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scott
Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 815
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 Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:00 pm Post subject: Don’t be caught short in performance |
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…by undermining yourself in practice!
The latest FretMarker
Fret Marker, April 3, 2009
| Quote: | | Distractions in performance come in many forms (memory slips, strings going out of tune, an unexpected noise), and they often cause us to stumble. We can learn to extricate ourselves smoothly from these circumstances. Of course this is best learned in our practice sessions and not on the stage. When practicing we usually stop to make the correction. Instead, try to make the corrections smoothly just as you’d like to do in performance. Memory slip? Jump to the next known passage. Playing out of tune? Make a quick adjustment on the fly. The dog barks at the mailman? Learn to bring your focus back to music. If you remember to do this in practice, in time you’ll be amazed at your ability to pull it off in performance as well - and it doesn’t take any extra practice! |
Question: What distractions do you find when you practice or perform? Any ideas on how to overcome them? |
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kfisherx
Joined: 15 Sep 2005
Posts: 753
Location: PNW
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| Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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The whole world is a distraction from a guitar performance. But realistically it is a distraction from everything we do. Whenever we are working on anything how many times are we focused exclusively on the task at hand?
The biggest contributor for me to making sure that I am focused in my guitar practice is preparing the environment. I make sure that computers are not in the room or TV or any other sort of distracting noise or stimulous. I have a quiet and already setup place for my work. I have my pratice log (AKA Plan) and I keep my pratices short enough to match my attention span. Once I start to drift in my mind, I get up and take a break and come back.
Once in the practice I use all the PAR techniques to keep focused. My favorite one is to listen to each note or to listen to the piece in a new way. I will sometimes try to follow the bass line with my ears instead of the melody line and that makes every voice or not come out.
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Only when knowledge is thoughtfully absorbed can it become your own wisdom - Tranquility comes when the mind concentrates |
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guitardzs
Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 341
Location: Thousand Oaks
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:51 am Post subject: |
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This comes from my experience with the kids this weekend in the competition. They were not afraid to make mistakes. And Scott has taught us this - to just go with the mistake and keep on. The night before the recital, I held a dry run performance at my house. One of the kids struggled with one piece. He made mistakes during that dry run and he naturally did all the things that Scott teaches us. He just picked up the next measure and continued on. He didn't lose his focus. I would have been a wreck for the next day. But the next day, he fearlessly got on stage, and played it flawlessly.
So perhaps another thing to think about, is to find that child-like quality that is not afraid of mistakes or not obsessed with mistakes - just accept them as part of the big picture and keep moving on in the piece. IOW - if we can look as Scott's directions as a reminder that there was a time in our life when we did those things -- think about when you learned to skateboard or ride a bike and all the times you fell off, but just got back on --- and try to rediscover the child within us who is not afraid.
Donna |
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Mark
Joined: 05 Apr 2009
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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The biggest distractions when I perform are mistakes I make, fear caused by over tense (or slightly sweaty) hands, and fear of forgetting the music. It seems to work best when I 'let go' of expectations, and just play in the moment... Yoga and Meditation has helped concentration for me.
On the same subject.... I have a 2 and a half year old girl, who is frequently hanging out next to me while I practice. Not the optimal practice environment, but I have used it to good advantage to get my mind back on track. I sometimes have to totally zone her out when she attempts to 'play with me' (although I try to engage her in that regularly too). Sometimes I have to answer her in the middle of the piece, etc. I've noticed this has actually helped my ability to concentrate! |
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scott
Joined: 16 Sep 2005
Posts: 815
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| Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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Mark,
Good points - both of them. My kids grew up drawing at my feet when I practiced. They eventually learned not to interupt but slip me notes, I still have some of them - so cute.
And spouses - for some reason I've heard spouses come in to chat. Not mine of course. 
Scott |
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KenRhodes
Joined: 19 Sep 2005
Posts: 356
Location: Trapped Behind the 'Zion Curtain'
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| Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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Good thread! I have heard of a tip for concentration in practice that I've used in variation.
I've been using a timer to mark when I need to switch from one part of my practice to another, thanks to Scott's great practice log format. A varation on that, which I haven't tried myself yet (but I plan to), is to set a timer for one-minute intervals as a reminder to return your wandering mind to what it is supposed to be focused on.
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Ken
http://www.cedarcityguitarlessons.com/
http://www.kenrhodesmusic.com/
http://www.innergeek.us |
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