CONSCIOUSNESS

The project of elite practicing is raised consciousness without raised self-consciousness. You must consider your playing as it really is so that you can fix the things that do not match your imagination. Doing this, hearing the reality in real-time and managing your playing so that it is exactly what you intend, can be grueling in the practice room as you develop your diagnostic skills and your toolbox of solutions. While you are curating your technical-musical skills, creating solutions to every possible problem you encounter in your playing (physical, technical, musical, imaginative), you are practicing being a professional player. Once you are available to respond immediately, you are playing like a professional.

A professional musician must be available to focus immediately and in any circumstance with any music, and manage the product in real-time. Practically, this means that you are able to fix anything that goes wrong while you are playing, ignore distractions, respond to collegial artistry or mistakes (yes, they happen!), and rise above it all to produce something supple, flexible, colorful, interesting, coherent, and make it sound easy. Self-consciousness lands me in the realm of fear, which is not very useful. It seems obvious, but if there is something you find challenging in playing you must engage it until you are the master. Do not ignore your problems. Name them, patiently work for their solutions, catalog your options (it is surprisingly easy to forget!), and add them to your on-demand skill-set. Ignoring things that are hard for you will not make them go away and you will be justifiedly afraid of the unknown! Remove fear and replace it with a plan!

Raising your consciousness in the practice room is hard. When I was a young student my teacher had a little plaque in her studio that said, “Everyone’s a Heifetz at home.” It is very easy to practice semi-consciously and be taken by surprise during a performance. I am convinced that when someone gets a job it is their MIND that is being hired, not their skill or musicianship.

When people are aware that they are being judged, even positively, for outcomes, they fare worse. You may have noticed a hyperawareness of your surroundings during an audition or performance. This is normal. The question becomes, how can we raise our awareness outside the high-stakes moments, and learn to focus inward during them.

TOOLS FOR RAISING CONSCIOUSNESS:

• Eyes

• Mirror

• Sound recording

• Video recording

• Playing for someone

• Playing a concert, audition, recital, lesson, etc.

But really what raises your consciousness is your mind. Choose to raise your consciousness and it is raised. USE THOSE TOOLS as tools. Don’t be taken by surprise by raised consciousness—expect it and manage it. Practice raising it and then practice re-directing it into solutions.

Don Greene gave a masterclass while I was at New World Symphony. While I only have vague recollections of the details, I remember clearly that he suggested having some kind of focusing ritual so you could feel prepared to perform under pressure. I believe this must happen in the practice room, and that it is not a ritual to feel comfortable, but a ritual to redirect your focus from the fight/flight response to something you are familiar with. Mindfulness—acknowledging the pressure you notice, possibly naming it, and then letting it exist while you implement your positive plan—is the key to creating this focusing ritual. Mindfulness creates familiarity and familiarity is comforting.

You do not need to be comfortable to perform, but you do need to have a plan! Develop one, practice it in your practicing, remember to use it when you perform. Maybe you will enjoy your performance even more than you would have by being fully immersed in the moment, allowing for imperfections because you have a plan for how to respond, whatever happens.

Remember: You do not need to be perfect. You need to be available.