Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum To play or not to play-- at recital?

My teacher is having an adults-only recital. He has them semi-annually and apparently they are fun, party atmosphere in a private home. I haven't been to one yet and I'm definitely planning to attend.

Not sure whether to play though. The piece he thinks I should play is kind of melancholy and I never imagined playing it at a recital when I started it a while back. My practice time is limited and I don't know that I can bring another appropriate piece up to speed. I play for my own enjoyment and therefore have lots of pieces that I am working on but none that are super-polished.

I don't think I can play the piece through without any mistakes. Haven't done it yet and I don't have the time to devote to refining it that way (I don't even want to spend so much precious practice time on one piece).

My teacher thinks I'm nervous about playing in front of others, but honestly I'm not nervous. I just don't feel my skills are there yet...

how to decide?

Play the very first piece you ever learned Seriously. I've gone back to my very first pieces - primers and early beginners - and some of them are beautiful, now that I know how to make music, or know better how to make music. Your skills are "up to" those, there's no pressure, they'll be at speed. I'm a ham from way back and there's still just enough nerves - very very little nerves - that a solo performance can be less polished than I can do at home. For a recital like this one I'd pick something that I can do easily, rather than something that's at my current skill level. Then the recital would be really fun.

Just my 2 cents -

Cathy

I think you should play at the recital, T's mom. I'm pretty sure your teacher wouldn't suggest that you play a piece if he didn't feel confident you were ready for it. And, yeah, it will be nerve-wracking, but--trust me on this--ALL of you playing at the recital will be nervous, and it will be a good way for you all to be supportive of each other.

Incidentally, you're picking WAY too high a bar for success if you think you have to be able to play a piece all the way through without a single mistake. I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've every played something without a mistake. And take a listen to our latest AB forum recital. There are many fantastic performances, but each and every one of them contains at least one noticeable mistake. Your goal should be to play a piece with only barely perceptible mistakes.

What was the melancholy piece your teacher is suggesting, btw?

Surely not!

If the thought of participation sounds like fun, then I would go for it. If you make a few mistakes but find the finish line... it can only be considered a rousing success. The worst case scenario is that you draw a blank mind half way through. If that happens, you stand up, take a little bow and smile towards the audience. You still get the applause... guaranteed!

If the very thought of performing leaves you quaking in your boots perhaps sitting though a couple of recitals will put you in the mood for the participation.

I am like you, and I can understand that you don't want to play in a recital ...

... although talking about "superpolished" pieces makes it sound like you would like to.

On the other hand, when there is a recital or some opportunity to play, I like to try to get someone to play something with me, it is a good excuse to get together with someone else and to spend some time together at the piano.

Just go and play....and believe me.....the first note is the most exciting.....than you know I have to play on....

After years and many perfomances I have this nervous experience playing the first note. Temporary a mild raise of bloodpressure. It's all in the game.

Good luck and best regards,
Johan B

I have a lesson tomorrow so I'll discuss w/my teacher. He wanted me to play at his winter recital but I had only had a few lessons from him at the time and it turned out I couldn't make it that day anyway. It sounds like these recitals are fun. But some of his students are quite accomplished and I guess I find that intimidating. Though he tells me I'm right in the middle of the pack, not the most or least experienced.

The piece is Tchaikowsky "October" from the Seasons. When I get into it, and play with expression, it's quite sad. I imagined playing something cheerier at a recital.

ETA: My family can hardly stand listening to it any more. They find it depressing!

I'd play. The chance to focus on a piece and get deeper into interpretation and polishing is worth it. There's lots to learn from focusing on new stuff all the time, but there are other things to learn by polishing more.

There will always be people further along than you, unless you're THE GREATEST PIANIST IN THE UNIVERSE! Sorry, couldn't resist some humour. There will always be people further along, but the point is to participate and share music you love and have some fun.

I haven't been taking lessons since restarting as an adult and I miss the recitals now as a kid. I was so nervous. I'd be nervous now, but the conversation and jokes afterward would be better now.

If your teacher suggested you play, then by all means I'd play. Others have mentioned it, but I'll add my voice to the chorus. I have 20+ years experience playing in public, and in that time I can probably count the amount of flawless performances on one hand with a couple of fingers left over, if you get my drift. As someone else already said, the goal is not to make many glaringly obvious mistakes. Small mistakes are just that-small. I'll share this with you:
When I was active in the bar band scene, I played in a band with another very talented guitarist. Technically he blew me away, yet he was so caught up in being absolutely perfect in what he did that, though as I said he was a great technical player, if you put him in a jam situation where he had to improvise, he was lost, and his best efforts were kind of sterile. On the other hand, with me, though I made mistakes here and there, I've had more than one person I know tell me that they were driving by the venue I was playing, heard the guitar, and knew it was me playing, which is why they turned around and paid the cover to get in and hear us. I'll choose that over perfection any day of the week.
I've said all this to say this: Playing for others is not about not making mistakes. It's about finding the music there within the notes, making the song sing, and learning to make mistakes and not let them spoil the performance. The first two you might be able to learn in the practice room, but that last one you'll never learn until you get out there and play for someone besides yourself and the four walls of your practice room. Good luck and have fun.

