Anxiety and Musical Performance (book review)Posted on March 10, 2013

There’s a big difference between playing from memory and performing from memory. I’ve previously comparedplaying from memory with a high-wire act, but just how high is the tight-rope? The Cross-Eyed Pianist has anexcellent blog post on this topic. When playing from memory at home, whether for practice or pleasure, thetight-rope is essentially lying on the ground, and there’s no fear of falling off. But in front of an audience, therope may become “dauntingly vertiginous” and fear of falling can spiral out of control.

Much has been written on the complex art of musical performance, and it’s not something I specifically want tofocus on in this blog except in relation to memory. Dale Reubart‘s book “Anxiety and Musical Performance: OnPlaying Piano from Memory” (1985) has some interesting insights on this topic. He asserts that the mostessential ingredient for a successful memorised performance is the ability to concentrate, to maintain

focussed attention.

But concentrate on what? Reubart separates the many activities involved in playing piano into different layers,and suggests that performers should “concentrate only on those facets of performance which he considersessential while observing subconscious functions without conscious intervention”. Specifically technique, noteidentification and fingering should all be excluded from conscious focus, not least because there are simply toomany physical actions occurring in real-time to monitor consciously. ‘Haptic’, kinaesthetic, or motor memoryalone is not trustworthy and does not provide a “faithful mirror of musical reality.” In contrast, the performershould focus on ‘auditory’ memory – hearing the music in the inner ear, and listening to the actual soundsproduced. Conscious focus during performance should be directed towards musical values and

the musical Gestalt, including one’s location within the overall structure of a piece. Should an error suddenlyoccur, the conscious mind can quickly refocus on the detailed information required. Far from being ‘lost in themusic’ as many listeners perceive, the performer is acutely conscious of their musical goals, but only passivelyaware of detailed matters of execution.

Memorising Musica blog exploring how musiciansmemorise music

My more successful public performances have certainly occurred when I’ve managed to silence the little daemonon my shoulder who constantly tries to knock me off balance by asking distracting questions like ‘what’s thenext note?’ and ‘should I use the third or fourth finger now?’. Such questions are rarely consciously posedduring practice (though perhaps they should be…) and are certainly far too detailed to be addressed in real-timeduring a performance. Knowing the notes is a pre-requisite to performing from memory. But questioning note-recall is a surefire way to wobble and fall off the tight-rope! As Neubart quotes, “Imagine the result, not the

cause. Listen with all your concentration.” Afterall, we’re trying to make music, not an academiccompendium of notes. And music is ultimately an auditory phenomenon.

Share this:

Email Facebook Twitter 1 Reddit Print

You May Like

1.

About these ads

! " # $ %

Like

2 bloggers like this.

!

Related

Welcome... Mindfulness and music Chetham’s, school of flying fingersIn "Musings" In "Reviews" In "Musings"

About Caroline Wright

pianist, composer, scientistView all posts by Caroline Wright !

This entry was posted in Reviews and tagged memory, performance, pianist. Bookmark the permalink.

Memorising MusicThe Twenty Ten Theme. Blog at WordPress.com.

FollowFollow

Follow “MemorisingFollow “MemorisingMusic”Music”

Get every new post deliveredGet every new post delivered

to your Inbox.to your Inbox.

Join 196 other followersJoin 196 other followers

Enter your email address