-
I’m sure Dr. Kageyama will be by shortly with great advice on how to use the course, but during the interim, let me tell you that I feel your pain. I was there 3 years ago – desperate to perform at my ability or even somewhere in the vicinity of my ability. You are great at practicing performing by yourself, but you are not great at performing to an audience. If you want to be great at performing, you have to practice performing in front of an audience. I have overcome this, and you will too!
You have 3 weeks. Everyday get out and perform in front of people. The tougher the audience (e.g., a judgmental colleague/student/teacher) the better. That’s the quick fix crash course. No matter how hard it is to pull a great player aside and ask, “Can you take a listen to this?” DO IT! If you are a college student, then sign up for any recitals offered within the next 3 weeks. If you step all over yourself and not perform at your best (which will happen), you have not failed! Failing is not asking the person to listen in the first place or signing up for a recital. Whatever happens with each performance you will learn something, even if it feels like you didn’t, and most importantly, you will survive. Also use the reflective techniques in the confidence section of the program to speed up the learning process from each performance.
Good Luck!
-DC
