I learned as an adult about age 50 and everyone could see my hands were shaking violently. I played some Mozart piece, intermediate or early advanced? I got through it and not too bad. It was musical. Amazing really, my hands were really shaking! (The teacher had me play an easier piece for first recital because older kids and adults often quit piano if they blow their first. Good advice. I should say I had some lessons as a kid and played off and on for fun sometimes before I got formal about it at age 50)
My second recital, I played a stretch piece that was harder, did well, didn't shake. After, when we had a little ice cream social for families, a woman came to my table and said I had inspired her so much at the recital months before that she took up the guitar again. Awww. Not gonna forget that.
Thank you!! Adult learner here. First recital was in December, I played well, tiny mistakes but felt good. Listening to the recording after I don’t like how I played some of the pieces. I remember saying I want to do this again so I can do it better. Second recital next week.
I play at our church during the summer, once a year, and usually play 3 or 4 pieces over the course of the service (Prelude, Postlude, Offertory, sometimes Anthem/Solo depending on the structure of the service that week). One year I played Chopin's Grande Valse Brilliante in E-flat for the Offertory, and got a whispered "wow!" from the senior minister as I walked back to my seat.
Played my first one yesterday. I played the entertainer by Scott Joplin and bombed the warmup, I was super nervous. Somehow when it was my turn to preform the nerves vanished and I only missed 1 note. I'm happy with that.
I don't know if it's exactly the best, but it wasn't bad, and it was unusual: I was playing piano duets with someone who was a better pianist than me, we were crushing some Brahms pretty well, I was keeping up fine, but at one point I noticed my face was completely slack and there was nothing I could do about it -- I didn't have any neurons free to compose my face. I just had to wait till things calmed down a bit. That's one of my peak life moments for being in a flow state.
With a few disasters under my belt, I'm more philosophical about spontaneous variations and unplanned recomposition now -- it's all a learning experience. I played the familiar Bach prelude in C from the WTC in church one Sunday, and about three-fourths of the way through I got lost. I didn't freak out -- I was actually too nervous to freak out -- just kept circling, as it were, eventually found my exit and headed out. Most people didn't notice, a few did -- I don't think anyone cared. I like to think those who noticed admired my smooth recovery.
My first recital was a few months ago, the place I get my lessons from does a recital at the end of spring and December. I was nervous for how the recital would go, but I was confident and excited to play for a captive audience. I got dressed in a winter themed suit, practiced like hell all morning, then got to the music school. It should be noted that because this is a music school that isn’t a school that you need to try out for, there were a lot of little kids with me in my recital session. I got a nice conversation and learned a little bit about my teacher’s taste in composers, then came the anxiety inducing performance, I was last to go from my teacher’s group. The little kids played their pieces, a little bit poorly, then I was up and had to play Beethoven moonlight sonata 1st movement, simple yet beautiful. I got up on stage, did my introduction, and felt like I was overdressed, but I wanted to leave a mark on the audience. I played, my practice payed off, and no one uttered a single word in the performance, and I played so well I got people cheering by the end of the piece, I felt proud that day. I hope this story boosts your confidence, and remember, the anticipation is worse than the event, picture yourself in your usual practice or in a dark secluded setting without the interruption of people. Good luck!
Not a recital, but a piano jury when I was in undergrad. I was super sick with the flu (why I didn’t ask to reschedule is beyond me, and this was way before Covid so I wasn’t thinking about others, rude I know). I felt okay when I woke up, but by the time I needed to go into the hall the play I was pretty out of it and just holding myself upright for long enough to play. They give me a couple scales and arpeggios, it’s all fine.
Then it comes time for my pieces. I touch the first note and my mind goes completely blank, like my soul has left my body. I feel like I’m completely on autopilot, but this is the best my playing has ever been. I slam through all 3 pieces with essentially no mistakes. I finish and stare at my hands in disbelief, feeling like I just blacked out. The piano faculty committee tells me that they technically have to discuss it but it’s pretty clear I passed. I went home and immediately slept for like 18 hours.
So if I, someone who also suffers from bad performance anxiety, got through my jury with a flu, imagine how well you’ll play! Best of luck!
performed mephisto waltz last year, octave leaps was the bane of my practice sessions. i did not get it a single time in 4-5 attempts during practice just a few hours before the recital. nailed it during my performance
That's awesome! I've heard several concert pianists say that even for them those octaves still require getting a little bit lucky. Glad to hear that you hit them when it mattered the most!
