Being on stage, performing freely and being able to express a piece of music in the way that you want it to sound, can be a really liberating experience.
But learning new repertoire for first performance and actually achieving that level of freedom can be extremely challenging. As well as the difficult technical aspects that a new piece can present (extreme dynamics, complex rhythms and so on), creating the right muscular conditions within the body which allow you to have freedom of musical expression play equal importance.
The good news is that all of these challenges are completely normal and are not insurmountable. The even better news is that you have the main say in how you are going to work through those challenges!
However, in any walk of life, when you are confronted with a new piece of music or piece of work and you are facing difficulties working through it, you might be told or tell yourself, to just ‘stick with it’ or to put it another way, to ‘stick to the task’. But have you ever stopped to think what that really means for you, if you actually and literally just ‘stick with it’ and the consequences of doing so?
Let’s examine this.
What ‘sticking to it’ can actually do
Let’s say that your task is to ‘be ready to perform a new piece of music on Thursday’, or it might be to ‘get a report to your boss by 5pm’.
If you set out to ‘stick to the task’, you risk getting yourself stuck before you even start. Why? Because the ‘task’ set is actually the end result – i.e., the physical state of ‘being ready to perform’ or the actual ‘handing over the report’.
So, if unconsciously, you focus on and fast forward to the task (i.e. the end result) and attach it to your mind before it has even occurred, this can immediately start to introduce panic or fear into the task. That’s because your primary focus switches to the fact the task is unfinished, rather than actually focusing on establishing and processing the steps that will complete the task (bearing in mind that the individual steps themselves, are not and therefore, should not actually resemble the completed task).
Furthermore, if you have other things on your plate, that panic and fear may also start to mount further and interfere with and affect other tasks and things that you need to do.
So, is there a better way of thinking about and approaching musical practice (or for that matter, tasks in any walk of life)?
A more constructive approach
Perhaps a more helpful way to look at any task or goal is to think about ‘how to constructively ‘stay within the task’’, rather than ‘sticking to it’.
Staying within a task does two things:
- It allows you to periodically revisit your original task/goal and establish whether that has been defined clearly and in enough detail – whether by yourself or anyone else – in turn, allowing for it to be adjusted as needed.
- Once your task/goal is defined properly (or re-adjusted), it allows you to stop and assess the thought processes and actions which will lead to completion of that task/goal (or adjusted goal).
Don’t fall into the circular trap
The key point here, is that without knowing what your task is and defining it properly, you can’t stick to it, because you don’t know what your task is! And if you don’t stop to consider the steps needed to lead to completion of your task, you aren’t sticking to your task anyway, because you aren’t taking the steps needed to complete it!
However, really staying within a task means that at all stages of working through to the completion of that task, you become more aware of the real task that has been set, you redefine that task where necessary and spend purposeful time focusing on building the real muscle needed to get ready for performance – whether practising a passage at quarter speed, learning tricky harmonic transitions or building the stamina to get through the concert in one piece.
Don’t get stuck, take your time to stop and think instead
So the next time you’re struggling with practice and you feel like you’re unprepared for a performance, stop and think. Am I stuck to the task, stuck in my preparation, or stuck in my mindset? And subtly turn the dial to saying, I will stay within this task by stopping, taking a step back, carefully assessing what the task is and working out the thoughts and actions that will help me on my journey to achieving it.
By taking focus away from the task or goal, it will help you to remove any panic or fear from your work, make your practice more constructive and ultimately, lead to far more relaxed and enjoyable performances.