Many that I talk to about their piano playing say that a very big fear is performing in front of others. Not only that, another huge fear is making a mistake when they are playing.
The question now becomes, how do you recover when you make mistakes?
Conventional wisdom tells us to keep playing, as if nothing happened. But, you know as well as I, that when you do make a mistake, the natural tendency is to stop and make a correction.
This is a very hard habit to break, and it does take quite a bit of practice to conquer this bad habit.
There are many ways to deal with mistakes. To avoid becoming overwhelmed by this, we will focus on a few.
I believe it was the great jazz trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie that said "there are no wrong notes". I believe another jazz legend, John Coltrane said "you are only a half-step away from the right note".
Both of these statements bring up a very important point. You must change your way of thinking when playing in front of others.
When you perform, do not think of making mistakes. Instead, just think of having fun.
Let's face it. Mistakes happen. The best players even make mistakes. And, to the surprise of many, they can even make a lot of mistakes during the course of a song.
But, if you are listening when a mistake is made, you are not able to tell most of the time.
Let's look at a couple of solutions that many jazz players use to cover themselves.
Musicians from other genres of music may use these techniques also. But, since I am a jazz musician, I will use this reference.
The first solution is a very simple one. When you are playing, and hit a bad note, or group of notes, play the exact same note or group of notes again.
When you do this, the note(s) you play, sound like a definite idea. That is, it sounds as if you intended to play the note(s).
Not only that, when you listen to recordings, and hear musicians do this, you may notice that these ideas can be some of the most profound you will hear.
Now, that this secret has been exposed, you will probably be surprised at how often this happens.
Go back and listen to some of your favorite recordings.
You will soon discover that many of the people you think of as being great, use this technique frequently.
Another technique that works really well is to slide down, or go up a half-step from the first note you play, or the last note you hit.
Sometimes, you may start or end a tune on the wrong note.
Remember, you are only a half-step away from the right note.
So, if you accidentally start on the wrong note, try sliding your note a half-step down, or go up a half-step to play the note that you originally intended.
Similarly, if you end an idea on the wrong note, try going up or down a half-step from there to get to the note you wish to play.
To add another twist, try combining both of these techniques.
In other words, try going up or down a half-step to begin or end on the note you intended, and then play the entire idea again.
Until next time, continue to have fun on your piano journey!
To view my free online lessons, click here
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
"When It's Easy, It's Fun!"
Showing posts with label Making Mistakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Making Mistakes. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Performing Piano: How To Deal With Nervousness, Part 2
In part 1 of this article on dealing with nervousness, we discussed totally immersing yourself in your playing.
In part 2, we will talk about practicing as a way to deal with nervousness.
Let's use one of the techniques from a previous article that dealt with practicing to perform.
When I first started playing professionally, there was a ritual for me to go through to prepare for a performance. I would practice scales, arpeggios, and other technical studies to get my fingers "warmed-up", and mentally prepare for the gig.
What was discovered is that my nerves did not calm down, and it was difficult playing a lot of musical ideas on the piano.
Then, one day, after reading an article in a jazz magazine, I started practicing a new way - "practicing to perform".
To summarize, whenever you practice, pretend you have an audience watching you. In other words, pretend you are performing "live".
To have even more fun, exaggerate your performance.
For example, try standing in a room other than where your piano or keyboard is located.
Next, pretend you are being introduced. Then, make your grand entrance in the room with the piano, sit down and "go for it". Remember, as soon as you start playing, it is important not to stop for any reason.
When you finish playing a song, actually hear you audience clapping and whistling for you. Then, take a brief pause to acknowledge this appreciation. After this, proceed with the rest of your concert.
Stand up and take a bow when your concert is over.
This may sound a little crazy to you, but you will be amazed at how effective this strategy is.
Take advantage of your "big" imagination. If you are saying, "yeah right, what imagination", use this as an opportunity to re-discover yourself.
Practicing to perform may perform miracles for you as it did for me.
This technique is so strong, that when you are actually performing, it begins to feel as though you are only practicing.
In turn, this greatly reduces the nervousness you feel.
Until next time, continue to have fun on your piano journey!
To view my free online lessons, click here
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
In part 2, we will talk about practicing as a way to deal with nervousness.
