DEALING WITH STAGE FRIGHT

The best performances I’ve given are the ones where I am wholeheartedly focused on the music and not about how nervous I feel. I still get nervous every time I have to perform in front of others and I don’t think the nerves will ever go away! What has changed over the years is how I deal with the nerves when they come. The question will always be, “Will I let my nerves take over my performance or will I drown them out with the music I have prepared?”

I believe it’s important to accept and embrace your nerves when they do come. When you acknowledge what you’re feeling, it gives you the freedom to decide whether you will let the nerves overwhelm you and impact your actions negatively or whether you will choose to let them go. Whether it’s the feeling of sweaty hands, stiff muscles, or butterflies in your stomach, nervousness and anxiety can show up differently for every person. When I get nervous my muscles tighten up and I can’t shift positions or bow as freely as I normally would. My sound doesn’t open up as much as I would like and my playing tends to be more timid. I can recall which performances I’ve done where I felt free to focus on performing the music in front of me and other times where I know I was listening too much to the voices inside my head telling me repeatedly to calm down. 

How I feel about an overall performance depends a lot on what was going on in my mind during the performance, the part that nobody actually sees or hears! Performing involves not only extensive preparation on the technical intricacies of learning the notes but also a preparation of the mind that comes with time and practice. Everything that goes into learning and performing on an instrument comes with regular practice and a commitment to overcome your fears.

My hope for each performance is that the next one will always be better than the last. When I finally come to experience a performance where I don’t let my nerves take over, when I can focus on making music and having fun in the process, then an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and pride fills me and that’s what keeps me yearning for more! When my nerves don’t rob me of the joy that comes from playing music then I know I have had a good performance.

Here are two helpful articles that explain what performance anxiety is and how to use your anxiety in more healthy ways:

1) What you may not know about performance anxiety

2) How to make performance anxiety an asset instead of a liability

I started reading this book over the summer called “Performance Anxiety Strategies: A Musicians Guide to Managing Stage Fright”. I hope to share some highlights from the book in a later post so stay tuned! You can buy it on Amazon here.

SUMMER STUDIO OUTING

Next month we are going to have our very first studio outing! Students and their families are invited to join us for a live string quartet performance at Ravinia Festival on Saturday August 25th at 6pm. The Pacifica Quartet will be performing in the Bennett Gordon Hall and tickets are $10. We will be sitting near seats J 21 and J 22.

The Pacifica Quartet has been known as one of the finest chamber groups in the nation. In 2009 they received a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance. They are currently the quartet-in-residence at Indiana University and were formerly the quartet-in-residence at the University of Illinois where I studied under the tutelage of Simin Ganatra, the first violinist.

Purchase tickets here: https://www.ravinia.org/ShowDetails/Index?id=1443

Find directions to the Bennett Gordon Hall here: https://www.ravinia.org/Page/BennettGordon_directions

PRACTICE PERFORMANCES

Starting this fall I will be holding regular Performance Classes throughout the year to provide students more opportunities to perform. Each student will come prepared with one or two songs to play then receive feedback on one technique or one section in the song they can continue to work on. Afterwards we will do a group activity together that involves either playing a fun music game or sight reading easy duet music. I will provide snacks and drinks and the performance class is open to students of all ages.

I enjoy these classes because it creates a sense of community among my students and it motivates them to see other students working hard at improving their skills on the violin. These classes give students an opportunity to practice performing in a relaxed and supportive environment.

While students are sitting and listening to each performance, they are instructed to make observations about each performer and work on active listening. They can observe a player’s bow technique in the right hand, placement of fingers in the left hand, intonation (pitch), rhythms, vibrato, contrasting dynamics, musicality and expression. I tell students to come willing to learn something new from each performance they hear.

The Performance Classes are spaced out throughout the year so that each class takes place two months before and after a recital. Regular performing opportunities will encourage students to continue improving upon their last performance. They can practice calming their nerves and dealing with stage fright so that hopefully when it comes time for the recital, it won’t feel as scary!

Look out for more information about our upcoming Performance Classes in September, January, March, and July!

WE ALSO PLAY WEDDINGS!

One of the things I love about my marriage is that my husband and I get to play music together! My husband and I play as a violin and guitar duo and we have performed in a variety of settings such as weddings, engagement parties, and church venues. Whether it's classical music or contemporary pop songs, we are able to arrange and play almost any song you might hear on the radio. We have taken several song requests as long we are given enough time to prepare the songs.

From popular songs like "Moon River" and "Can't Help Falling in Love", to "Married Life" from the movie Up and "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, we are flexible and able to create songs and playlists that cater to every couple and party. Check out some of our music videos on our Wedding Wire page: Music for Special Occasions. We hope to add more videos in the near future.

We are musicians for hire so please tell your family and friends about us! We would love the opportunity to share our music with you.

HOW TO PRACTICE

It is just as the saying goes, “you only get out what you put in”. For anyone to foster musical growth, they need to practice on a regular basis. There is always something to practice each week in order to master the art of playing the violin. To play the right notes with your left hand, your fingers need to get adjusted to the spacing of the tapes on the violin. To keep a straight bow, your right hand needs to get adjusted to the direction of the bow and your wrist needs to learn how to bend and flex with each bow stroke. To improve note reading, you need time to study and recognize the notes on a page then connect the notes you're reading with the correct fingering on the violin. Each of these techniques takes practice and repetition in order for your brain and your body to commit them to memory.

