Going on stage can feel like a daunting prospect, but it need not feel that way if you are well prepared for a performance. Of course, there is no substitute for spending time practising and learning the music, as well as having a story in mind that you wish to convey to your audience. However, […]
A split, cracking a note, or missing a harmonic are all things that can go wrong in live performances. A high note missed or an overreached octave stretch on a fingerboard can feel like the end of the world to a musician. When you have a bad experience on stage, recovering from it quickly is […]
Do you ever find that you are struggling to communicate your musical ideas in a performance? ‘Musicality’ is a key ingredient of any good performance and as musicians, we all have the ability to bring new musical ideas to the table, be it telling a story within a phrase, the use of different colours within […]
Performing is made up of many elements. Hours, days, weeks and years of study, practice and rehearsal can lead up to any performance. However, once musicians reach a good standard, there can then be a temptation to rely on an element of auto-pilot, without regularly revisiting and understanding all of the basic building blocks from […]
As we begin September, it’s a time when many musicians are returning from a long Summer break, or a few weeks off, leaving the instrument in its case. For the very lucky few, returning to full musical fitness can be achieved by blowing off a few cobwebs in a matter of minutes. However, for many […]
Practice. The often dreaded P word for musicians! But love it or loathe it, practice is part of every musician’s daily diet – and as with any diet, varying our approach to it is really important in keeping our curiosity alive and avoiding boredom. There have been many novel ways of supplementing practice introduced over […]
Performing as a musician should be fun and exciting! Feeling the music flow effortlessly and freely through the whole of an orchestra or group with a real connection between every player creates top draw performances. But music making of that quality requires real co-ordination. Not only between the participating musicians (and conductor where there is […]
Whilst there is often much to admire about the recorded performances of great musicians, spending too much time listening to them when learning a new piece of music, instead of focussing on analysing and learning what’s written in the score, can make it difficult for you to perform with real conviction. But why is that? […]
