Bsrhrki

Yesterday I performed my favorite piano piece "Liebestraum no.3" for F. Liszt in an audition.

I forgot a lot of its musical notes although that I prepared it very well and I even played it a lot in the last few years. I feel now very bad and depressed.

I usually forget the musical notes while performing in concerts. So how to avoid this issue?

Is this normal for a pianist to forget the musical notes? I feel that I am a bad pianist. This is my favorite piece and I really feel bad because I did not play it well last night in concert.

For some reason, practice isn't always enough for prepare us for a performance. That's not unusual. Some things that have helped me and others I've talked to include:

• "Practice" performing in situations that are less high pressure. Singing karaoke at a small bar or taking an improv class are examples.


• Meditation and/or visualization on a regular basis can help you manage your stress level. I know a professional singer and musician who fully visualizes every performance beforehand, watching himself play everything completely and correctly. I've read about athletes and other performing professionals doing the same. Daily or weekly meditation can help in general.


• Physical fitness at least removes distractions, and at best improves our ability to manage stress. A healthy diet, generous amount of sleep, and cardiovascular exercise tend to improve all aspects of life.


• Ensemble practice and/or performance can help you both be more comfortable dropping notes without the music suffering and with continuing calmly after mistakes. Improvising with others in practice is a great confidence booster.


• Remember (and remind yourself before a performance) that the fundamental aspect of music is not hitting all the right keys at all the right times. That's not music - a computer can do that. Music is about expressing something inside that can't be expressed any other way. Work on letting your heart come out through your fingers and connecting with the audience and neither you nor they will care one bit about missing notes. A couple notes played with a lot of feeling mean more than hundreds of unplayed notes. And the audience is not there to find fault, they are there to experience music, and missing a few notes isn't going to ruin that for them.

Dealing with pressure

Get a sound recorder or use your phone and record your performances. The extra pressure of recording yourself will cause similar pressure to an actual performance. Also practise occasionally with a metronome - once again, the pressure of having to keep a strict tempo will distract you. You may be surprised that you tempo is off, especially at the difficult bits.

Practise with a recording of the piece playing in the background. Drop out at random moments and pick up again. If you have someone willing to help, they can tap you on the shoulder - you hold the beat in your head until they tap you again, whereupon you continue.

Important - instrumentalists often make a big mistake when they perform. The rush of adrenaline makes them think quicker and so they tend to speed up the tempo. The trouble is that your fingers are used to a slower pace - you may stumble.

Memorisation

If you have a good visual memory then take the time to memorise the score visually (or just the melody notes) then you can read the music in your mind if necessary. Memorise the sounds, memorise the finger movements, memorise everything with every sense.

Note. If you memorise only the finger movements then, by the time you can play by heart, you have delegated the memory to your cerebellum (the part of the brain that knows how to walk or ride a bike). However, under pressure/fear your conscious mind tries to take back control. Everything shifts to the neocortex and the amygdala. Suddenly you are trying to remember with the wrong brain area and your mind may simply go blank - you have bypassed the cerebellum completely.

So practise playing by adding stress of any kind!