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Thanks for joining me in the third part of my series on the Psychology of Musical Performances. In the first part we talked about How to Balance Your Emotions and last time we talked about Learning to Forgive Yourself. Today we are going to talk about How to Avoid Stress.

There are actually ways to incorporate relaxation into your practice routine. And this doesn’t involve putting down your instrument but actually relaxing while playing.

I like to find a few small sections of the piece I am working on that I am completely comfortable playing and continually go back to them to keep my playing relaxed. Hearing and feeling yourself get through passages you have mastered can help you relax.

If you hit a trouble spot in your practicing take a quick breath and examine yourself. Take a minute to mentally and physically reset yourself. Examine your posture; make sure you are sitting at your instrument correctly and comfortably. I’ve had students in the past who would tense up in times of difficult practice. Sometimes simply putting a hand on their shoulders and reminding them to relax can really help; it’s only practice and there is no need to stress yourself out!

The other component to relaxing yourself is not something you can learn in an instant. As you progress in your playing you will develop more and more strength and proficiency on your instrument. With this strength will come comfort – especially when you start tackling virtuoso music; the more you have played your instrument, the more relaxed you will become while playing.

Relaxation is key to developing yourself as a musician. You must become comfortable with your instrument and be able to relax while playing and practicing. So, in your daily practicing and playing, be aware of how you feel and take the time to adjust yourself to a comfortable playing position and consciously relax. As you develop more strength, over time relaxation will become second nature.

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Welcome back to our multi-part series on the psychology of performance. Last week we covered How to Balance your Emotions, this week we will be covering something that a lot of performers struggle with; forgiving yourself.

If you’ve ever performed you know that the element of chance always permeates a live performance. You can practice developing consistency, but sometimes things happen and circumstances can immediately change. You could walk into the performance hall and realize the piano is completely different than you anticipated, the room could be filled with people changing the acoustics. Any number of things can present themselves and completely alter your performance.

The worst thing you can do to yourself is starting to think in a cyclical pattern. If you make a mistake and you dwell on it during your performance you are more likely to make another mistake. Once you take your mind off the performance and start thinking about yourself performing your mind will start to play tricks on you. The best thing you can do is simply move on with the performance and never look back (until after the performance when you can reflect in practice).

This might seem easier said than done but it’s possible to achieve. If you put yourself into the right state of mind you can avoid these negative thoughts from creeping in. You have to remember, this is a musical performance, it’s not a life or death situation!

You must train yourself to stay in the moment. You can’t think ahead or behind when it comes to playing, just stay in the moment and get through it like you know you can. You can’t let doubt creep into your performances – that is when things can go wrong. Forgive yourself for not being perfect and enjoy the music!

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Thanks again for joining me Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729

Years ago I had the pleasure of performing in a concert series for Inessa Khurgel’s Classical Music Encounters in Orange County. In Southern California, it is a great opportunity for musicians and audiences alike to experience some great classical music from some extraordinary artists. This really was an inspiration for me to start Art District Concerts.

My father, Morton Estrin, was my teacher when I was growing up on Long Island, NY – he in fact still teaches there. He had a large addition built on our house many years ago which contains his studio. The studio is used for practice, teaching, and even concert performances right in our home! Growing up with this was a great experience for me.

But why is this significant? Well, there is historical significance to the idea of in-home concerts. Believe it or not, a concert hall is actually a relatively recent development – they first appeared in the mid-19th century.

Back in Mozart’s time, a piano was not loud enough to fill the area of an entire concert hall; Symphony Orchestras were less than half the size of late 19th century orchestras and the instruments everyone played were much quieter. For example, flutes were made of wood; which doesn’t project nearly as much sound as metal. French horns had no valves so for almost half the notes the player would have to shove their hands into the bell to play the notes which muted the sound. Eventually, musical instrument design evolved and became much louder.

So concerts were generally presented in salons or churches. In more intimate settings, you can actually feel the energy of the instruments and the music. I will never forget the experience of listening to my father up close and personal playing concert level performances. When you hear a performance in a concert hall it simply doesn’t have the energy; you actually have to sit very quietly to hear the performance fully. You don’t have this problem sitting next to the instrument; the energy is almost overwhelming!

You might be surprised to find similar types of performances in your area. There are many vibrant communities of classical musicians and performers around the world that perform and host in-home concerts. If you love classical music and you’ve never have had the pleasure of going to one, you should really check them out. It is a completely different experience than listening in a concert hall.

But how does this benefit the artists? There are several reasons: One is that it’s a great way to grow an audience and gain new fans; more importantly it’s because it allows an artist to perform in an informal setting and interact with the audience, break in new repertoire, and essentially practice performing! It is important to get comfortable with the pacing of energy as well as refining programming. This really helps to prepare artists for formal public concerts.

If you are an artist you really should get involved with either a group providing in-home concerts or simply start your own. As a rule of thumb, I always arrange smaller performances before a major concert. I also provide opportunities for my students to do the same.