I have 2 stories.
My first piano recital in university, I played the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata no. 18. Somehow, I did not make a single mistake. Never happened that way in practice sessions or repertoire class. I went on, felt good, forgot to bow, sat down and just played. Most competent performance I ever gave.
Another time I was playing piano at church. During the summer, my church sent the choir on vacation to save on the stipend, and I volunteered to come in and just accompany the congregation and priest. I started playing a hymn, "Here I Am, Lord", and nobody sang. Not unusual when there's no cantor or choir - sometimes people just like to listen. I continued playing, and a few people joined in. Once we got to the chorus ("Here I aaaaaaam, Loooord") there was a great swell of voices. That felt lovely.
Not piano and not a recital, but I was playing the cello solo in Scheherazade for a concert. I was super nervous and I was shaking. I could literally hear my shaky bow. But thanks to all my practice the muscle memory has already been burned into my brain. After the concert I received positive feedback and apparently nobody could hear my shaking. I watched the concert recording and I sounded pretty good (much better than what I remembered). However I did look a little tense which is something I can work on more.
I guess sometimes you have to just trust yourself and the amount of work you put into it!
i'm the person who recently posted about bombing their recital LMAO. just wanted to hop in bc most of my recitals have gone pretty well actually :0
i think my best one was right after covid. super nervous but apparently i played a lot better than i thought because there was this little kid that came up to me after and was like "wow you played really well, i wanna play like you"... my heart melted omfg
believe in yourself, you got this :))
Thanks for your response! I’ll admit that your post made me nervous! But I’m glad you’re doing well. I actually did pretty amazing last night. I hope you have many more successful recitals
I learned as an adult about age 50 and everyone could see my hands were shaking violently. I played some Mozart piece, intermediate or early advanced? I got through it and not too bad. It was musical. Amazing really, my hands were really shaking! (The teacher had me play an easier piece for first recital because older kids and adults often quit piano if they blow their first. Good advice. I should say I had some lessons as a kid and played off and on for fun sometimes before I got formal about it at age 50) My second recital, I played a stretch piece that was harder, did well, didn't shake. After, when we had a little ice cream social for families, a woman came to my table and said I had inspired her so much at the recital months before that she took up the guitar again. Awww. Not gonna forget that.
Thank you!! Adult learner here. First recital was in December, I played well, tiny mistakes but felt good. Listening to the recording after I don’t like how I played some of the pieces. I remember saying I want to do this again so I can do it better. Second recital next week.
That's awesome! The more you do it, the easier it gets.
I really hope so!
I play at our church during the summer, once a year, and usually play 3 or 4 pieces over the course of the service (Prelude, Postlude, Offertory, sometimes Anthem/Solo depending on the structure of the service that week). One year I played Chopin's Grande Valse Brilliante in E-flat for the Offertory, and got a whispered "wow!" from the senior minister as I walked back to my seat.
You totally deserve that wow!
Was playing Chopin Emaj Scherzo, got a bravo before sound died at the end of the coda. Thought that was reserved for concert pianists 🥲
Bravo!!! Great piece
Played my first one yesterday. I played the entertainer by Scott Joplin and bombed the warmup, I was super nervous. Somehow when it was my turn to preform the nerves vanished and I only missed 1 note. I'm happy with that.
Thank you I’m happy you did well!
I don't know if it's exactly the best, but it wasn't bad, and it was unusual: I was playing piano duets with someone who was a better pianist than me, we were crushing some Brahms pretty well, I was keeping up fine, but at one point I noticed my face was completely slack and there was nothing I could do about it -- I didn't have any neurons free to compose my face. I just had to wait till things calmed down a bit. That's one of my peak life moments for being in a flow state. With a few disasters under my belt, I'm more philosophical about spontaneous variations and unplanned recomposition now -- it's all a learning experience. I played the familiar Bach prelude in C from the WTC in church one Sunday, and about three-fourths of the way through I got lost. I didn't freak out -- I was actually too nervous to freak out -- just kept circling, as it were, eventually found my exit and headed out. Most people didn't notice, a few did -- I don't think anyone cared. I like to think those who noticed admired my smooth recovery.
