Getting ready for my piano jury

ShiroKuro

We are about a month away from finals here. Last semester, the head of the piano program was on maternity leave, so for my final exam I had to submit a video recording. But she’s back now and we’re back to the regular final exams, which is that piano students have to perform for a jury for their final.

I am planning to play Miracles by Alexis Ffrench, as transcribed by PT’s own @Rubens .

I don’t have any public performances planned before then, although I may have a small gathering at home and play for friends. But that’s a little too low key to be good prep for playing through shaky hands.

So I’m thinking that this weekend, I’ll go and play at a “public” piano as practice. There’s a piano in a shop at the mall here, and it has a sign that says “play me.” The last time I was in there, a customer was playing, and I asked the salesclerk if anyone was allowed to play, and she said “yes, we love it when people come and play.”

So, that’s my plan. I have a few other pieces I can play as well, so I thought I’d go and play for maybe 20 minutes, and play my jury piece first, and then maybe play it again last.

So this is my “accountability” post. I’ll report back on how it goes.

🤞🎶 🤞

danno858

ShiroKuro that’s a great idea! I never see pianos anywhere that say “play me” - why a perfect opportunity to practice in front of strangers! I hope you will play it for us afterwards

navindra

ShiroKuro So I’m thinking that this weekend, I’ll go and play at a “public” piano as practice. There’s a piano in a shop at the mall here, and it has a sign that says “play me.” The last time I was in there, a customer was playing, and I asked the salesclerk if anyone was allowed to play, and she said “yes, we love it when people come and play.”

Wow, that's so brave. I also really love this plan!

Hope you get another crack at it.

I haven't done this at all, but people always say there's value in "mental practice". I wonder if this applies to performance nerves as well.

Is it possible to do mental practice where you imagine you have the worst nerves and you imagine yourself playing through the entire performance instead of an audience? And would that help? Mostly a rhetorical question... 😃

LauraLang

ShiroKuro
I plan do the same, after I've learned all my 3 exam pieces, I will go to Oxford St Mary of Virgin church to play. There is a piao and opens to the public.

ShiroKuro

P.S. here’s the original version of Miracles, as played by the composer. (The piece is called Miracles, I guess the album is called Memories)

ShiroKuro

danno858 I will defiantly record my jury piece before the jury, probably soon. So I will sure that for sure!

ShiroKuro

I went there today just after 6pm but they were closed. Their website says they’re open until at 8pm but not today I guess

😑

I shall try again soon ….

ShiroKuro

navindra Is it possible to do mental practice where you imagine you have the worst nerves and you imagine yourself playing through the entire performance instead of an audience?

I have actually tried that, and it doesn’t really help me. The problem I have is that when I have performance anxiety badly, the physical result is my hands shake (sometimes very dramatically), and it’s the shaky hands that really makes it hard to play well.

So the thing I most need is to have regular experiences playing with, and playing through, shaky hands. But I’ve never found a way to recreate that feeling of perfomance anxiety that causes my hands to shake, IOW I’ve never been able to get the shakes, in any other situation than an actual public performance.

So the only option is to periodically seek out public venues… 😅

twocats

ShiroKuro I'm thinking of asking my doctor about beta blockers. I was attending a masterclass where my friends were playing, and before it started I started getting nervous! When I wasn't even the one performing!

I figured this is bad, maybe I need to try something. Lots of musicians use them...

ShiroKuro

twocats I'm thinking of asking my doctor about beta blockers.

I agree, there's no reason not to talk to your doc about it.

I read about beta-blockers years ago and decided they weren't for me. I can no longer remember why I arrived at that decision though. 😃

ShiroKuro

So I went back to the shop today and was able to play! Yay!! I play four pieces, including my jury piece. I didn't make a recording, although now I wish I had, for study purposes.

But I am so glad I did it. I played pretty good, I started with two pieces I've been playing for years, so that was a nice way to get used to the piano. And the last piece I played was Song for Gavin, which I recorded for the Feb PT recital (also I played it at the retirement center recently). I played that very well, very very nicely (if I do say so myself!) and it was really nice to end that way.

So I played the jury piece 3rd. It went ok but I played too fast, so it was kind of rough around the edges and there were times when I felt like I was falling apart (although I don't think I actually fell apart).

But it was a great learning experience to feel that "too fast" and seeing what parts of the piece were harder, esp. at the slightly too-fast tempo, gives me something to focus on in practice now.

I plan to try to go back there a few more times before the jury. Maybe next time I will ask my husband to record the jury piece.

Before I left the store, I thanked the staff for letting me play, and everyone was very complimentary and they said I should come back again, so that was a wonderful feeling!

Mission Accomplished!

🙂

navindra

ShiroKuro Wow, that's great! It sounds like you had a fantastic experience. I think sometimes wins like this are very important and definitely help build up confidence. 👏

Were you able to reproduce the shaking hands?

