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learning to play for an audience
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Ailsa
Posts: 2277
Joined: Apr. 17 2007
From: South East England
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learning to play for an audience
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Hi guys, Thought I'd just tell you what I've been up to the last few months. Out of the blue I got the chance to perform some little pieces in public at various events. First of all at the monthly guitar classes I organise, I arranged for the students to have some time in the bar to do a little performance after the class. It was supposed to be just the end of course event, but it's turned into every month! I guess because students don't always have a chance to play for others so it's popular. Then in my home town there were two events to promote a new venue for an arts centre and I volunteered to play there, and from that I was asked to play at an acoustic night every other week. This has been a great experience for me, and it's given me loads of confidence to just have a try, and to get over patches where I make mistakes but still try to keep a track of the music. But there is one disadvantage. I've kept everything in the pieces I play really really straightforward, to be sure I can get through it even in the stress of performing. I have deliberately left out all the most difficult falsetas, the ones that really stretch my technique, because a performance is not the right place to take the risk for them. So after playing a piece tomorrow, and a couple in a bar on Thursday I've no plans to play in public for a little while. I want to go back to those pieces that I play (only 5 - not a huge repertoire!) and add some new material that really stretches me again. Anyway, just thought I'd share my plan. I'd be interested to hear how other people have managed this need to keep things manageable when playing in public, but still progressing. Best A xx
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Date Jan. 10 2009 14:01:42
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HemeolaMan
Posts: 1514
Joined: Jul. 13 2007
From: Chicago
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RE: learning to play for an audience (in reply to Ailsa)
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here's the conservatory theory: in theory: in a public performance you will be able to play a maximum of 85% of your potential, 10% of the time you will play 75% about 25-40% of the time 70% and below, the remaining. Taking that math into account, you must establish where 100% performance of those pieces you want to play is now. then, practice it until you are 130% better than you were. Assuming you had those pieces near perfect originally, you will now be able to perform at 70-85% of 130% . Basically, in classical repertory, new ideas are not encouraged, but with the demand for near perfect or perfection in performance, one must over compensate. Personally, I'd rather get the piece mostly right, change what I dont like, maybe do somethign funny, try something new and hope everyone enjoys it as much as i do. If you fall on your face for a falseta, no one will remember after the next 3 minutes of perfect or near perfect material you have rehearsed. don't let society's unspoken quest for perfection take music away from you. That is, you are not a recording. it would be easy to put one on. but live performance is a reflection of life, not perfection. Let's get into recordings and plato's theory of forms....lol you see my point? are you more happy when you see a performer try something a different way while you watch or more happy when they nail it spot on the recording...maybe some of both... balancing is the key
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Date Jan. 10 2009 14:10:01
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gj Michelob
Posts: 1531
Joined: Nov. 7 2008
From: New York City/San Francisco
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RE: learning to play for an audience (in reply to HemeolaMan)
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quote:
If you fall on your face for a falseta, no one will remember after the next 3 minutes of perfect or near perfect material you have rehearsed. don't let society's unspoken quest for perfection take music away from you. That is, you are not a recording. it would be easy to put one on. but live performance is a reflection of life, not perfection. Let's get into recordings and plato's theory of forms....lol you see my point? are you more happy when you see a performer try something a different way while you watch or more happy when they nail it spot on the recording...maybe some of both... balancing is the key A very interesting issue Alisa, i am sure many pose to themselves, along with very sound advice, HemeolaMan. That brings back the issue of "stage fright" doesn't it? My simple trick to reduce it, is to pretend that i am (emulate) those whom i greatly respect and inspire me. So if i am in front of a class, i think "Bill Clinton", or if in Court, my law partner (who is an incredibly talented lawyer); when performing for friends or small audiences, i think " Vicente Amigo". I suppose it fundamentally works as a distraction from the source of fear: the audience, but it may bring you closer to the inspiration you need. After all, we all learn by imitating others, and hopefully we are a mosaic of others' most inspiring moments.
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Date Jan. 10 2009 14:26:58
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HemeolaMan
Posts: 1514
Joined: Jul. 13 2007
From: Chicago
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RE: learning to play for an audience (in reply to gj Michelob)
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I find it easier just to focus on what im doing lol or rather what i will be doing in the next bar or two. practice to the point where you have it totally memorized backwards forwards, each phrase etc. all independent and all that. then, when you start, think a few measures ahead, and plan. What i do to prepare and calm myself before every piece, is take 20-30 seconds where I breathe and think about the piece where my hands are going to be, the tempo the first phrase the second phrase etc. Then I start counting the beat in my head, more like I hear the first note and then play it in my head for a bar as a mental pickup to the sounding of the first note I do that because it helps to get your momentum going mentally so you feel like the tempo is already established, and I think of where i am going to go, early on, so i can drive that momentum down the tracks. try those things, you will be successful Also, don't worry about having 20 seconds of silence. after all, they wont remember after 3-5 minutes of sound lol
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Date Jan. 10 2009 14:52:49
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mark indigo
Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007
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RE: learning to play for an audience (in reply to sig)
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i was playing at a sort of open mic night thing with a little group of dancers and started the bulerias with a falseta i made up. it began with some right hand arpegios on a chord at the 5th position. it was dark the group started palmas and i put my hand in position and started the falseta it sounded kinda weird i looked down and realised i was at 6th position instead! what to do? i just played there 'til the end of the compas and then moved down a fret and started again there.... seamlessly.... afterwards a friend of mine who had been watching/listening who is way way ahead of me in terms of his ear, his coordination, his technique, his memory, everything, asked how it went for me and i was moaning about how awful it was.... he said he thought it was meant to go like that and thought it sounded cool! don't worry about mistakes, most people don't notice, often they think they sound at least ok, if not good, anyway, so don't let them put you off. and if you do make a mistake, by the time you realise you've made it there's nothing you can do about it, it's gone, so there's no point worrying about it, that will just put you off and make you more likely to make more mistakes, so just let it go and move on, like with sig's advice about just go back to compas and keep going!
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Date Jan. 12 2009 9:33:09
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