Take Care of Yourself
Keep Thoughts and Attitude on the Up and Up
Breathe and Focus
BE PREPARED
Prepare Physically
Before Recital Day
Practice Your Piece
Let the muscle memory of months of practice guide you through nervousness. Don’t try to cram all of your practice in the week before the recital.
Record Yourself Playing
A couple of weeks before your performance, record yourself playing. This is great performance practice. The more you do it, the more courage you develop. You don’t even have to watch the recordings.
Avoid Sugar and Caffeine
Sugar products and excess caffeine lead to anxiety. Try to avoid these chocolate bars, pastries, etc. even a few days before the recital to help your nervous system.
Day of Recital
Be Well Rested
Go to bed early and eat a healthy breakfast. Bananas are a good snack for nerves.
Exercise
Take a walk, stretch, jump up and down, loosen your muscles to relieve anxiety and release endorphins to make you happy. But, don’t overdue it and wear yourself out.
Look Your Best
If you look polished and professional, you’ll feel more confident!
Wear that nice button-up shirt or new dress, but make sure it’s comfortable.
Warm Up Your Fingers
Practice your piece a few times before you leave the house and keep them warm until you perform by sitting on them or rubbing them together. Do finger stretches at your seat: expand/curl. Tabletop exercises on your lap.
Breathe
Practice slow, deep breaths before you meet your audience and while you’re waiting for your turn to play at the recital.
Prepare Mentally Before and During Recital
Think Positively
“I can do this!” “I love playing the piano!” “I’m excited to share my love of piano with others!”
Don’t say, “I can’t do this.” I’m going to mess this up” or “I’m going to be so embarrassed.”
Visualize Your Piece
Find a quiet place and imagine the flow of your piece (tempo, dynamics, peaks and valleys, legatos and staccatos, rests, slow downs), appreciating its beauty. Keep your feelings on the up and up.
Visualize Your Success
Picture yourself walking up to the piano confidently, handling mistakes properly during your performance, and smiling and bowing to an excited, clapping audience.
Reframe Your Perspective
At the end of the day, it’s just one performance. Try to do your best, but if you make mistakes, it’s not the end of the world.
Be proud of yourself for everything that you’ve learned so far.
Keep in mind that the audience will probably not notice your mistakes, and even if they do, will still appreciate your hard work and the courage it takes to perform.
Smile
Smiling offers stress relief, lower blood pressure, offers pain relief, etc.
Take it Slow
Make sure you find your starting position then SET YOUR STEADY PACE by tapping or counting quietly to yourself BEFORE you begin.
DON'T RUSH.
FOCUS.
If you start too fast you will trip over your notes, make silly mistakes, and your piece will sound uneven.
Focus
Concentrate on your performance, but don’t overanalyze each trouble spot in your mind as you play.
If you hit a snag, just keep going. If you lose your flow, go back to the nearest phrase or section.
Channel your nervous energy to help you play better. It can make you more alert, more focused, and even fives you extra strength you didn’t know you had.
Be Happy and Grateful for the Opportunity
Recitals are a chance for us to share our love for music or a particular song and to say, “Wow, I made that series of sounds, isn’t it beautiful!”
Think Positively
“I can do this!” “I love playing the piano!” “I’m excited to share my love of piano with others!”
Don’t say, “I can’t do this.” I’m going to mess this up” or “I’m going to be so embarrassed.”
Visualize Your Piece
Find a quiet place and imagine the flow of your piece (tempo, dynamics, peaks and valleys, legatos and staccatos, rests, slow downs), appreciating its beauty. Keep your feelings on the up and up.
Visualize Your Success
Picture yourself walking up to the piano confidently, handling mistakes properly during your performance, and smiling and bowing to an excited, clapping audience.
Reframe Your Perspective
At the end of the day, it’s just one performance. Try to do your best, but if you make mistakes, it’s not the end of the world.
Be proud of yourself for everything that you’ve learned so far.
Keep in mind that the audience will probably not notice your mistakes, and even if they do, will still appreciate your hard work and the courage it takes to perform.
Smile
Smiling offers stress relief, lower blood pressure, offers pain relief, etc.
Take it Slow
Make sure you find your starting position then SET YOUR STEADY PACE by tapping or counting quietly to yourself BEFORE you begin.
DON'T RUSH.
FOCUS.
If you start too fast you will trip over your notes, make silly mistakes, and your piece will sound uneven.
Focus
Concentrate on your performance, but don’t overanalyze each trouble spot in your mind as you play.
If you hit a snag, just keep going. If you lose your flow, go back to the nearest phrase or section.
Channel your nervous energy to help you play better. It can make you more alert, more focused, and even fives you extra strength you didn’t know you had.
Be Happy and Grateful for the Opportunity
Recitals are a chance for us to share our love for music or a particular song and to say, “Wow, I made that series of sounds, isn’t it beautiful!”