Let's use one of the techniques from a previous article that dealt with practicing to perform.
When I first started playing professionally, there was a ritual for me to go through to prepare for a performance. I would practice scales, arpeggios, and other technical studies to get my fingers "warmed-up", and mentally prepare for the gig.
What was discovered is that my nerves did not calm down, and it was difficult playing a lot of musical ideas on the piano.
Then, one day, after reading an article in a jazz magazine, I started practicing a new way - "practicing to perform".
To summarize, whenever you practice, pretend you have an audience watching you. In other words, pretend you are performing "live".
To have even more fun, exaggerate your performance.
For example, try standing in a room other than where your piano or keyboard is located.
Next, pretend you are being introduced. Then, make your grand entrance in the room with the piano, sit down and "go for it". Remember, as soon as you start playing, it is important not to stop for any reason.
When you finish playing a song, actually hear you audience clapping and whistling for you. Then, take a brief pause to acknowledge this appreciation. After this, proceed with the rest of your concert.
Stand up and take a bow when your concert is over.
This may sound a little crazy to you, but you will be amazed at how effective this strategy is.
Take advantage of your "big" imagination. If you are saying, "yeah right, what imagination", use this as an opportunity to re-discover yourself.
Practicing to perform may perform miracles for you as it did for me.
This technique is so strong, that when you are actually performing, it begins to feel as though you are only practicing.
In turn, this greatly reduces the nervousness you feel.
Until next time, continue to have fun on your piano journey!
To view my free online lessons, click here
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
Friday, January 16, 2009
Performing Piano: How To Deal With Nervousness, Part 1`
Recently, I had an email from someone looking for advice in trying to deal with nerves while performing.
Let's try to expel one big myth - people that have been playing and performing for years do not get nervous.
Most people I know, including myself, still get nervous when performing. In some situations, these nerves can be tremendous.
Over time, you just learn different ways to cope with nerves.
You do not have to be performing in front of large groups to experience this sense of nervousness.
For many, just playing in front a one or more people can trigger these feelings.
So, what is a good way to learn to deal with these nerves?
First, focus on yourself, and not on the people that are listening to you.
In the beginning, this is a lot easier said than done.
When I perform, I look at, speak to, and smile at my audience. But, when I sit down to play, I focus on my playing.
When you start playing, totally immerse yourself, and forget about the people watching you. If you have to, hit the notes a little harder.
The key is to express yourself. Have Fun! When you do this, you are focusing on you, and not your audience.
Forget about making mistakes. Again, have fun when you are performing!
There is a second myth floating around - Professional Musicians do not make mistakes when they perform.
To be honest with you, pros make quite a few mistakes when they perform. You cannot avoid this because you are human.
The difference between pros and amateurs is when mistakes are made, they are seen as opportunities. But, we will address the idea of capitalizing on mistakes in a future article.
Now, getting back to the matter at hand - dealing with nervousness. When you totally immerse yourself in your playing, many times, you will forget that your audience is even there.
At this point, your music has become the dominant theme, and not the audience.
In the next article, Performing Piano: How To Deal With Nervousness, Part 2, we will take a look at a second technique you can use that is a lot of fun.
Until then, have fun on your journey to becoming a better piano player.
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
Let's try to expel one big myth - people that have been playing and performing for years do not get nervous.
Most people I know, including myself, still get nervous when performing. In some situations, these nerves can be tremendous.
Over time, you just learn different ways to cope with nerves.
You do not have to be performing in front of large groups to experience this sense of nervousness.
For many, just playing in front a one or more people can trigger these feelings.
So, what is a good way to learn to deal with these nerves?
First, focus on yourself, and not on the people that are listening to you.
In the beginning, this is a lot easier said than done.
When I perform, I look at, speak to, and smile at my audience. But, when I sit down to play, I focus on my playing.
When you start playing, totally immerse yourself, and forget about the people watching you. If you have to, hit the notes a little harder.
The key is to express yourself. Have Fun! When you do this, you are focusing on you, and not your audience.
Forget about making mistakes. Again, have fun when you are performing!
There is a second myth floating around - Professional Musicians do not make mistakes when they perform.
To be honest with you, pros make quite a few mistakes when they perform. You cannot avoid this because you are human.
