You may remember that I’m scheduled to play in a concert, it’s in late November. Since I haven’t really done anything like that since the pandemic, I thought it would be a good idea to play in the recital at the community music school where I take lessons. The idea is just to refresh my (bodily) memory of what it’s like to get up to play an unfamiliar piano in front of a bunch of people, and see if I can get my hands to shake so I can experience playing through the shaky hands.

When I signed up for this recital, it seemed like the recital was far, far in the future. But now all of a sudden, it’s next week! I’ll be playing three pieces in the concert, but the recital rules are that each performer can only play one piece, so I picked the one that gives me the most trouble. It’s still giving me some trouble, so I have some misgivings about that. :/

As far as I know, I will be the only adult in this recital. Also, I think they pick the performance order loosely based on the difficulty of the piece, so I’ll probably be playing near the end, but also probably not at the very end. Hopefully there will be some hot shot high school student playing something really advanced after me.

It would be a lot better if there were other adults in the recital, but ah well.

Anyway, stay tuned, I’ll add updates after my lesson this week (when maybe I’ll have more info?) and then of course I’ll come back and give a recital report.

    Thank you both!

    BTW in the past, when I played in recitals or at music parties, I didn’t record myself. But I think I’ll have my spouse record when I play in the recital next week. For one thing, listening to the recording will let me see how accurate my impression of how I played is (i.e., when I’ve finished playing, I might think it was worse than it actually was, or I might be thinking it was better)…

    I have an option of playing in a concert on 7th December and am worrying that it is getting too much. I have recorded a piece for the PT recital but am not very happy with it and would like to record again if I get time. On top of that an acquaintance has asked me to learn a concert version of a carol that will accompany her playing and it is not something I can read at sight without making mistakes. I have two piano duets to practice with two separate friends and lastly must prepare a piece for the next piano group meeting on 30th Nov. Arrrrgh.

    Hmmm. If it feels like too much, either cancel one or maybe reduce the number of pieces?

    Or decide that you’ll do your best, smile when it’s finished and not worry about how well or how poorly you play?

    I’m voting for the latter! 😅

    Depends on how well you prepared your pieces whether they're at or close to the performance level. And whether you're psychologically ready to play the pieces.

    • keff replied to this.

      ShiroKuro, how brave of you to chose the piece that gives you most trouble. The best of luck!

      *
      ... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...

        thepianoplayer416 I have reduced the pressure this afternoon by making an acceptable(hopefully) recording of the carol that my acquaintance had requested. I was sent the score on Tuesday 29th Oct so not had a great deal of time to learn it. Indeed I haven't learnt it but used a trick that my piano teacher advised when faced with playing something when time is short....remove some notes that you can get away with.

          Animisha thank you! Although whether I'm brave or stupid remains to be seen! 😃

            @ShiroKuro Of course, the worst thing in a recital like this is waiting for your turn to play. You can't really listen to the other players, you have a million thoughts going through your head - everything but what you should be thinking about. I usually play from memory, so I am thinking - "How does it start?"

            My worst experience about playing with a bunch of kids was at a music teacher's group recital. Each teacher sent their best students to play. The teacher in charge of the recital made all the performers sit in the same row, in the order they would be playing. So there I was, sitting with little kids on each side of me. I definitely felt out of place. I did not play my best!

            It's all good though. All grist for the mill...

            Good luck!

              ShiroKuro As far as I know, I will be the only adult in this recital. Also, I think they pick the performance order loosely based on the difficulty of the piece, so I’ll probably be playing near the end, but also probably not at the very end. Hopefully there will be some hot shot high school student playing something really advanced after me.

              Do you know the age ranges? Just curious. I've mentioned here before that I played in my first teacher's recitals twice (and a 3rd time was planned but I chickened out at the event and just listened). Her students were between 5 and 18; the majority seemed to be under 10 or 12. She had a handful of adult students...some performed intermittently and some flat-out refused.

              ShiroKuro Hopefully there will be some hot shot high school student playing something really advanced after me.

              I would think that's a given. 😂 There were 4 high school students performing at my recitals and they were all amazing.