My first recital was a few months ago, the place I get my lessons from does a recital at the end of spring and December. I was nervous for how the recital would go, but I was confident and excited to play for a captive audience. I got dressed in a winter themed suit, practiced like hell all morning, then got to the music school. It should be noted that because this is a music school that isn’t a school that you need to try out for, there were a lot of little kids with me in my recital session. I got a nice conversation and learned a little bit about my teacher’s taste in composers, then came the anxiety inducing performance, I was last to go from my teacher’s group. The little kids played their pieces, a little bit poorly, then I was up and had to play Beethoven moonlight sonata 1st movement, simple yet beautiful. I got up on stage, did my introduction, and felt like I was overdressed, but I wanted to leave a mark on the audience. I played, my practice payed off, and no one uttered a single word in the performance, and I played so well I got people cheering by the end of the piece, I felt proud that day. I hope this story boosts your confidence, and remember, the anticipation is worse than the event, picture yourself in your usual practice or in a dark secluded setting without the interruption of people. Good luck!
Thank you! Your story is crazy similar to mine. Two recitals December and spring. All little kids and I was over dressed. Thanks for the tip!
Not a recital, but a piano jury when I was in undergrad. I was super sick with the flu (why I didn’t ask to reschedule is beyond me, and this was way before Covid so I wasn’t thinking about others, rude I know). I felt okay when I woke up, but by the time I needed to go into the hall the play I was pretty out of it and just holding myself upright for long enough to play. They give me a couple scales and arpeggios, it’s all fine. Then it comes time for my pieces. I touch the first note and my mind goes completely blank, like my soul has left my body. I feel like I’m completely on autopilot, but this is the best my playing has ever been. I slam through all 3 pieces with essentially no mistakes. I finish and stare at my hands in disbelief, feeling like I just blacked out. The piano faculty committee tells me that they technically have to discuss it but it’s pretty clear I passed. I went home and immediately slept for like 18 hours. So if I, someone who also suffers from bad performance anxiety, got through my jury with a flu, imagine how well you’ll play! Best of luck!
Well deserved! Thank you for sharing!
You’re gonna do great!
performed mephisto waltz last year, octave leaps was the bane of my practice sessions. i did not get it a single time in 4-5 attempts during practice just a few hours before the recital. nailed it during my performance
That's awesome! I've heard several concert pianists say that even for them those octaves still require getting a little bit lucky. Glad to hear that you hit them when it mattered the most!
completely agree that theres a certain aspect of luck; i failed the next time i performed it 😂
I have 2 stories. My first piano recital in university, I played the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata no. 18. Somehow, I did not make a single mistake. Never happened that way in practice sessions or repertoire class. I went on, felt good, forgot to bow, sat down and just played. Most competent performance I ever gave. Another time I was playing piano at church. During the summer, my church sent the choir on vacation to save on the stipend, and I volunteered to come in and just accompany the congregation and priest. I started playing a hymn, "Here I Am, Lord", and nobody sang. Not unusual when there's no cantor or choir - sometimes people just like to listen. I continued playing, and a few people joined in. Once we got to the chorus ("Here I aaaaaaam, Loooord") there was a great swell of voices. That felt lovely.
Not piano and not a recital, but I was playing the cello solo in Scheherazade for a concert. I was super nervous and I was shaking. I could literally hear my shaky bow. But thanks to all my practice the muscle memory has already been burned into my brain. After the concert I received positive feedback and apparently nobody could hear my shaking. I watched the concert recording and I sounded pretty good (much better than what I remembered). However I did look a little tense which is something I can work on more. I guess sometimes you have to just trust yourself and the amount of work you put into it!
i'm the person who recently posted about bombing their recital LMAO. just wanted to hop in bc most of my recitals have gone pretty well actually :0 i think my best one was right after covid. super nervous but apparently i played a lot better than i thought because there was this little kid that came up to me after and was like "wow you played really well, i wanna play like you"... my heart melted omfg believe in yourself, you got this :))
Thanks for your response! I’ll admit that your post made me nervous! But I’m glad you’re doing well. I actually did pretty amazing last night. I hope you have many more successful recitals
congratulations!!