Author: William
Date: 2001-11-19 15:24
In addition to the above suggestions, I always try to "take charge" of the stage and audience before beginning by doing such things as adjusting the heigth or position of my music stand, re-arranging the music on the stand (even if it soesn't need to be rearranged), tune (one more time) to the piano even if just to listen to the accoustical presense of the room or concert hall, re-wet and readjust my reed, etc & etc--any little activity to ease the tension and calm my nerves. Then, after everything is "ready," I always pick one person in the audience to concentrate my performance efforts on. This has the effect, at least for me, of taking everyone else out of the "picture" thus reducing any anxiety related to playing in front of the much larger group. I also do this on jazz gigs during solos by staring at the microphone while playing to help ignor all of the extraneous distractions that may be happening in the "audience"--talking, people moving, bottles and glasses clinking, etc.
Also, to help your level of confidence, to is acceptable to bring onto stage extra reeds, your swab with some cigarette paper, some water to ease "dry mouth syndrome," and even a towel to dry any sweat that may occure. I have a little black travel accessory pouch, that I always take on stage, which contains my reed case, two spare mpcs, my swab and a set of tools with some electricians tape and a small butane lighter to reset any pad that might fall out mid-performance. During my first trip to State Solo and Esdemble Festival in high school, one of my lower joint pads fell onto the floor during the second page of Webers Concertino (Himie Voxman was the judge) and no one (my accompaniest, parents, audience members, room chairman or the judge) had a match to re set the pad. Not even chewing gum was to be had!!! Dr. Voxman finally suggested that I wet the back of the pad and insert it and "see what happens." A few lines later, out it fell. To make a long and boring story shorter, this happened many times to the end of the piece--fall out, pick up and start again, etc--but in the end, Dr Voxman rated my performance as a superior. But, as a result, I have always made certain to have a match or some kind of adhesive available, just for piece of mind.
But nothing helps ease ones fear of performing in front of a large audience (or any group) like having the confidence that you are fully prepared to play--that involves intelligent selection of recital materials and thorough research and practice. And remember, everyone makes mistakes--that is why recordings and films need so many expensive re-takes. I heard John Bruce-Yeh, the brilliant CSO assistant principal clarinetist, play the Stravinski Three Pieces for a morning clinic session at a recent Mid-West Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. Playing the work from memory--after addressing the large audience for a half an hour and with no personal warm up (he just took his clarinets out of his case, cold, put the reed on and started playing)--he squeeked three times during the second movt. He went on, however, to play the third movt. with such absolute perfection and brilliance that he recieved a well deserved standing ovation from me and everyone else in the audience. Later, appearing as guest soloist with another featured clinic band, he performed the Gould Derivations (also from memory) with absolute technical and musical perfection. Bottom line: Don't worry about mistakes, they are going to happen. Just be persistant and "play through" them--many listners in the audience may not even notice if they are just "little" ones. Make the total performance your goal, not every little technical hurdle along the way.
Now, stand tall, take a deep breath (maybe two), try to relax, concentrate on what you are about to play and Good Clarineting!!!!!! Have a good one and enjoy.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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