice Critically listen to yourself Recognize the
learning process.

STEP #1
SET STRATEGIC DEADLINES THE KEY IS TO MAKE YOURSELF BELIEVE THAT IT'S THE
NEW DEADLINE.
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!

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.

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.

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.

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