Practice.......makes perfect!
The crux statement from the fantastic Ted-Ed video “How to stay calm under pressure” by Noa Kageyama and Pen-Pen Chen. Choc full of interesting and useful information, it boils down what happens to us in pressure circumstances.
Practicing in performance-like situations help to reduce the pressure shock encountered in performance. Exposing ourselves to this environment effectively immunizes us against the effects of pressure by pushing the body and mind outside of our comfort zone. The more time we can spend in this state, the more comfortable and in control we feel over time, and the better we can perform.
“Distraction Theory” and “Explicit Monitoring” form the basis of focus moving away from the music and the task at hand. Our thoughts and worries, and/or our self-analysis of the technical requirements to play our instrument disrupt focus and neurological processing. This, of course, leads to memory overload and diminished performance. By consciously micro-managing our playing during performance, we are actually holding ourselves back both psychologically and neurologically. Trusting yourself and letting go, although often difficult to do under pressure, is the best way to perform as well as you can on the day.
And visualisation helps us to have a perfect goal in our mind, a clear and specific target to aim at. Imagine in vivid detail how you are going to perform, what it will sound like, look like, and feel like when you go out on stage and give it everything.
If we can practice with this in mind each day then we will be bringing practice and performance closer together, and the leap between the two will not feel anywhere near as great.
So how will you incorporate these points into your practice and performance routine?