“One gig is worth 20 rehearsals.”
Andrew Bishko (Mariachi Flor de Missouri)
We said above that “practicing” is traditionally seen as distinct from “performing”, and that the old model of “practicing endlessly until finally proving yourself with a performance” is fundamentally broken. So what do we mean by “practice” and “performance”, and what would a better relationship between the two be?
Music practice is an activity where we work out all the details of our musical tasks. We take our music apart, work on small bits, and put it back together again. Naturally, that’s not what we want to do on stage or in front of an audience!
Musical performance is when we share our music with others. This could be live or via a recording, but in both cases we are playing through the music start to finish, for the sake of creating a fulfilling and moving musical experience for ourselves and for the listener.
Right now these may seem like two very different activities—but they don’t have to be. In fact, we can bridge the apparent gap, by bringing performance activities into the practice room. This idea is at the heart of the Performance Free-Flow approach: to make “performing” such a regular, everyday part of our music practice, that stepping into a new environment to deliver a performance doesn’t feel like a big, intimidating and fundamentally different activity. Instead, it’s a natural continuation of what we’ve been doing in all our preparation.
Through a variety of practice-room activities you’ll be able to gradually “raise the stakes”, and build up the mental, emotional, and physical skills required of the performer, developing your Head, Hands, Hearing and Heart together.
Environmental Impact
What does it mean to “raise the stakes”? At the extreme, a musician might sit alone in their practice room, practicing long and hard until they know their music inside-out and can play through it flawlessly. Then, it comes time to perform it for someone… and whether that’s a big, formal recital, an audition, or just finally allowing a family member to hear you play, suddenly everything feels very risky and possibly scary. It’s a one-shot deal. What if you screw it up? The stakes have been raised, all in one go.
On top of that, typically the environment or context also changes significantly, all in one go. You might be playing on a stage or just a different room, you now have an audience in front of you, you might be playing a different instrument, wearing a different outfit, there might be different acoustics or environmental noise. We like to think these things shouldn’t matter—but they absolutely do. You may well have experienced this with some of the Contextual Interference exercises in Chapter 6: Superlearning!
Research has shown that if you take a group of students who have prepared for a test, and have half the group take the test in their usual, familiar classroom while the other half take it in a new, unfamiliar room, the second group performs measurably worse. The simple change in context which “shouldn’t” matter actually has a significant impact.
So when it comes to musical performance, not only are we trying to “pass the big exam”, we’ve introduced all of these additional challenges that the practice room hasn’t prepared us for at all. Given that, is it really reasonable to expect our best rendition of the music to come out?
Performance requires its own group of mindsets and skills. Being able to play the music correctly, alone in the practice room is only the starting point.
The good news is that all these skills and mindsets are learnable, and can be acquired through simply practicing performing itself. Regular “performance practice” can also be combined with a pathway of performance tasks and situations which let you gradually expand your comfort zone, develop your performance skills, and build resilience.
When Gerald Klickstein (author of the classic book on practice and performance, The Musician’s Way) gave a masterclass at Musical U, he really highlighted this core idea of gradually raising the stakes. Many of the problems and issues which we feel prevent our practicing from producing a great performance can actually be tackled simply by giving ourselves a clear pathway, which gradually raises the stakes and lets us build up our skills, experience and confidence as we practice performing.
Performance Pathway
How would you feel if I invited you to walk across a wooden plank between two skyscrapers? Scary prospect, right? In fact, right now even walking across a plank that was four feet in the air, like a gymnastic balance beam, might be nerve-wracking.
But now supposing we placed that wooden plank on the floor. Not scary at all, right? Then we raise it an inch above the floor—still not scary…
Now, what if every day you practiced walking across the beam, raising its height just a little each day. As your balance improves and your experience grows, those small increases in height don’t throw you off. Soon the balance beam feels easy. Perhaps one day even that skyscraper situation just feels like the “same old” experience to you.
This is what we’re aiming for with a “Performance Pathway”. How can we take small steps into performing, gradually raising the stakes, so that no one step feels too scary, or introduces too many new factors for us to tackle.
Here is a suggested pathway, to paint a picture of what that could look like. The ideas and sequencing below can be applied flexibly, to fit your own musical life and Performance development. It can also be combined with gradually tackling more challenging repertoire. For example, you might already feel comfortable playing a scale in front of a family member—but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to put on a whole show for them!
Keep in mind that taking the next step will almost always feel slightly uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and intimidating. The key word there is “slightly”! Pushing the boundaries of our comfort zone is exactly the purpose here (remember Growth Mindset)—but make sure you choose a comfortable amount of discomfort :)
“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
David Bowie
Phase 1: Solo practice room performances
The first phase involves blurring that traditional line between “practice room” and “performance”, without yet inviting an audience.
Step 1: Turn play-throughs into performances
As noted above, our typical practice activities involve taking pieces apart, and working on particular sections or details. We might “put it together again”—or we might not! And even if we do, are we really playing through with the intention of it being “a performance”?
When we only practice a piece bit-by-bit, it can produce a mental representation of the piece which is incomplete or even inaccurate, resulting in friction and mistakes when we try to perform it in full.