KevinM

ShiroKuro awesome stuff. Well done for facing down your nerves. You should be proud.

ShiroKuro

navindra Were you able to reproduce the shaking hands?

Yes, although it wasn’t the worst version of the shakes. But I definitely had shaky hands and felt the general “stage fright” of playing publicly. Also there were people walking around, talking, so that was a good “stressor” on my attention and ability to focus on the score.

So it was definitely good performance practice and really good to experience the shakes, and play through it!

One thing that helped was knowing I was going to play several pieces, and starting with something really easy. So by the time I got to the jury piece, I had gotten over the worst edge of the shakes.

Another thing that helped was that it wasn’t a formal performance (so maybe no one to disappoint?) but there were people there. And someone said something nice to me after each piece.

Also, I did my “aerobic” trick earlier in the day (i.e., do a little light exercise and get your heart rate up, which can also take the edge off the adrenaline rush).

And a}maybe, just maybe, I’m getting a little bit better about the shakes, because I’ve been playing a lot, and playing for people a lot more, than in the past. Just in the last three months: 1) I played for family during the holidays, 2) I had two house parties in February where I played for people, 3) I played in the recital at the retirement center (also in February). And I’ve been recording a little more regularly as well. And then yesterday.

Hmmm, maybe all these things are helping. 🤞

pianoloverus

I think by far the most important thing to make playing in public or for an exam successful is how well you have learned the piece. Everything else, with the exception of getting some experience, are very small considerations compared to how well you have learned the piece.

danno858

pianoloverus I think this is key, in any kind of performance, even public speaking. It really helps with your confidence level and that helps you stay relaxed.

ShiroKuro

pianoloverus I think by far the most important thing to make playing in public or for an exam successful is how well you have learned the piece. Everything else, with the exception of getting some experience, are very small considerations compared to how well you have learned the piece,

I think you are missing two details here.

1) Your comment underestimates the power of the shakes. Even professional pianists experience potentially debilitating performance anxiety, and just "learning the piece" is not enough. (this is part of the reason why it's so common for performers to take beta blockers)

2) There are some learning aspects that cannot be learned (or that are much harder to learn) unless you're in that public performance context. I have learned this piece, but I'm now at the stage where putting it under the stress of performance shows me what is left yet to be learned. I couldn't do that, couldn't figure out what's left to be learned, just by practicing at home. So playing in public is not just for "getting the experience" (although experience, and repeated experiences, are incredibly helpful). But it's because there are things you don't learn, can't learn, without performing.

pianoloverus

ShiroKuro Perhaps, but three posters so far did agree with me that how well you've learned the piece is the most critical aspect.

danno858

ShiroKuro I think you are both right - just knowing your content inside and out does not guarantee that you will give a successful performance - having the experience of being in front of people is also something one needs to get used to. They go hand in hand. Especially playing on a piano with which one is unfamiliar. I had this experience once a few years ago. I wanted to take a few piano lessons from a local teacher so I went to meet her and she had me play her piano. I totally melted down and could not play a piece that I knew well. Everything felt strange and awkward - the height of the music desk, the seat - and the piano itself. I got so nervous I could not play as I normally do. I think it is great that you are able to access a public piano for this kind of practice. I would jump at the opportunity if it ever presented itself!

ShiroKuro

danno858 I think you are both right - just knowing your content inside and out does not guarantee that you will give a successful performance - having the experience of being in front of people is also something one needs to get used to.

Right. Knowing the piece inside and out is a necessary, and important, prerequisite.

danno858 Especially playing on a piano with which one is unfamiliar.

I'm lucky in that this doesn't throw me off as much as it used to. I've had the opportunity to play tons of unfamiliar pianos, so I'm much better at quickly acclimating to a new instrument than I used to be. But I also (if I have the choice) prefer to start with an easy piece, so I can get used to the physical details (new instrument, space, sounds, things in my peripheral vision etc) before playing a more challenging piece.

KevinM

I am very amused by someone thinking that ShiroKuro could not be bothered to learn a piece thoroughly before going in front the piano jury, that for some reason it might not have occurred to them that it was the sensible thing for them to do. Instead what Shiro decides to do is to take some time out of their busy life, find a public piano and go and play this half learned piece because getting that practice in public is more important than learning the piece properly in the first place.

ShiroKuro

KevinM thank you for this affirmation!!

pianoloverus

KevinM I am very amused by someone thinking that ShiroKuro could not be bothered to learn a piece thoroughly before going in front the piano jury, that for some reason it might not have occurred to them that it was the sensible thing for them to do.

First of all, I never said that. I did say (and several posters agreed) that I thought the quality/level of preparation of the piece was the most important factor by far for a successful performance. What "learning a piece thoroughly" involves is not something every one agrees on.