The difference between pros and amateurs is when mistakes are made, they are seen as opportunities. But, we will address the idea of capitalizing on mistakes in a future article.
Now, getting back to the matter at hand - dealing with nervousness. When you totally immerse yourself in your playing, many times, you will forget that your audience is even there.
At this point, your music has become the dominant theme, and not the audience.
In the next article, Performing Piano: How To Deal With Nervousness, Part 2, we will take a look at a second technique you can use that is a lot of fun.
Until then, have fun on your journey to becoming a better piano player.
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Two Ways To Practice Piano – Part 2
We are going to focus on the second way of practicing that was outlined in the previous article.
Remember, one of the main goals to strive towards when playing, is to be able to play without having to do a lot of thinking. That is, getting our playing on "automatic pilot".
This second way of practicing will help you attain this goal faster. This practice technique is called "Practicing to Perform".
When I originally starting performing professionally, practicing the scales, arpeggios, and other technical studies would be the norm. But, what I noticed was that nervousness would be overwhelming. Not only that, the songs played, and the improvisations did not sound all that great.
It was at this point that I started practicing to perform. In other words, when I would sit at the piano, I would pretend there was an audience of 5,000 people that had paid big bucks to see me play.
Now, the setting was different, and everything was on the line. My practicing was taken to a whole new level.
Here are six steps you can follow to get started with this method.
1) Have a list of several tunes you want to practice (2 - 8 would be sufficient).
2) As you approach the bench, look beyond the piano and pretend your audience is excited and waiting.
3) This next step is extremely important. Pretend that you are the best pianist in the world!
4) When you play, do not stop for mistakes, rhythm-blotches, or anything else. This will upset your audience if you do. Not only that, but you will actually learn to create some interesting new ideas from your mistakes on the fly. This is helpful, because contrary to public opinion, musicians make lots of mistakes when they play. They are just "creativity experts" in dealing with them.
5) After you finish playing a tune, immediately go to the next. Do this until you have played all of the songs on your list.
6) When you have finished your mini-concert, stand up and take a bow if you wish.
As you can see, with this method, there is a lot of imagination involved. There are many different advantages using this method.
First, when you actually perform in front of an audience, it feels like you are practicing! You will still be a little nervous, but not as much. Your performance anxiety will be much less.
Secondly, you will notice that your confidence level goes up a lot.
Thirdly, you will not be as hesitant when someone asks you to play something.
Fourthly, your songs and playing will begin to sound much, much better!
These are just a few of the benefits you will receive when practicing to perform. I am sure you will think of many more benefits as you apply this practice technique.
Until then, have fun on your journey to becoming a better piano player.
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
Remember, one of the main goals to strive towards when playing, is to be able to play without having to do a lot of thinking. That is, getting our playing on "automatic pilot".
This second way of practicing will help you attain this goal faster. This practice technique is called "Practicing to Perform".
When I originally starting performing professionally, practicing the scales, arpeggios, and other technical studies would be the norm. But, what I noticed was that nervousness would be overwhelming. Not only that, the songs played, and the improvisations did not sound all that great.
It was at this point that I started practicing to perform. In other words, when I would sit at the piano, I would pretend there was an audience of 5,000 people that had paid big bucks to see me play.
Now, the setting was different, and everything was on the line. My practicing was taken to a whole new level.
Here are six steps you can follow to get started with this method.
1) Have a list of several tunes you want to practice (2 - 8 would be sufficient).
2) As you approach the bench, look beyond the piano and pretend your audience is excited and waiting.
3) This next step is extremely important. Pretend that you are the best pianist in the world!
4) When you play, do not stop for mistakes, rhythm-blotches, or anything else. This will upset your audience if you do. Not only that, but you will actually learn to create some interesting new ideas from your mistakes on the fly. This is helpful, because contrary to public opinion, musicians make lots of mistakes when they play. They are just "creativity experts" in dealing with them.
5) After you finish playing a tune, immediately go to the next. Do this until you have played all of the songs on your list.
6) When you have finished your mini-concert, stand up and take a bow if you wish.
As you can see, with this method, there is a lot of imagination involved. There are many different advantages using this method.