To quote the King of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, a “play-through” means:
“Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
So no freezing up if something goes awry. No circling back to try a section again. No wandering off mid-piece to practice that tricky measure which just tripped you up. A “play-through” means you play it all the way through.
If you aren’t already including true play-throughs in your practice, this alone can go a long way! But unless we treat the play-through as “a performance”, we aren’t giving ourselves the opportunity to develop any performance skills beyond just “getting the notes right”.
That’s why if we’re aiming to improve our performance skills as well as our playing technique, we must also allocate time to playing the piece from start to finish, as if it’s a real performance for an audience.
Step 2: Self-recording
Most of us carry around with us every day devices which have the ability to record portions of our practice sessions with reasonable quality. Self-recording gives you the opportunity to listen to your work with more accuracy, and obtain better insights to adjust and focus your practice.
Recording your practice performances provides a powerful way to “be your own audience”, hear the piece as listeners would hear it, and gently give yourself feedback to continually improve your performance.
| TIP: Record multiple takes in a row, and start by evaluating the strengths of each. It is important to listen back to the recordings in different moments and environments. While some practice apps automatically play the recording back to you immediately after, it is also advisable to listen to the recording outside of the practice room and away from your instrument. This makes it easier to listen objectively, and your ear is more likely to identify both the strengths and the areas for improvement. |
Step 3: Practice performing
You do not need an auditorium or stage to practice performing in different contexts. Look for other spaces around the house, or rearrange your practice space to recreate a new context which is a more performance-like situation. Your initial audience can be your recording device—or perhaps your pet! Do your regular warmup routine, and then perform your musical piece from start to finish.
Some musicians find it useful to face a mirror when doing this. Others perform looking at a picture of someone they respect, like their teacher. Pictures of crowds or artists that you would like to collaborate with can also work.
However you choose to do it, the goal here is to make your private solo performance feel another step more like a “real” performance.
Phase 2: Sharing recordings
If the goal of performing is to share music with other people, then sharing recordings can be a great way to ease into that, including the opportunity to receive constructive feedback.
Step 1: Share with your musical community
In the initial stages it is important to share your recordings only within a supportive and friendly environment, and ideally with others who can relate to the vulnerability of sharing your music.
If you’re a member of Musical U, then our community is an excellent place to share your music with like-minded individuals who understand the challenges of putting our creative work out into the world, and will offer only positive support and constructive feedback. Otherwise, share with any musical friends you know and who you trust to listen with this same attitude.
Simply share your recording—and invite people to take a listen!
| TIP: It’s a good idea to let people know whether you are looking for feedback and critique, or simply want to share it with them. It’s fine to let them know you’re nervous about sharing it! If you do want feedback it can be helpful to request specific kinds of feedback. For example if there’s a certain section you’re unsure about, or you want to know how to improve a particular aspect of your expressive playing, let people know! You might be surprised what somebody else’s ears and experience can reveal about your performance. |
Step 2: Share with close friends and family
When you’re ready, share your performance recordings with other groups or communities you’re part of, such as close friends and family, or via social media or messaging systems. You might like to sign up to an online audio- or video-sharing platform where you can easily create a profile page and add your tracks. There are also platforms which enable easy collaboration which can be a great help when you’re ready for that step.
Start by creating private links to share with friends, family and other people that may be excited to learn more about your music. Do not be surprised if these recordings encourage you to move on to public sharing!
| TIP: When sharing with friends and family it’s highly advisable to let them know this makes you nervous, or that you’re sharing for the first time! Otherwise they may not realise how scary it can be for you, and how much courage it’s taking for you to share. This will help them to understand how to communicate their feedback and show their support. |
Phase 3: Live informal performance for friends and family
One considerable benefit of sharing via recordings is that you have the chance to listen back and evaluate which tracks you are comfortable sharing. If your Big Picture Vision includes playing live though, you will want to take steps into giving live performances when you feel ready.
Step 1: Invite a guest
If you are confident performing a piece in private in your practice room, one easy step forwards is to simply invite somebody into that same environment with you. A pet, a child, a spouse or other family member, a friend, a fellow musician. Start with someone you feel confident will understand and have empathy if your performance doesn’t go to plan, and then gradually raise the stakes with who you invite in.
Step 2: Play somewhere else
It is never too early to start moving your performances out of your regular practice environment. Arrange to play somewhere other than the practice room and invite friends or family members to share a musical moment with you. Again, you can be intentional about who you invite, to gradually raise the (perceived) stakes for you.
Step 3: Attend or organise events
Your regular life probably includes a variety of events where giving a short performance would feel natural and be appreciated. It doesn’t have to feel like a formal performance. Play your instrument for house guests, maybe invite friends to sing along as you play. Holiday events, barbecues at the neighbours’ house or campfires are usually good moments to share the joy of music-making with other people. Keep in mind that you can organise something with the intention of sharing your music, without that being the official purpose, or anybody even knowing that’s your motivation!
Events for a cause, such as fundraisers, usually create friendly environments that are ideal for this phase of your musical growth. By making your performance about something bigger than yourself you can also fuel your motivation and take some pressure off your shoulders. After all, the audience isn’t there to critique you, they’re there to support the cause.
