Olive Branch Music Studio

Olive Branch Music Studio
Winter Newsletter
February, 2010

News

• Nursing Home Performance: In an effort to give students more opportunities to get used to performing and to share their music in a way that will bless others, I am planning to have an outing to Life Care Center of Littleton, at 1500 West Mineral Avenue, Littleton, CO at 4:45, Friday evening, March 5. Elderly people love to see and hear young people and don’t care about mistakes. This should be a great experience for the students. More details to come.

• Recital: I am planning the next recital for Sunday, March 7, 2:00 p.m., at Red Rocks Fellowship, 11195 West Belleview Avenue, Littleton, CO 80127-1605. Recitals are a vital part of music lessons and attendance is expected just as if it were a scheduled lesson.

• CFMT Festival: The annual festival is scheduled for March 13. As the date draws nearer, I will be communicating further details to the six students who are competing this year.

• Web Site: The Olive Branch Music Studio web site has been updated and can be viewed at olivebranchmusicstudio.com

• Hand washing and sanitizing: In the interest of keeping winter germs to a minimum in the studio, I will be asking students to wash their hands and/or apply hand sanitizer before touching any of the instruments and computers. Please help your students by reminding them to do this first thing after arriving for their lessons.

Responsibilities As a reminder of our commitments, as published on my web site, please review the following.
Teacher's responsibilities: To provide musical training that will nurture and motivate you or your child(ren) to increase the skill, knowledge, love, and enjoyment of music. My desire is that through the discipline of learning music, my students will develop lifelong positive character qualities that will help them to be skilled with life.
Parent's responsibilities: To provide your child's instrument in the best possible condition and other applicable necessary items (such as music, notebook, metronome, stand, bench, etc.), and a place which will allow for uninterrupted practice. Also, to arrange for transportation and to make sure lessons and recitals are punctually attended whenever scheduled, and to encourage and support progress in a positive manner.
Student's responsibilities: To bring his or her instrument (where applicable), music, and assignment book to every lesson. To practice regularly so lessons and recitals are well prepared. (Continual neglect in these areas may lead to a termination of lessons)
"I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music." -J.S. Bach
How to Have a Great Recital
(Adapted from Piano Education.org)
There are many people who love taking music lessons, but dread performing in a recital. If you are one of them – or your child is – read on!
Most piano teachers these days require their students to perform in at least one recital per year, and some hold recitals 3 or 4 times in a year. Usually, this is a somewhat formal affair, with family and friends invited. And, while this should be the highlight of a piano student’s year of study and practice, all too often it is instead a time of fear, anxiety, sweaty palms and weak knees. But it doesn’t have to be that way! You or your child can have an enjoyable recital, with calmness, confidence, and a sense of achievement. Here’s how.
(1) Stay Ready.
Preparation for your next recital begins the day after your last one. It’s not something you do the day before, the week before, or even the month before the Big Day. Throughout the year, pay attention to your teacher and practice regularly. If you do these two things, you’ll be well on your way to having a great piano recital, even without doing some of the other things we’ll discuss here.
(2) Perform Often.
If performing in front of others is something you dread, probably the last thing you want to do is do more of it! But believe it or not, the best cure for stage fright is to perform more often. The more you perform, the more the act of performing will lose its power to intimidate you. You’ll see that it’s a challenge you’re capable of overcoming, and you’ll gain confidence. At first, you’ll probably want your performances to be small and informal. Play for Grandma, or the next-door neighbor. Having a small, trusted, supportive audience will help you overcome your fear.
(4) Have a Back-Up Plan.
Even if you have your music memorized, always bring the sheet music along. That way, if you happen to have a “brain freeze” (it happens to the best) and suddenly can’t remember your piece, you’ll have the music handy to fall back on. If you know your anxiety makes your hands sweat, bring along some talcum power and dust your hands right before it’s your turn to play. Or wear thin cotton gloves while waiting for your turn. This will keep your hands warm as well as dry.
(5) Realize that Mistakes are Inevitable.
No one is perfect. Mistakes will happen; accept that fact of life. Instead of working yourself into a panic wondering IF you’ll make a mistake, plan what you’ll do WHEN a mistake occurs.
(6) Have Confidence.
Even when you do make a mistake, have the confidence to realize that the rest of your performance was probably fine. You don’t have to slink off the stage, hanging your head in shame. Bow or curtsey, and walk off stage confidently, regardless of any mistakes. Performing for others is a skill that you can develop, just like reading music. But like any other skill, the skill of performing takes practice. With your teacher’s help, and using some of these tips, you can learn to have a great piano recital.
Remember: It's ok for others to KNOW that you're nervous: we're all human. Everyone has had to deal with these kinds of challenges. There's nothing wrong with you. Performance anxiety is perfectly normal. You don't have to "fix" it. Just allow it to be whatever way it is, and do your best. Realize that your audience is there because they're interested in what you have to play and want to hear you perform. They're not there to judge you, contrary to how you might feel, so relax and enjoy the chance to share your music with them.

