Oclef Q&A: EP005 - I can play perfect during practice, but not in public. Why?

Jul 17, 2018

I’ll answer in two areas:

1. Headspace- mistakes in performance happen and they should be expected. You have got to start focusing on the characters and audience experience you reveal through the music. Music for me is a verb. It is the act of communicating stories, ideas and emotions through sound. A small blip in the screen during a movie goes unnoticed, so don’t worry as long as you’re passionately becoming the character.
2. Practical - You need to be relentless and obsessive. I don’t know for sure, but you’re probably not practicing thoroughly. Talk about this with your teacher and discuss how you should optimize your attention to preparation. How are you designing the small wins leading up to performance? Do you always have left hand memorized? Are all your voices memorized separately in the counterpoint? Can you sing each voice? Have you considered writing out the parts of all voices of your pieces. Have you practiced transposing sections to better understand the harmonic structure of the music? Have you played one hand and conducted the other? Be thorough. Be obsessed. Most students are not and that’s why they never make it as a concert artist or even as a great pianist. If you really want results, put all this extra effort in. Send me a recording after you’ve done some of these ideas above and adjusted your headspace.

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