T's Mom,
chances are, you will never feel "ready" for a recital - you will progress over time, but your pieces will get more and more challenging, too.
For most people, pieces never feel "finished" or "polished" - which is good as it shows you still have new ideas and thoughts about what you are playing. And again, there does not exist something as the ultimate version of a piece - what you consider only halfway there will probably seem perfect to someone else.
As others have pointed out, recitals are not about playing flawlessly. They are about presenting your music as it is at the moment and of sharing something with others under the special circumstances of presenting it in public (a unique experience )

Your teacher puts you in the middle of the pack which is good - those with less experience will look up to you, those with more experience will acknowledge the great job you are doing with a piece. All of them will be happy to listen.

Just some thoughts - have fun!

I'm 44 and have been back playing piano for a year after a 30+ year hiatus. By coincidence, I'm playing two songs in a recital this weekend (where my two youngest daughters will also be playing).

For what it's worth, I honestly expect to be nervous (my teacher told me to expect that I'll temporarily feel like I'm 10 years old again). I also expect to make some mistakes, but overall I'm comfortable enough with my playing that I'm ok with this. Also, from a lengthy background in sports, I usually can usually avoid the worst feelings of nerves, ironically, by anticipating the nervousness.

I agree with some of the comments above. There is virtually no point at which you'll play your songs (at any level) perfectly. Just be comfortable with the quality of your playing whatever it is....and play.

Plus I'd be a pretty lame Dad by not playing when my kids are doing it.

I don't think so at all.

Playing devil's advocate here. I also get gently harrassed about participating in recitals by my teacher. I have always refused and I really do not see the need or the purpose. I am of course familiar with the usual responses: sharing and presenting music to others, unique experience, conquering nerves etc.. None of this resonates with me. While I can play some pieces reasonably well and can imagine spending enough time on them to be reach robust fluency, I simply do not see a good reason why I should subject any audience to such, necessarily mediocre, display. The truth is I really really dislike amateur recitals, no matter how accomplished the performers. I am a perfectionist in real life and I cannot take this feeling out of my attitude towards these (lame) recitals. Mind you this teacher has a lot of adult students who play advanced repertoire and compete. So the level of playing is not terrible.. But I simply do not see why I should sit there listening to someone's struggle to shed some pathetic light on a Schumann piece, when I jsut listened to some awesome artist next door at Carnegie Hall give an amazing interpretation..
Obviously some people enjoy performing and "sharing" and that is fine. But what is it with the constant pressure to "perform", unless one wants to be a pianist or a perfomer of sorts..

+10, Andromaque!!!

+100 !

Andromaque.. I feel excatly the same way. You won't catch me playing in ANY recital!

On the one hand, I find it kind of sterile to study piano without the intention to perform.

On the other hand, a recital though a safe environment is also pretty artificial.

One thing for me personally is that, like a hanging in the morning, a performance date serves to wonderfully focus the mind. You prepare harder and more deeply for those occasional seminal experiences than otherwise. When you were in school, didn't you learn a lot more when you had to study for a final examination? Ever written or defended a thesis or dissertation? Same kind of thing.

Andromaque, I think that comment is sad in a way. Myself, I can appreciate "perfection" but would never ever expect it from all players. Really, any piece can be done better, and there is not even an objective way to say exactly what the best way to play a piece is. An interpretation that one person likes, another person might dislike.

When it comes to music, I find that there almost always is something that can be appreciated in it. Expecially if you don't just play the notes, but select a piece becuse you love it, or becuse there is something interesting in it that an audience might appreciate.

And not only when it comes to music. I would love to go to a really expensive restaurant and have the best meal they can offer. But I don't feel that all meals have to be this way. It would never cross my mind to skip eating altogether unless it's perfectly cooked. A sausage grilled in the open air, together with friends next to a nice lake on a beutiful summer evening, will definitly taste marveously no matter how simple the dish is or if one tip is a little too well done. If my love prepares a dinner it will taste nice even if the vegtebles were a little to crispy. I mean, how could we go around waiting for excellent experiences and not appreciate great but maybe more ordinary once?

The answer to me is that I have different expectations when I go to the expensive restaurant, compared to when a friend invites me to an outdoor picnic, and that there are plenty to look forward to in both experiences. The same with music. A few missed notes doesn't really matter if the flow is nice. And I wouldn't even be thinking if there are any missed note if a friend played "happy birthday to you" for me on my birthday.

Of course there are limits, and everything is not always fun and interesting to listen to, but in general I think you miss a lot of fun moments by not relaxing and simply enjoying music making.

I can see both sides. Since one of the reasons I took lessons was because I'm often embarassed when I end up playing in front of people with my skill level, of course I embrace recitals. Also I'd seem like a hypocrite for making my kids do similar things and not doing it myself.

But most of the pleasure I get is playing purely for myself and that is a totally valid playing experience that I wouldn't label "sterile" in any fashion.

So, if you are worried you'll make a mistake - go for it. If you really don't want to perform, don't.

But Basia I do enjoy music.. alot. Really. No need to feel sad for me..


TimR, you are even more cynical than I am.. So you use an audience to reinforce your self-discipline??