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Hi Cheryl,
I’m sorry for the delay in responding! Totally missed seeing this…
With regards to learning/memorizing songs and lyrics, my initial thought is that there are a number of ways to get all that into our heads, many of which I’m sure you utilize and have tried. But I think there can sometimes be a tendency to neglect the retrieval piece too. As in, practicing remembering these elements is also a helpful part of cementing them into memory. I remember having to do runthroughs of my Suzuki repertoire every day as a kid, and having a somewhat regular schedule of continuing to have to run everything at least every so many days, even if I wasn’t actively working on it anymore. Do you have a system for testing your memory or “practicing remembering” as one reader put it?
Stage presence-wise, that’s a tricky one! I think some folks are more naturally emotive on stage than others, but this is certainly something you can practice too. Have you ever videotaped yourself doing a run-through in practice? Even if you’re just playing over a recording, or doing your part without the rest of your band or ensemble, it sounds like an important part of your preparation may be to practice every aspect of performing – not just the mental and technical part, but the visual part as well!
Noa