Step 4: Livestream your music online
Performing during a videocall, even if there is no one on the other side, can help you become more familiar with being in a performance situation. After a few tries alone, you can start inviting close friends. Gradually you can extend the invitation to multiple people in your circle, and eventually you can post the invitation on social media for the general public.
| Stewart Says… Don’t forget about recording yourself—even once you get to playing shows for audiences! When my wife Jacci is able to attend my shows, she’ll record parts of songs for me, especially solo sections, as I wanted to hear what I was doing—to make sure what I was playing worked, and sounded right, even though it may not be a note-for-note solo cover. I also liked to watch the video to see how I looked: if I looked like I was having fun, or if I looked in pain! I also found that over time it helped me get rid of bad habits, such as staring at the floor while playing. |
Phase 4: Open mics and jam sessions
Throwing in a musical performance as part of a regular event takes the pressure off you, since the audience are there for other reasons. To raise the stakes you can move on to events where the official purpose is musical performance.
Step 1: Where do local musicians hang out?
Look for local venues that offer performance opportunities for musicians. Find open mic sessions and jams in your area. You can attend without playing to begin with, to get familiar with the session and environment.
While it’s true that some of these events can feel like competitive scenarios, most open mics and jams are welcoming spaces for anyone who loves sharing live music with others.
If it feels intimidating at first, spend some time visualising yourself at the open mic. Signing up to perform on a future date can create a positive sense of commitment and accountability to help you take the next step. You can also look for online open mics and showcase events.
Step 2: Busking
If you’ve ever looked at a busker and heard an inner voice saying “I would like to do that someday”, maybe now is the right time to give it a try! Busking is not only an excellent opportunity to try your music-making abilities in a new context, it’s also a great way to socialise with other musicians and learn new tips from their experiences.
Phase 5: Multi-song set
Performing a series of pieces or songs can introduce its own challenges compared with playing just one—and so intentionally practicing this is another important step forwards.
Step 1: Design a setlist, practice performing it
Make a list of the songs or pieces you are planning to perform. Try different options to structure the order of your performance. Try to find contrasting pieces in your repertoire and put them together in some type of curve that builds up towards a climax. Compelling performances need to catch and keep the audience’s attention, so playing five tunes in the same key, tempo, and style may well have your audience losing concentration and checking their phones, even if each one is performed well!
You can gradually build up your setlist. Starting with even just two or three songs or pieces will be a big step forwards. Spend some time working on planning your set, and practice performing it from beginning to end. This is something you can even start doing as early as Phase 1!
Step 2: Share your set
Once you’re comfortable playing through your set in private, use the previous Phases to move towards performing your set for other people.
Phase 6: Find or create more formal performance opportunities
When you’re ready, look for or organise opportunities to give a more official “performance”. This needn’t necessarily be very polished, professional or formal. The point is simply for it to be a performance where an audience, ideally including people you don’t know, is attending specifically to hear you perform.
Here are a few ideas:
1. Ask friends, family, mentors and fellow musicians
Spread the word in your networks that you’re looking for chances to perform. Although they may not immediately know of an opportunity, the chances are that someone in your network of friends, family, teachers, musicians etc. will have a suggestion or two.
Be patient. You never know what opportunities will arise, once you’ve let people know you’re on the lookout! More than one of our Next Level members who were eager to start performing but felt like there just weren’t any local opportunities were surprised how many possibilities emerged, as soon as they started spreading the word that they would be available and interested.
2. Volunteer to perform for organisations
Charities, care facilities, nursing homes and hospitals are excellent alternative performance sites. Not only will you find an enthusiastic audience, you will likely find that it makes your performances even more meaningful for you.
3. Seek out other performance opportunities
Join mailing lists that regularly publicise local events and concert series. Visit those venues and make a list of the ones where you would love to perform. Leverage relationships from the open mics, livestreams, and any other circles that may help you establish contact with concert programmers or local bookers. Identify what type of events are more likely to catch their attention.
If your goal is to play big venues and stages, you can stair-step your way there, building up your experience gradually and gaining assets like your performance recordings or online artist profile which help you land bigger and bigger opportunities. There are a wealth of experts and resources available out there to help you with this more career-oriented aspect of performing, but the phases and steps above will help make sure you’re ready and able for each step along the way.
Plan Your Pathway
Whatever your current experience with performing might be, hopefully reading through the suggestions above sparked a few new ideas for how you could take steps towards your dream performances. Take a few minutes now to jot down any thoughts you have about what your own Performance Pathway could look like. This can serve as a valuable map for you, and be a living plan which evolves as you move forwards. There may be times when it’s helpful to set target dates to aim for, but the most important thing is to keep gradually expanding your comfort zone and gaining performance experience.
Keep in mind that (as a wise hobbit once put it) “The road goes ever on and on.” Practicing performing is something which continues even once you’re out there “doing real performances”. In fact, coming back to Andrew’s quote which opened this section (“One gig is worth 20 rehearsals.”), your performance abilities will start to grow exponentially as you continue along the journey.