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Dear Friends,
Before we get started: I've developed a listening series called Piano Lit: a self-guided mini-course delivered as a weekly email over six weeks.
Each week contains links to performances of several pieces for piano arranged around a particular theme, with historical background and commentary on what to listen for. It's designed to help you get more familiar with a range of piano music and deepen your listening habit. You can check it out here.
Anyway, a reader sent me a link to this NPR interview with pianist Simone Dinnerstein. In the interview, Dinnerstein talks openly about dealing with extreme performance anxiety caused by performing without music. Her panic attacks got so bad that she finally started using an iPad during performances.
This is something not enough people talk about. In my own performing and teaching, I have come to believe the biggest reason for performance anxiety (and memory slips) is the pressure to perform from memory.
The tradition of memorizing music started in the 19th century, with Clara Schumann and Liszt. Clara Schumann, in particular, shaped the format of the modern piano recital as we know it. She was a superstar in her day. She was the first to perform full programs from memory, and from that point on, set the expectation that “serious” pianists should perform from memory.
Now, more and more performers are using music on stage, often reading from an iPad. It’s a huge shift. An iPad is unobtrusive and much less distracting than a physical score and a page-turner. Maybe that's one reason we are seeing more pianists start to perform with music (it's possible to be more discreet than it used to be).
Personally, I believe learning to play from memory is invaluable. Memorizing a piece is a way to get to know the music deeply and intimately. And yet, increasingly it seems that there's nothing to prove by performing by memory. Recently I saw a concerto soloist perform Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, using the iPad, and nobody batted an eye. It didn't detract from the passion of the performance in the slightest.
And let’s be honest: our lives today are nothing like the 19th century. Brahms, for example, could compose in the morning and spend his afternoons walking, deep in thought. We’re constantly pulled in a hundred directions: emails, texts, and other demands, fragmenting our attention.
So my question for you this week is: Should pianists still be expected to perform from memory? Why or why not?
I’ve included a poll below. I’d love to hear what you think!
Happy practicing!
-Kate
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Practice TIP of the week:
Here are the most recent practice tips I have covered:
🎵 May 4: "Chunking" for Easier Memorization
🎵 May 18: Memorize Jump Spots
🎵 May 25: Analyze to Memorize
🎵 June 1: Performance Run-Throughs
Each month, I focus on a specific theme for practice tips. This month’s theme is Performance Mindset.
Today's Practice Tip: Breathing for Performance Anxiety
Performance anxiety is something that nearly every musician has to cope with, whether you are a student playing for your teacher or a professional performing at Carnegie Hall. Nerves can impact even the most prepared musicians.
Performance anxiety is one of the top reasons people don't perform more. A pianist might be very confident practicing on their own, but the moment they have to play in front of even one other person, it can be very stressful, and not much fun at all!!
When we get nervous, our body goes into fight, flight or freeze mode, which is not particularly useful to us as performers. Performance anxiety often leads to a decrease in performance quality, through physical side effects (sweaty palms, shaky hands) and mental side effects (racing thoughts, second-guessing yourself).
One thing that can help counter performance anxiety is deep, intentional breathing. This has the effect of overriding anxiety and calming the autonomic nervous system.
But if you don’t practice this kind of breathing during your regular practice, you probably won’t remember to do it when you get nervous before a performance. Your nerves will take over, and trying something new in the moment is going to be the last thing on your mind! That’s why it’s important to practice calming breathing before you actually need it.
You can work calming breathing right into your performance run-throughs. Before you begin, sit at the piano with your eyes closed and breathe in slowly through your nose, letting the breath fill your abdomen. Exhale gently through your mouth. Repeat this a few times, letting each breath calm and center you.
As you breathe, set an intention for your performance.
Picture the breath gathering energy in your center. When you’re ready, open your eyes, and as you exhale, focus on a spot in front of you, sending your energy out toward it, before you begin to play.
This is a breathing exercise that was developed by performance psychologists Don Greene and Noa Kageyama. I highly recommend you check out their work if you aren't familiar with them and want to learn more about achieving peak performance.
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Quote of the Week
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
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🎥 YouTube Update
My most recent video is a tutorial on playing fast Alberti bass patterns with less tension. Alberti bass is harder than it seems; I decided to make the tutorial after working with one of my students on this over a few lessons. You can watch it here!
My next video will be dropping on June 9, and it's about 10 strategies you can use to improve your practice. I included things that I often encounter when working with my students at all levels.
Want to be notified when a new video comes out? Click here and I will send you a quick email the day I publish a new video.
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💜 Some of My Favorite Things
- 🎧 Performance: Robert Schumann – Fantasie in C Major, Op. 17. Today (June 8) marks the birthday of Robert Schumann, one of the giants of the German Romantic era. His Fantasie in C Major, dedicated to Liszt, is one of his greatest piano works. He wrote it at a time when he was apart from his wife Clara Schumann, and the work expresses his longing to be with her. Here's a spectacular score recording of the piece, performed by Leif Ove Andsnes.
- 📚Book: Schumann – The Faces and the Mask, by Judith Chernaik. speaking of Schumann, what better time to recommend this fantastic biography than on his birthday? The fact of Robert Schumann's mental illness and hospitalization toward the end of his life has often eclipsed general knowledge about the details and nuances of his life leading up to that. This beautifully written and illuminating biography uses previously unpublished sources and digs deep into Schumann's life, artistry, and the many contradictions within it. You can purchase it here.
- 🛠️ Tool: Bluetooth pedal. Since we were just talking about using the iPad when you play. I use my iPad every single day when I practice and teach. It has transformed my professional life because I no longer have to carry around paper scores, and also it streamlines the page-turning for my performances. These days I sometimes turn with my face when I play (which is an actual thing!), but in performance I revert to my pedal because I trust it more.
If you're interested in knowing the mechanics of playing from a tablet, here's what you need: an iPad, an Apple pencil, the ForScore app (only compatible with iPad, sorry!), and a Bluetooth page-turning pedal. There are many models on the market, but I recommend getting a reliable one because if the connection is not stable or if there is a lag between pressing the pedal and turning the page, it can be frustrating. Here are the ones that I have personally used and recommend: Donner (link), Butterfly (link), and AirTurn (link). I have seen some less expensive ones online, but I have never seen a professional use anything other than the three I mention here, and would be nervous to rely on anything else in a performance.
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🎹 Stay Connected:
- 📆 Book a lesson or a coaching session with me. I have updated my available dates through the end of June!
- 🎓 Reply to this email to learn about applying to study with me at Butler University at the undergraduate or master's level. Go Dawgs! 🐾
- 📚 Check out my Amazon page, where I share my recommended books, technical exercises, gear and more!
- 🎥 Subscribe to my YouTube channel!
- 📱Follow me on Instagram!
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🎹 Pianist | Educator | Creator
Dr. Kate Boyd
Professor of Piano, Butler University
YouTube • Instagram • Website
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