Why You Must Not Overthink Your Piano Playing

Welcome to LivingPianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today we’re going to talk about why you must not overthink your piano playing. Now that might seem like a strange thing for me to say, with thousands of articles and videos about piano playing, technique, how to practice, memorization, how to digest a score, harmony, and so many more. Isn’t that all about thinking? It is. And there is a time and a place for analysis, and there’s a time for intuitive playing. And you must have a balance between the two in your performances. So what am I talking about when I say you shouldn’t overthink your playing?

When you’re performing, you have to have a presence of mind.

You need to make sure you’re sitting in the right place and that your hands are in the right position. You need to listen in order to achieve the proper balance of sound. But if you make the mistake of really thinking about what you’re doing, it can drive you crazy. You might completely lose the ability to play at all! When you’re playing a piece of music, there are thousands of notes, different rhythms, articulations, phrasings, and dynamics. There’s so much going on. If you stop just for a moment to think about what you are doing and look at your hands, you might question if you even know what the next note is because you’re doing things almost on automatic pilot to some extent. Hopefully you’ve learned your music well enough that you can think it through, even away from the piano which gives you great security. You’ve referenced the score, you’ve studied the score, you’ve played slowly, and you’ve done all these things so you have security. But if you start thinking about what you’re doing while you’re doing it, you can get completely psyched out.

Stay in the moment while performing.

You’re playing a piece, and you’re in the moment. It’s great. But suddenly, you start thinking about how the next section goes. You take yourself out of the moment by overthinking. If you’re not right where you are, then you get completely fouled up. Because when you get to that part, you’ve thought it through and you’re not sure if you thought it through right or not, and you might second-guess it wrong. These are the kinds of mind games that can completely destroy you in a musical performance.

Remember, the time for analysis is in your practice, but when you’re performing, don’t overthink it.

Stay in the moment. Listen to what you’re achieving. Try to go with the sound of the music and keep your head on your shoulders. Think about where you are and let the music flow naturally, like you’ve done hundreds of times in your practice. Sometimes that’s the greatest challenge because when all eyes are looking at you in a performance, or even if it’s just a friend or your teacher you’re playing for, you start thinking more about it in a way that you aren’t used to in your practice.

Another thing you can do is practice performing.

Play through your music and pretend people are watching you. Pretend you’re playing for your teacher or your friends, and see if you can keep your wits about you. Try to psych yourself out and see if you can still hold things together. Because inevitably, when you play for people, it just feels different. Your whole psychology changes; so don’t let it overtake you. Stay in the moment in your playing, and you will be rewarded with fine performances. Thanks again for joining me, Robert Estrin, here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.

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