What about performing scares you the most?
Are you afraid of:
- Losing your place in the music?
- Your hands shaking too much for you to play?
- People judging you?
- Your piece being a total disaster?
- All of the above?
You may have had nightmares about playing in public, the kind where everything goes wrong, a total crash-and-burn scenario. Perhaps you even had the nightmare come true. (I have…but those stories will wait for another day.) You may even have decided that you get too nervous to ever play in public or even for a few friends.
But before you decide that you are never going to play for anyone ever again, I have an important question to ask you:
Were you ever taught to perform?
Think about it. We spend hours practicing our music, fixing the wrong notes and fingering, making our scales even and our phrases expressive. We work out every detail in our music.
Except one.
We rarely practice playing.
Playing is NOT the same as practicing. It requires different skills – a different focus, a different way of listening, a different mindset. And if you don’t give yourself a chance to develop those “playing” skills, you won’t be prepared for performance.
That’s when the crash-and-burn happens.
I’ve been there, done that. If there were a T-shirt for this, my face would be on it.
But I also learned that by following a simple series of steps, I could practice in a way that gave me the confidence to play. When I prepared this way, I knew that I was ready, that despite my nerves, my upset stomach or my shaky hands, I could share my music with others. I could not only survive the experience – I could actually enjoy it!
Over the years, I began to teach my students the same steps and watched them enjoy their success too. I showed them how to practice in a way that they could perform with confidence, even when the stakes were high. Don’t get me wrong – they were still nervous. But they knew they were prepared to play, and that made a world of difference.
And now it’s your turn.
I invite you to challenge yourself to try these same steps and see the difference they can make for you.
Join me and other harpists just like you for the CRASH-PROOF PERFORMING CHALLENGE.
It’s free and it’s easy.
The challenge starts on Monday, November 12th and ends on Wednesday November 21st.
You will receive one email each day of the challenge with special instructions for the next step in preparing a piece to perform. All you need to do is to have one piece that you have learned and want to play. (A piece for the holidays, maybe?) Even if your piece isn’t quite ready to perform, the work we will do in the challenge should get it to the finish line.
I have created a special Facebook group just for the Challengers, so you can cheer for them as they cheer for you.
So get that Christmas piece that you would like to play at church, or that recital piece that you need to have ready, or ANY piece that you would like to play and join the Crash-Proof Performing Challenge now!
See you on the Challenge!
