Hans, Thanks as always for your comments. I posted mine on the list at the request of Terry, whom I e-mailed privately. One of the first things I talked about with the student in question was the "ten times no miss" to give her added confidence. I also suggested memorization so that she could focus more on the music than on how she is impressing her audience.
I still remember playing the first rehearsal of a new season with the Israel Sinfonietta on a cut lip. We were rehearsing Mendelssohn's Nocturne, and I was stressed due to being uncomfortable. The conductor came back to my stand, took my music and then proceeded to conduct. I played so much better and learned a very important lesson: have the important solos memorized. I had more concentration and more focus, and the end result was more musical. I played much better when I stopped thinking about how I felt and put my concentration into the music. Respectfully yours, John Schreckengost ----- Original Message ----- From: "Hans Pizka" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'jgschreck'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'The Horn List'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2003 9:05 AM Subject: RE: [Hornlist] Re: performance anxiety Terry, the first thing you have to learn - and you have to learn it indeed - is respect to those who are in the professional field at the upper class and for dozens of years on first chair. That is the number one you have to learn. Out there in the professional field, well, we are not perfect, but at least nearly perfect, otherwise we would not have any chance to survive. If you take our occasional imperfection as excuse for yourself, you fail again, as you dare to compare yourself with the professionals. This is the second thing to learn: not to compare yourself with the professionals, but, try to improve your playing to arrive at near professional level. Third, what I told you, is not "old slating", but correcting your errors. If you take my free advice as "old slating", you just confirm, that you are immature & not worth an advice. If an advice has some critic, you take it as "insult" or "putting down" instead of accepting the free lesson. This is the third thing to learn: take the free advice by much elder "colleague" & special by "international well known professional players" as a free well meant lesson & implement the learned. Fourth, I am not any "guy" as you buddies perhaps, but still Prof.Pizka for you, an old fashion over sixty fighter on the first horn. Understood. We in Europe are not used to your "fraternization" which goes too far beyond self restriction. Never-mind, we got this problem here also. No wonder that many orchestras (even good orchestras) consist now of too many "conservatory babies", even they are between thirty & fourty now. Children who never mature. See no.3 again. Fifth, even I replied, that "stronger" is not the point, but "more secure" would be the point, you seem not to understand that, special if I talked about "ten-no-fail-in-a-row" system. Is this so difficult to understand or is it completely against your "psychic adjustment" ? Learn to adopt well recommended techniques even you feel uncomfortable with them at the moment. The success does not come in a "buy & win" action. These things take time. And it is you, who has to change. After a while you will notice the improvement & feel comfortable. And the truth, nobody feels really comfortable at a delicate performance, as the performance would be "dead" then. I am very calm & relaxed at the podium, but highly concentrated. This does not mean, being concentrated & not noticing anything besides the music on my music stand. Concentrated means, thinking about the task, about reproducing what has been prepared before, but not that "no lemon" but "banana" thinking. I myself, have to push myself into super alertness, otherwise the performance would become just boring. If you implement your feeling, your reception for music into your playing, your enthusiasm, but all in a relaxed way, why to be nervous. As soon as you exceed your limits (playing level, technical level, range level), you surpass the critical point & no wonder getting nervous then. For the dress rehearsal: Why do you play all the notes then at the full power as written ? You should leave some "excitement" for the concert. This is not a sign of weakness, but of experience & cleverness. Special, as you first horn amateurs play with an assistant mostly. Delegate more to the assistant & encourage him or her, so you have a bit relax before your solo. Conclusion: the more I preach, the more you oppose. So I sometimes think, were they all idiots: Farkas, Aubrey Brain, Dennis Brain, Freiberg, Stiegler, Valkenier, Moore , etc. - as they did exactly the same as I do. It seems so, as you "know-it-all-better" folks & "chronic patients on the couch" you still know it all better. It might be better, you stick with your lamentation, but also with your problems. Punctum ! BTW: Many of these books are written by people with chronic stage fright. They might be interesting, but they don't help. They are written mostly, to "please" the "patients". If I find the same problems as my own in a book, I might think, Oooops, the writer has understood me perfectly. But he has never seen you nor talked with you. The only thing he is interested: ROYALTIES, best sellers, business ........ =========================================================== ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, September 27, 2003 3:44 PM Subject: Re: Thanks Unfortunately, my comments received a fair old slating from Hans which got me a bit down, as I really respect that guy. I have posted a reply to him via the list, as I feel he may have misunderstood some of the things I said. I will be interested in his reply, as I am sure he could suggest a daily routine which would make our playing (lip) really strong. The stronger you feel, the less nervous you get. I am currently working through the book "Performance Success" by Don Greene. The proof will be in the concert on Saturday week. Terry _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/hans.pizka%40t-online.de _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
