Techniques of Trust
Let
It Happen
Stop Trying to Be
a Good Musician
Permission
to Fail
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Articles
from Flute Talk Magazine
Permission
To Fail I
have been successful in small competitions, seating auditions
for school ensembles, and even regional state auditions.
However, when I audition for All-State or large summer
music festivals I do not play my best. Auditioning for
a prestigious music school will be impossible. How can
I block out this pressure and succeed?
It sounds like you play well for low-risk auditions,
but when you feel pressure to succeed you don't play
as well.
Succeeding in auditions has absolutely nothing to do with
performing the music correctly. Perhaps the thought of
being successful is preventing you from performing
your best. One
way to deal with this problem is to neutralize your need
to succeed. Do this by giving yourself permission to fail.
Do not focus on the result of your performance, rather,
concentrate on playing the music. This is the purpose
of performing in
the first place, so it is a worthy effort.
The need to succeed or win in competition is so commonly
dramatized in sports. When the game is on the line, players
who feel pressure to be heroes, make the shot, score the
touchdown, hit the home run, or make the goal often fail.
Yet a world-class athlete who is successful under the pressure
of competition has uncanny mental concentration.
Living in Cincinnati, a town some times unfairly associated
with the success Of its sports teams, most notably the
Reds and Bengals, I become caught up in the euphoria
of our teams
) triumphs, and like other fans, I get too attached to
winning. This year, however, is a down year for both
professional teams the only bright spot on the Cincinnati
Bengals is
field
goal kicker Jim Breech, who has never lost a game on
the last play because he missed a kick. Recently
in a game
the Bengals ultimately lost in overtime, Breech had to
kick a
38- yard field goal to tie the game. The kick was good,
but because there was a penalty on the play, Breech had
to re-kick
the ball 48 yards so his successful kick tied the game
and sent it into overtime. To consistently perform well
under
such pressure, Breech says he never lets the pressure
of the game bother him. "It helped to get to the point
of thinking only about the kick. I try to spend the time
keeping focused. Probably the most important thing for a
kicker is to concentrate on those clich?s we talk about;
head down, follow through, technical things. Key words for
me that day were slow and finish. You can't get involved
in everything being on the line." It is so simple yet
so difficult when you are under pressure to succeed.
Focus the same way in music on the basics of fundamental
technique. breath support, tone, accurate rhythm, dynamics,
and interpretation. Focusing on the task of playing
the music as it should sound is demanding. Don't
add the
pressure of
winning to making music.
While concentrating on making music without pressure
of winning, consider strengthening your commitment
to the
music. One
of the three primary skills of the inner game is
the skill of will, but will or commitment by itself
is
meaningless. Compare it to unused glue in a tubes.
it doesn't do much
good unless it is used to attach something. Will
is like a strong glue that cements the player inseparably
to
the
music.
If the player becomes separated from playing music
because he has a weak will, the glue doesn't hold.
Once convinced
where his attention belongs under maximum pressure,
he can strengthen his will by being dedicated to
the role
of how
the music should sound, and how to play it on the
flute. Believe the best professionals in sports
and music.
If you become distracted in your playing by thinking
about
winning,
it will take away from performance. Know your stuff,
and glue yourself to the music. Then relax and
enjoy just doing
it.
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