May 30 AMS Workshop | All Ages

SATURDAY, May 30, 2015

• AMS PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP

• VOICE AND PIANO

• PRACTICE TECHNIQUES, NERVES AND MEMORIZATION

What prevents you from delivering your best performance?

Fear, anxiety, jittery nerves and butterflies in your stomach?

Maybe it’s a dry throat or a constriction in your lungs. Whatever the sensation, these feelings can undermine your confidence as a performer, but there are ways to overcome this with solid practice. Practicing for a performance is a mental activity, so forget about everything else except communicating your best interpretation of the composer’s intentions for the music.

For singers this means practicing the text in rhythm, and memorizing the words. Then hear the song in your head with the words. Imagine yourself singing it perfectly from vowel to vowel. Imagine how that feels in your body and head as it remains open to the sound. When you sing, keep that feeling. When you train your body to feel a certain way, then it won’t react negatively in a stressful situation like a performance.

For pianists this will mean solid technical practice, making sure rhythms, notes and fingerings are correct. Practice in sections at different speeds with the metronome, and ghost right or left hands. In addition, memorize your piece by hearing it in your mind. Imagine yourself playing it perfectly. Remember how your shoulders, arms, elbows, fingers and stomach feel when you play it perfectly. This will help your mind, body and emotions work together!