18 performance prep tips for pianists

OK, so you’ve committed to a performance goal. You know your music well, but having never played it for anyone other than yourself, your household pet, or perhaps your instructor, how do you prepare to perform for new listeners? Every pianist will tell you that playing for others changes the music. This is because of two things: our concentration is split between what we’re doing and the presence of another person, and our sense of how our listener is receiving the music. Sharing the piece with another, while deeply meaningful, can be unsettling because no matter how well we know the notes, we must play them through nerves and distractions.

There’s an aphorism that says, “amateurs practice until they get it right; professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.” When preparing for a public performance, it’s best to prepare like a professional. Most performing musicians will tell you that there are precious few gigs that go exactly as planned. Stuff happens, but we can create ways to save ourselves from some of this stuff through thorough preparation and realistic expectations. Here are some tips that have been helpful for me.

Before the performance:

Practice in sections

It’s always good practice technique to learn a piece in sections, and when preparing for a performances we can use each section as a possible starting place if we mess up. I once had a teacher who had me practice starting from multiple places in the score and it is a technique so effective that I still use it today, especially if I play from memory.

Work on concentration

Many of the bad things that happen when we perform can be linked to poor concentration. If you (like I), suffer from being easily distracted, visit my post, how to improve your concentration at the piano.

Record yourself

There’s little that’s more effective when preparing for a performance than recording yourself. When we know we’ll hear all our mistakes, we find the weak links in music we thought we knew well. There’s no need to use expensive equipment as most cell phones come with a recording option or downloadable app.

Create distractions

I’ve yet to give a performance where the audience sat perfectly still and quiet. People shift around, cough, whisper, and (in one memorable performance), sing along. This is why I create distractions for myself at home. I’ve been known to turn on the radio and play through the noise. I’ve asked family members to deliberately try to distract me. My cat, who may be a feline music critic, sometimes offers spontaneous feline opera when I practice. All of these things are good training and help hone my focus.

Play on unfamiliar pianos

Every piano is unique, and what works on one might not work on another. Pianists are always making changes to each piece when we perform on new pianos. The touch is different, the action may be faster or slower, the room may need more or less pedal. Working on as many unfamiliar pianos as possible better prepares us for whatever we may encounter when we perform on a piano that’s not our own.

Play for other people

Want to know how it will feel when you’ve got an audience? Grab a trusted friend or family member and give them a trial run of your performance pieces. It’s the best way to manage your nerves and find places you need to solidify in the score.

Practice in your performance clothes

I once had a student who spent an entire performance trying to pull up a strap that kept falling down her arm. I’ve been sabotaged by shoes that felt alien and unstable on the pedals. This is why I always give potential performance outfits a trial run before I wear them on stage.

Play the performance piano, if possible

In a perfect world every pianist would be able to spend an hour or two getting to know a new piano before we perform on it. This is not always possible, but if you’re given the opportunity to spend time with a piano before you’re on stage, take it. No one likes to be surprised by an instrument in front of an audience.

The day of the performance:

Be rested

This is common sense advice that I (and many other musicians) ignore at our peril. The best performances tend to occur when we’ve had plenty of sleep the night before and we haven’t worn ourselves out with activities on the day of the gig. Clear your calendar as much as possible and you’ll thank yourself when you sit down to play.

Seek quiet

There’s little more irritating than having to listen to other people talk before you walk on stage. Our focus requires us to be inward-looking. Turn off the phone, tell friends/family that you’ll talk to them after your performance, and find a quiet place to sit where you won’t be disturbed.

Feed yourself correctly, and stay hydrated

Food (or lack of it) can sabotage a performance. If your blood sugar is too low, or if you’ve eaten too much, concentration suffers. Dehydration also proves fatal to concentration. Each person knows what sort of food allows them to be clear-minded and energetic. For me, a light meal (usually something like half of a turkey sandwich) a couple of hours before I play works well for me. Oh, and right before I walk on stage I eat a square or two of really fantastic dark chocolate.

Breathe deeply

When we get nervous, our breathing can become shallow, we don’t get enough oxygen, and as a result can become light-headed and shaky. This is the time to be very conscious about our breathing. I’m a big fan of simple breath exercises such those featured here.

During the performance

Trust yourself and your work

Second guessing yourself throws you right out of the music and destroys concentration. Remember that you know the notes. It helps to think of yourself as a musical tour guide rather than trying to present yourself as a perfect pianist. You know the terrain better than most of your listeners, and it’s up to you to show them all the things you love best about the music.

Accept mistakes

Mistakes will happen. If you go into your performance knowing and accepting this, it won’t sabotage you when you slip on a note or two.

Keep going

As I mentioned above, most of your listeners don’t know the music you’re playing. And because they don’t know it, they won’t hear most of your mistakes if you do this one essential thing: keep going. Whatever you do, don’t stop. Keep the pulse and the notes moving forward and most people will think that’s how the pieces is supposed to sound.

Graciously accept applause (no matter how you think you played)

When performing live, applause is the audience’s way of thanking you for sharing your music with them. When you accept the applause with a nod or a bow, you are thanking them for the compliment of their applause. No matter how poorly you think you played, smile, accept the applause, and keep the negative talk to yourself. It’s the gracious thing to do.

After the performance

Congratulate yourself

Made a few mistakes? Well, it happens. Didn’t play any notes correctly (unlikely, but hey, why not present the worst-case scenario)? Congratulate yourself for having tried. You did what few others would have the ability or nerve to do. This is commendable, no matter how you feel about the performance.

Analyze the performance

After you’ve had a chance to think about the performance for a few days, it’s time to analyze the experience. What went well? What didn’t? And, most importantly, why did something go well or not so well? Finally, what did you learn from the experience? By bravely facing the good and not-so-good parts of our performances, we can grow from the experience, even if we made a few mistakes.

The amazing thing about playing for others is that it (like most things) gets easier with experience. Every time we practice the skill of performing publicly, we become stronger, more resilient, and more capable of sharing the music we love with other people.

Break a leg!

Looking for ideas on where to perform? Check out “6 (non-recital) performance ideas for adult pianists.”