Things are not going well at my house. We have a sick cat, which has to be isolated from the other cat, and the only place to do that in the house is the room with the piano. She's happy in there, but she does not care for my piano playing at all. When I start to play she gets very vocal and wants out of that room. So then I have to isolate her in a bathroom, and she doesn't like that at all, and so on and so forth. Life's little dramas...

So don't be surprised to hear loud meows in my recording this time - assuming I can concentrate with all that going on!

Sam

Maybe you should play something from.......Cats?
Good luck! And hope your sick kitty feels better soon.

So here's the perfect strategy: Record your piece the week AFTER the recital deadline, hang onto it for three months, then submit for the next recital. Rinse and repeat.

And the one I would add to this list is; focusing on getting a clean (mistake free) recording, only to discover upon the umpteenth take when I finally have one, that it is completely flat of dynamics and expression. This is my greatest failure to date as it is always this take I end up with. I feel like I have to put in a disclaimer ... "but I can play it better ... honest, just not today ". [/quote]


Greener, I can speak from experience on this one.

In the past, I have always (without exception) been able to perform my recital piece better at around one-two weeks AFTER the recital. In other words I am 'peaking' about 2 weeks too late. and I now know why....and it's not what you think!

For me at least, it is a balance between learning the tune good enough to be able to play it well vs getting sick of playing the same tune over and over again. If I play a tune too many times I will start to get sick of it and it becomes harder to add dramatic emotional input; especially if your emotions are the opposite of what you are trying to put into the piece at the time.

Think about it, after playing something for the brazillionth time working on the same sections, it's hard to get the same sized goosebumps you did the first time you heard the piece or played it.

For me, I have to be careful with this because at a certain point, continuing to practice the same tune over and over will be counter productive. I will start to lose interest in it and I don't want to force my hobby upon myself.

Once the stress is off (recital has passed), and I'm not sick to death of playing the same piece,.. THAT'S when I can play the tune at my best. Usually 1-2 weeks post recital.

Oh well!

A doggone good idea - could help to avoid a recording cat-astrophe...

Mr. Super-Hunky, would it work to learn the piece, and then let it rest for a week or two before the recital?

That's ridiculous as it makes too much sense! haha. But to answer your question, 'Yes' in terms of not getting sick of playing it and 'no' because part of the stress IS the red devil-dot. Getting sick of playing a piece to the point of 'forcing' emotions into it can be dealt with by just allowing a little time to pass before playing it again. That works out okay. 1/2 the problem solved. The other half is the recording stress. Is is getting better but still far from a first take scenario.

Btw, just to add something else to the mix. After about a month goes by without playing a tune, I will most likely have to completely re-learn it because I tend to forget them quickly. Possibly a blonde thing, not sure!

I read cognitive scientist Sian Beilock's book entitled 'Choke' a couple of months ago and thought now that it would be most appropriate for all of us who have to deal with the dreaded 'red dot'. :-) Below is a link summarizing her work. You can watch an interview of Sian Beilock as well.

http://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/performance-anxiety

Thanks for the link. Here are a couple of bits I found useful:

* focus on the outcome, not the mechanics. Jackson had soccer players of equal skill levels set objectives before dribbling a ball through cones. The players who chose technique-oriented goals (“Keep loose with knees bent”) fared worse than those with a strategic focus (“Keep the ball close to the cones”).

* Writing about worries before taking an exam dilutes their negative impact on students with test anxiety. (The body reacts with a flight or fight response, but there is no physical danger, only the fear of embarrassment.)

* Chronic worriers, for example, are “more prone to buckle" (tools can help overcome a person's nature. Golfer Jack Nicklaus was rumored to think his pinky toe to get his mind off the pressure situations).

Don't be surprised to hear hacking coughs at the end of my song.

I had everything set up perfectly - tuner scheduled for the morning - everyone out of the house - I took the day off - a chance to record my recital selections in peace for the afternoon.