How to Give Yourself Stage Fright
(Adapted from Stage Fright, by Mick Berry, MFA)

Stage fright-inducing self messages have several common features:

• They almost always emanate from musts: “I must do well or I’m no good.” “The audience must like me, otherwise I’m a hopeless loser.” “I must not feel anxious; if I do feel anxious I won’t be able to stand it.”

• Musts are often coupled with awfulizing: “I must do well. It would be awful if I don’t. It would be terrible if the audience doesn’t like me. It would be horrible if I appear anxious.”

• Demanding acceptance by an audience. You tell yourself: “I must be liked by the audience. It will be awful if I’m not. If they don’t like me, it’ll prove I’m a total failure.” Notice that these thoughts make your self-worth dependent on the external factor of performance and/or acceptance, which greatly increases the pressure!

• Perfectionism rubs salt in the wounds: “I must do well or even outstandingly well. In fact, I must do as well as possible—perfectly. It’ll be awful if I don’t, and if I don’t perform perfectly, I’ll be a loser.” While setting high goals—even impossibly high goals can improve motivation, perfectionism involves setting impossibly high goals for yourself coupled with the demand that you reach them.

• Anxiety about anxiety is the cherry atop the sundae. It’s what often leads to full-blown panic attacks. Performers notice that they’re anxious or that they may become anxious, and then compound their anxiety by making themselves anxious about being anxious. They tell themselves that they must not be anxious; that they’re no good for being anxious, it’s awful if they’re anxious, and they can’t stand it. This last statement is an expression of Low Frustration Tolerance (LFT), the refusal to accept, and thus tolerate, frustrating or anxiety-laden experiences.

How to Beat Stage Fright
(Adapted from Stage Fright, by Mick Berry, MFA)

• Abolish your musts. Identify your self-demands, then rip them up. Replace musts with preferences: not “I must do well, but, “I prefer to do well.” This goes hand in hand with developing anxiety tolerance. Not “I can’t stand feeling anxious,” but rather “I don’t like feeling anxious, but I can stand what I don’t like.” The first statement is self-destructive and unrealistic; the second is helpful and realistic.

• Uproot your awfulizing. Not “I must do well and it’ll be awful if I don’t,” but rather, “I prefer to do well, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t.”

• Abandon self-rating. Self-valuing based on one’s performance or on the approval of others is a recipe for hopelessness, depression, and giving up.

• Develop unconditional self-acceptance rather that self-esteem. It’s more reasonable and effective to focus on self-acceptance than on self-esteem. We’re all fallible human beings who screw up fairly often. But we’re alive, and life can be quite enjoyable, even thrilling in peak moments. Further, even if rating yourself were rational—which it isn’t—a rating based on performance cannot equal the rating of your being, your totality. To put this in other words, your performance is one thing. You are another. It can be helpful to rate how well you do, but it’s not helpful to rate yourself. (God doesn’t view you like that anyway, and that’s what is ultimately important).