Login › Forums › Beyond Practicing Forum › What would you suggest focusing on to make a difference in a short time? › Reply To: What would you suggest focusing on to make a difference in a short time?
-
I’ve only just come across this forum and there are some really interesting questions and topics. I have a flute exam in a couple of weeks and am getting quite nervous as I have discovered the enormous gap between practising and ‘performing’ (even if it is for an exam). I have decided to make a video each day of a ‘mock’ exam and then to analyse what is not going well and see if I can be satisfied with my progress. But it seems that as soon as the recording starts I completely forget even the simplest things like scales and arpeggios that I have been practising for months without any real problems. I wonder why recording myself should produce such catastrophic results. I am not frightened by the thought of the exam itself as I look on it as a personal check-up. I am an adult player who discovered the flute rather late in life so have no worries about auditions or being accepted into a music school. It’s for my own pleasure and the exam has the aim of getting me out of the ‘comfort’ zone and into the ‘stretch’ zone so I can improve my playing (and hopefully be confident enough to play in front of other people). However, I wonder if I’m now in the ‘panic’ zone. Have you any suggestions as to why I should get so anxious about doing a recording (for my own purposes)?