Is making mistakes, especially during a public performance your biggest fear? This article focuses on treating mistakes in a certain manner so that you can use them for your benefit!
If you are afraid of mistakes you might give them a large amount of control on your performance without even noticing. With a wrong attitude a single mistake can end up ruining the whole performance. First you’re worried about it then you end up focusing on it so much that you finally end up making one. You lose concentration and guess what? You make another one. This is how you enter the circle of samsara and produce new mistakes that you didn’t even imagine you could do before. Then the performance turns into a mess full of confusion.
This is one way we can deal with mistakes. Or we can find where we are at with confidence and continue with calmness and full concentration. If you would like to feel more comfortable about the concept of mistakes I can tell you one thing: One of my teachers often said that nobody dies when you play a wrong note. “You’re not a surgeon. Maybe their ears will hurt for one second, but that’s it”. Also, if you really feel like you have to, there’s no crime in stopping a tune in the middle. Charles Mingus used to do it and count off the whole song again. Keith Jarrett often stops his improvised pieces if he considers them to be unsuccessful, getting right back into the next one.
So how does one gain this kind of confidence in approaching mistakes? Here are a few tips:
– Practice before
You can never be too prepared. The more you practice for a performance the more confident you will feel about it. Practicing can also be optimized to be useful and time efficient by focusing on the parts that the mistakes appear the most. Let the mistakes be your guide and save you time on your improvement!
– Don’t judge yourself while playing
Playing and judging are two separate processes that don’t go well together. Listen to yourself play without having prejudgments and controlling yourself at the time. It is of course very important to be your own teacher occasionally and listen to yourself to provide yourself with honest feedback. But this can be done as a latter process. After a certain amount of practicing, listening without judging yourself will become easier and you will feel more natural about it.
– Concentrate on rhythm at all times
This is you rescue plan! Playing a wrong note is hardly going to be noticed. But messing up rhythm or losing a beat will be noticeable and no right notes will help. If you know where you are in time you’ll be able to get back on track instantly.
– Enjoy your performance, be present!
Try to have as much fun playing as possible. Be aware of your audience, band mates and the flow of music that is happening at the moment! Creating a good energy with your performance will smooth out any mistakes you can make. Mistakes belong to the recent past. As long as you can stay present they will not concern you more than they need to!
– Analyze the mistakes after
It is also unhealthy to think that the mistakes should go unnoticed. The next time you practice after your concert is the perfect time to focus on the parts you made mistakes in. Don’t be afraid to go back and focus on particles of your work to make them better so that the next performance will be even better!
If you want to learn even more strategies dealing with performance and practice check out other articles at MyMusicSchool.com and contact the teachers!