First, when you actually perform in front of an audience, it feels like you are practicing! You will still be a little nervous, but not as much. Your performance anxiety will be much less.
Secondly, you will notice that your confidence level goes up a lot.
Thirdly, you will not be as hesitant when someone asks you to play something.
Fourthly, your songs and playing will begin to sound much, much better!
These are just a few of the benefits you will receive when practicing to perform. I am sure you will think of many more benefits as you apply this practice technique.
Until then, have fun on your journey to becoming a better piano player.
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Two Ways To Practice Piano – Part 1
There are many different ways to practice. Your practicing should be based on what you want to accomplish.
For me, I practice to become proficient at a tune as quickly as possible. This means being able to play the song without thinking about what I am doing. That is, with less thinking, improvisation and playing what I am hearing inside of my head become a lot easier and more fun.
“When you free the mind, the ears become available”.
If this happens to be one of your goals, how can you accomplish this?
The two ways I have found effective are:
1) Stopping after mistakes
2) Practicing to perform
Let’s focus on the first topic – Stopping after mistakes.
We all think about and become frustrated when making mistakes. One thing you should know is that you will always make them. This is especially true after you attain the professional level.
Mistakes, truth be told, are opportunities. What is meant by this? When you are performing in front of an audience or recording at a studio and make a mistake, you must, and I repeat must, think fast and be very creative. Once you can do this, most will not realize that you made a mistake.
Over all the years of playing, I have found that some of my best and most creative ideas have come as a result of making mistakes.
Now, let us get back to our first method of practicing. When you are playing and make a mistake, stop playing. Now, go back to this section of the song, and only play this section over and over again until you feel comfortable with it.
Once you feel comfortable with this section, start the piece over from the beginning and play all the way through until you make another mistake. When you make another mistake, go through the same steps. That is, stop, isolate this section, and play this section over and over until you are comfortable. Then, once again, start from the beginning of the piece, and play all the way through again.
As you can see, this process takes time. So, always take your time, and never be in a hurry to practice.
Experiment with this method of practicing and see how you like it. But, remember to always keep it fun. You will see good progress if you enjoy what you are doing.
In the next Piano Fun Talk article, we will focus on the second way of practicing.
Until then, have fun on your journey to becoming a better piano player.
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
For me, I practice to become proficient at a tune as quickly as possible. This means being able to play the song without thinking about what I am doing. That is, with less thinking, improvisation and playing what I am hearing inside of my head become a lot easier and more fun.
“When you free the mind, the ears become available”.
If this happens to be one of your goals, how can you accomplish this?
The two ways I have found effective are:
1) Stopping after mistakes
2) Practicing to perform
Let’s focus on the first topic – Stopping after mistakes.
We all think about and become frustrated when making mistakes. One thing you should know is that you will always make them. This is especially true after you attain the professional level.
Mistakes, truth be told, are opportunities. What is meant by this? When you are performing in front of an audience or recording at a studio and make a mistake, you must, and I repeat must, think fast and be very creative. Once you can do this, most will not realize that you made a mistake.
Over all the years of playing, I have found that some of my best and most creative ideas have come as a result of making mistakes.
Now, let us get back to our first method of practicing. When you are playing and make a mistake, stop playing. Now, go back to this section of the song, and only play this section over and over again until you feel comfortable with it.
Once you feel comfortable with this section, start the piece over from the beginning and play all the way through until you make another mistake. When you make another mistake, go through the same steps. That is, stop, isolate this section, and play this section over and over until you are comfortable. Then, once again, start from the beginning of the piece, and play all the way through again.
As you can see, this process takes time. So, always take your time, and never be in a hurry to practice.
Experiment with this method of practicing and see how you like it. But, remember to always keep it fun. You will see good progress if you enjoy what you are doing.
In the next Piano Fun Talk article, we will focus on the second way of practicing.
Until then, have fun on your journey to becoming a better piano player.
If you would like to check out all of my podcasts (audio lessons online), click on one of the links below:
To access with iTunes
To access with Odeo (odeo/a899ff8db4f63f39)
to access with Podcast Alley
direct access to the RSS Feed
http://easypiano.com/eppodcast/pianolessons.rss
Have Fun!
Charley Wyser
easypiano.com
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