              Sam The teacher in charge of the recital made all the performers sit in the same row, in the order they would be playing. So there I was, sitting with little kids on each side of me.

              I can relate! At the recital I bowed out of, initially I sat over in the "performer's" area. Once the little kids started filling up the seats around me, I suddenly felt very conspicuous (and a bit ridiculous) and quietly snuck away to the audience seating.

              Ithaca Would it help to think that every time you make a mistake, or play a phrase a little less well than you'd like, that you're doing a huge favor for the kids?

              What a nice positive spin. I wish it could have worked for me! What I experienced was the young kids not paying attention to anything until it was their turn to play, and the older kids were all way better than me. It's hard to imagine my mistakes did anything for them, but who knows...

              I wish you luck @ShiroKuro, and looking forward to hearing about it. 🙂 No matter how it goes I expect the experience will be beneficial, especially as a rehearsal for your upcoming event.

                      Sam So there I was, sitting with little kids on each side of me. I definitely felt out of place.

                      Yeah, I really hope they don't do that!

                      It's all good though. All grist for the mill...

                      I agree. This will be a learning experience, if nothing else! And that's why I signed up for it! I just need to remind myself of that...

                      @Ithaca your comment is a good reminder just of the importance of being a good role model. No matter how well or poorly one plays, being gracious and kind to oneself is the key.

                      @JB_PT I have almost zero information about the event or participants. I take lessons at this music school once a week, and although there is the occasional adult student (usually guitar, though, not piano), most of the other students there all look to be well under elementary school grade 6.

                      However, there are enough students that the school breaks its recital up into six slots over two days, 15 performers (max) in each slot.

                      So I am seeing only a very small slice of the students. The last time I asked my teacher about it, he didn't seem to have an idea either, although maybe he will know more now. I'll ask him at our lesson this week.

                        Hmmm, I might change my recital piece (assuming it’s n to too late, I don’t know if they’re printing programs)

                        Anyway, I don’t think this piece is ready. And it’s a lot of pressure knowing this is the only piece I’m going to play at the recital (I always do better when I play two pieces, easy one first).

                        But the other two pieces I’m planning to play at the concert are both more ready, and easier….

                        I will see how my practice session goes tomorrow and probably pick one of the other pieces.

                        There’s no reason to set myself up for failure…

                          ShiroKuro even if they printed programs you could get up on stage and say "there's been a change from the program, I'm playing [piece]". Nothing is in stone! 🙂

                            @twocats good point! 😃

                            I’m going to email my teacher today. Our lesson is on Wednesday and the recital is on Sunday.

                            I think I will benefit from the experience more, and enjoy it, if I’m playing something I actually have a chance of playing well.

                            Oh good grief. So, I just listened to yesterday’s practice recording…. It actually sounds pretty good. Much, much better, in fact, than I realized.

                            There are two spots where I kind of get stuck, but I played through them. But in general, it’s actually pretty musical and conveys (I think) the qualities about the piece that I love and that are the reasons I picked it in the first place.

                            I should see if I can upload this recording so some of you can listen to it and tell me what to do. 😅

                            Ok, here's my practice recording from yesterday. There's a 10-15 second blank at the beginning (sorry, I didn't edit it out.) Also, fyi the recording quality sounds terrible on my PC speakers, but pretty good on my iPhone (how I recorded it) and on the EarPods headphones.

                            It's about 4 and half minutes long.

                            So, what say you? Should I play this at the recital on Sunday?

                              ShiroKuro I responded on your other thread that it often sounds rushed to me (I would especially pay attention to the fast notes and giving full weight to rests) but I think if you played it in a recital that it would be a respectable performance!

                                Thanks!

                                I think I have a tempo problem.

                                Because the original recording (by the composer) is just under 4 minutes. And you better believe it doesn’t sound rushed!

                                But I am playing at 4 minutes 30 seconds.

                                So in theory I’m playing slower but I am sure you’re right. So if there are spots where it sounds rushed, what does that mean?
                                This isnt exactly a rhetorical question … more like .. ok, hmm now what do I do. Because I don’t want to slow down more. But I definitely don’t want it to sound rushed.