My youngest had a fever and stayed home from school with me. I got interrupted twice during the five takes (nothing is more distracting than a sick kid not necessarily interrupting you during recording, but standing next to the piano while you're recording staring at you and waiting for you to finish so he can make his request).

I did manage to record my preferred recital choice (with coughing at the end) on the fifth take. But that was it.

Then it was back to Dr. Dad.

lol @ Ben...so the piano took priority over your sick kid? Don't worry, I won't judge.. hahaha

I just received the following from sheetmusicplus.com - not sure why I haven't been playing from it for a long time now, but since it is by far my favorite Broadway musical I will make up for lost time...

Les Mis songbook


However, I'm not sure if I want to record one song at a time for the next fourteen Recitals or arrange a medley of all fourteen and record this for some upcoming Recital (although probably not one of the next several)...

I'm done! Now just to wait for the call for submissions - whew!

Tonight is the last opportunity I have to make a good recording of the piece I selected. I already have one recording, but I'm not satisfied with it.

I realise that I made a stupid choice. The piece is pretty long - actually about 6 minutes - and some of the hard passages come near the end. I have already made 5 - 6 trials this evening, but I always mess up things as the end approaches, and then I have to start all over again.

Next time I'm going to select a shorter piece. Not more than 2 - 3 minutes long.

I fear I will not be able to participate in the recital, after all .

Melting ice revealed a structural flaw in the building I'm planning to go live in ... which means another four weeks just got tacked onto the construction time ... which means my piano can't be delivered until, at the very earliest, the third week of February ... after the recital deadline.

I will try to find an empty room with a reasonably in-tune acoustic before the 15th, but I'm not all that optimistic on the likelihood of that.

Oh, well. More time to get it just right for the next recital, I guess. Or maybe I'll do the Satie piece by then.

I did a recording a week ago that turned out pretty well, but it was not perfect. I made a couple of "note perfect" recordings since then, but they have no heart, or the acoustics are not as good, etc. So, my previous attempt will have to do! Striving for perfection just means I get pickier!

Besides, it is Fasnacht (Carnival) here and they keep shooting off cannons and playing off key brass bands - on purpose!

I managed to make a new recording yesterday. Not perfect, but better than the previous one.

I found recording this piece more challenging than playing it for an audience. The reason is probably that the music (from the Vienna classical period) is extremely transparent and that my instrument and recording equipment reveals even the smallest inaccuracy in my playing. On a couple of places I was a bit out of balance without really playing wrong notes. But even these occasions are audible in my recordings.

Anyhow participation in this recital (as well as the work with the upcoming themed recital) has proved to be very useful for me. It helps me focusing on the things I don't do so well, and in the long run I think this helps me improving.

Good news: I had an hour and a half of a quiet house for recording, and I got a take of my piece that I'm happy with.

Bad news: I was simultaneously recording with my Zoom Q3HD so I could post the video on YouTube, and when I walked over to click the unit off, basking in the joy of knowing that you have just done a take you're happy with, I saw "memory card full." But at least I'll have up until the 15th to try getting a good video made.

Well, at least you got the recording! That's the main thing.
The rest is gravy

And...just a "few" hours to go til we have the call for submissions! Let the fun begin!

Remember, now that I am a retired lady of leisure, I may put the call out the day of the 1st and not late the night before. Or I might not. You never know.

Right you are...Surprise us!

Whoever comes in as #1 should be flogged! (OK, it was me once but it was a mistake, I swear!)

I nearly recorded this and the next recitals' submissions tonight

In the end, I just couldn't quite get both right but I'm happy what's going this time. Let the games begin (Monica, that's a hint ....)

And I'm in at 13

Mr. Super-Hunky, I can't wait to hear your piece - what a wonderful wonderful way to start our recital.

Dang, I was wanting to play in the February recital for the first time. I don't think I can have my piece ready to record within two weeks.