VICTORIA SCHOOL CONCERT BAND - MUSICAL WORLD XXI

2006-09-24T14:05:00.000+08:00

Concert details will be up soon.

Musical World XXI
1st December 2006
Singapore Conference Hall
$15
7:30pm
Free Seating
More Details go to http://www.freewebs.com/vscb/mwxxi.html

Hey visitors, My ex-band is going to stage their 21st concert series of musical world concerts on the 1st december. Plz do come and support us. This year personally i am expecting the concert to be a great success. The band boys are certainly striving very hard to present great music on the night itself. The alumnis will be coming together to give thier support too. For others who have yet to feel the reknown phenomenon called the victorian spirit, this is your great chance to experience it. With VS being a GWH band and a 0.3 mark off the gold award at the NBC, I'm sure you will be in for a treat at this concert. I hope to see you guys there. BYE!

Plz order your tickets fast, its selling out soon!!! (old marketing trick, hehe)

Kejian

Done! With competition coming up, tackle Performance Anxiety & Stage Fright!

2006-06-27T13:28:00.000+08:00

Last time i used to be able to play freely at my own pace, without fear of others opinions and critisizm of what i play and how i sound. Well its rather different now. When i start taking up more solos, and start practicing solo pieces, people are bound to stop and listen for a while. That a while of them listening already gives me this uneasy and frightened feeling for no apparent reason. Conquer it? Well its easier said than done. Anyway good luck in conquering it! - Kejian

2.1.29 Performance Anxiety/Stage Fright.
(From Lynn Hutchins) http://www.larrykrantz.com/faqflute.htm#2129

I performed in public constantly as a child, and enjoyed the experience thoroughly. When my daughter was born, she was so ill, I didn't have time to prepare for those sorts of things anymore, and went through a seven year period of not performing at all. When I finally sat down to play piano (I didn't play flutes back then) in front of a strange group of people (only about 30), I totally lost control of my fingers. With, shaking, sweating, and blurred vision, I slaughtered those pieces, and felt like a total fool. The next time I was so embarrassed, just from remembering the previous occasion, that the it was even worse. I'm sure those people thought I was the WORST pianist they'd ever heard, and I was sure I'd never be able to perform in public again!

This is how I resolved the problem:

Step 1: When I practiced I would pretend there were people listening, and if that made me shaky (as it did often, at first) I would stop and do what I call meditational playing. For me, that's playing by ear, whatever comes into my head, as this has always had the effect of calming me down. For you it might mean stopping and playing your favorite piece of music (or try playing outside in the sun, or in the bathroom for a few minutes). Whatever you do, you must interrupt that shaking and replace it with flute playing that you really enjoy to help develop new associations. Then go back to pretending that you're in front of people, and start this step over again until the practice performance no longer induces shaking. Keep at it. It really helps. (Remember, when you perform for real, you don't go over mistakes, so you must do the same for this sort of practicing, trying to keep the rhythm no matter what mistakes you might make).

Step 2: Tape your performance in the safety of your practice room, so that a friend or spouse can listen to it later. This is really just one step away from public performance! The neat thing is, if you don't get it right the first time, you can just tape over it until it's perfect. If you get panicky, stop and practice the piece where you made errors, and try again. Then, when the tape is done, watch as the friend listens to the tape (they don't have to comment on it-the point is for you to watch them as your music plays).

Step 3: Try to find a friend who is willing to sit and listen to a private performance in the safety of your own practice area. If you get shaky, just remember, this is a friend who was willing to take time out to help you (and probably doesn't care WHAT it sounds like).

Step 4: Memorize the piece of music perfectly, but still take the written stuff with you to the performance. You can't be better prepared than that, and being thoroughly prepared will help alleviate much anxiety.

Step 5: Make sure your instrument is in good working order. A poorly working instrument has been known to cause me to panic in the middle of a performance... Just having your flute checked over by a reputable repair person, may help to alleviate some pre-performance anxiety.

Step 6: Avoid caffein several hours before a performance. For me, tea only makes the hand shaking thing worse, and sometimes makes me want to throw-up. Be aware that if you normally consume large quantities of coffee or tea, this can trigger a withdrawal headache. I started to drink too much tea recently, which is why I know this.

Step 7: I used to get a headache during performance(stress, not caffein withdrawal). Knowing this, and knowing a headache will distract me, I learned to take couple of ibuprophen an hour before performing. This fortunately, is no longer necessary.

Step 8: Go on stage, and pretend you're in your practice room making another tape. If you make a mistake, focus on the next note(pretend nothing happened). Remember, non-musicians will probably not notice a mistake if you keep the rhythm up, and don't make a stupid face. Also, musicians will sympathize with what you're going through, and be impressed by your poise. Perform in public as often as you can get the chance. The more you perform, the more comfortable you'll feel.

testing

2006-06-23T22:45:00.000+08:00

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VICTORIA SCHOOL CONCERT BAND - MUSICAL WORLD XXI

Done! With competition coming up, tackle Performance Anxiety & Stage Fright!

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