-
Hi Luis,
A few thoughts come to mind. I do think that practicing getting centered could help. It might involve simplifying your centering routine, or tweaking it a bit – but also practicing getting centered in less-than-ideal situations, like the phone call one described above. So that way you’re accustomed to getting centered when you’re pretty unfocused or scattered, instead of only when you’re already in a pretty good headspace.
It might also help to only give yourself one or two chances to get started at times, so you don’t get accustomed to being able to start multiple times. A daily run-through (even if just 5 minutes of your piece), recorded, after a short warmup, but before you’ve done any work on the piece, could also be a helpful way to practice getting accustomed to the demands of a performance and not rely on an extensive warmup or multiple repetitions before starting.
For a real performance, it would be helpful to think of your pre-concert routine too, whether it’s some sort of relaxation or meditative ritual to get into an optimal place, before you even get backstage moments before you walk out on stage. And to practice this, so it’s not something new on the day of a performance.
And while a pre-performance routine like centering can be helpful in starting off in the right mental and physical state, it’s also really just for getting started. Once you’ve gotten past the first few notes, this is where all the other stuff related to focus comes into play. Whether it’s singing brain, focusing on subtle nuances, pulse, etc., cultivating that ability to be relentlessly focused on the present moment and only those things that will enhance performance becomes paramount.
More mock performances too, as realistic as possible, can help ensure that all of these elements come together and feel internalized. Because no matter how good you get at centering, etc., there will still probably be lots of things competing for your attention, and it’s likely that you still won’t be feeling totally comfortable physically, at least. So being comfortable with being uncomfortable is an important factor that can keep your mind from latching onto these things too.
So to sum up, a) practice centering, b) practice other attention control strategies, c) in the context of 1 or 2 repetitions or recorded run-throughs after a short warmup in the morning, and d) in realistic mock performance/audition-type settings too, so that you get more comfortable and confident with performing closer to your full abilities the first time.
Hope this helps to clarify things!
Noa