Good practice starts with pinpointing what technique or skill needs more attention for the particular piece you are working on. As a teacher, my job is to help point out those skills that need more work so that my students walk away from our lessons knowing exactly what to practice. While the amount of practice time may vary between students, the consistency of practice time throughout the week directly impacts how much progress we can make in our lessons. Learning an instrument is like learning a language; the more you are exposed to it the more you will retain in the long run.        

The quality of practice is also more important than the length of time that is spent practicing. One student can practice a song 10 times in the span of 30 minutes and still come to our lessons less prepared than another student who practiced 15 minutes on the same song but focused on the trouble spots we were having in our lesson. Good practice is more than playing through a song 10 times! It involves some thinking and planning to figure out what you want to get done during the practice session. You can get the most out of it if you set a tangible goal at the beginning and aim to accomplish that goal by the end of the session.

Here are some examples of good practice goals that are clear and tangible:

For the song "Etude" in Suzuki Book 1, remember to play Low 2 fingers on A string and E string for the entire piece this week. Low 2 on A string is the "C" note and Low 2 on E string is the "G" note.

• On Monday, play the first 2 lines of the song with all Low 2’s. Practice this until you can play it 5 times in a row correctly.

• On Tuesday, play the last 2 lines of the song with all Low 2’s. Practice this until you can play it 5 times in a row correctly.

• On Wednesday, play the entire piece with all Low 2's. Practice this until you can play it 5 times in a row correctly. If you miss a Low 2 somewhere, start over.

• On Thursday, play the entire piece with all Low 2 fingerings and make sure your 3rd and 4th fingers stretch far enough to reach the tapes. Practice this until you can play it 5 times in a row correctly.

• On Friday, review what you practiced during the week.

Quality practice is often overlooked because we don't want to take the extra time to think through how to spend our time more wisely. My recommendation for students and families would be to take the first 5 minutes of each practice session to reflect on what was discussed during the lesson time. This will help you focus on the things you need to work on and remember the tips your teacher gave you. I like to have my students bring a practice notebook to our lessons so that I can write down what we are working on from week to week. This has been helpful for my students to refer back to throughout the week so they know exactly what to work on. It's also really encouraging to be able to look through the notebook and see how much progress we've made on certain songs and techniques! This is both affirming and rewarding for me and my students to reflect on past stumbling blocks we've been able to overcome together with diligent practice and constant encouragement.

To read more about how to practice, check out these articles:

How Many Hours a Day Should You Practice? by Noa Kageyama, a performance psychologist and Juilliard alumnus and faculty member.

The Case for Active Practicing by Henry Myers, a cellist at Northwestern University.

THE BENEFITS OF MUSIC PLAYING

Generally speaking, most people know on some level that learning to play a musical instrument is good for you. However, it's not as well understood just how good it can be! There are numerous benefits to learning an instrument:

• Learning the value of hard work and discipline

• Learning how to problem solve when working through challenges

• Growing in patience when certain tasks don’t come as easily

• Overcoming barriers through repetition and intentional practice

• Focusing on tangible goals that will nurture confidence and self-esteem

• Becoming more comfortable performing in front of an audience

These are some of the commonly known virtues of playing music. A lesser known benefit is just how much playing a musical instrument affects the brain. This video definitely opened my eyes to some new things I didn’t know before! Just one more compelling reason to start learning today!

SHOOTING ONE ARROW AT A TIME

I love Edmund Sprunger’s "shooting one arrow" approach to practicing and it’s something I constantly refer back to in my teaching. In his book Helping Parents Practice, he writes:

"As I have watched parents practice over the years, I notice that one of the primary ways they create nasty practices for themselves and their children is by attempting to shoot several arrows at once. ‘Johnny, good job getting the bow straight. Play it again and make sure that you also keep the speed even and remember to keep your pinkie round and to let the bow float off the string when the piece is over. And don’t be so timid!'

Overload. Just as a bow can only hold one arrow at a time, you’ll find that practices will be most productive if you remember that your child can only hold one thing to work on at any time." (page 64)

I think our natural inclination is to want to fix every little mistake we see because our gut tells us it's a good thing. We think we are helping when we spew out a long list of things to correct but we are only letting our pride get the best of us. It's much easier to tell someone all the things they need to work on than to be patient enough to see that what we are saying may be causing overwhelming frustation that's not helpful. Imagine being on the receiving end of someone telling you ten areas in your life that need improvement. That would not motivate me to work harder or listen further to what this person had to say! 

As a teacher I have had to fight back my tendency to teach my students like this. It has taken time and practice to hone the skill of teaching one point at a time but I will say that once this became more natural for me, there was no turning back! Focusing on one point at a time gives the student a tangible goal to work on during our lesson and once that goal is achieved, their confidence grows and I become their biggest cheerleader! This helps my students leave our lessons with a better sense of what they need to work on and take responsibility for their learning. This is especially beneficial for my younger students who are still learning what it means to work hard on the things they aren't able to figure out right away. Teaching one point at a time requires patience and discipline on my part to accurately observe the student while keeping track of what technique to work on next. It has been worth my while and I hope my student's families see the results of this.