by Katy Carnaggio
I know, I know…every musician on the planet enjoys performing the way they practiced.
“It’s exactly how I wanted it to go!” Right? And who doesn’t love getting what they want!
But you know what’s even better? Getting something beyond what you could imagine.
Let’s face it, we all know what it’s like to want something and work really hard for it, only to fall short. Yet, often, when you look back, you’ll find plenty of reasons to thank your lucky stars you didn’t get what you wanted. You shot for the moon, missed, but got a whole new galaxy instead!
And yes, there is power in developing NASA-levels of predictability…in the practice room. You want to be able to clearly envision every detail with commitment and confidence.
But in live performance, if you know everything will happen exactly the way you want, you take away unpredictability. If you take away unpredictability, you take away vulnerability. And without vulnerability, we lose the opportunity to create a deep and meaningful connection with our audience. All those incredible unplanned moments of transcendence? Gone.
So how do you surrender to unpredictability while having enough foundation to share what you planned? A simple pregame routine will do the trick. Let’s break it down:
First up, assess yourself to find your strengths. Review your successes, consult your practice journals, coach yourself, affirm your readiness. Remind yourself of the best parts of you!
Then, assess the situation. Ahead lies a task, an opponent, and a space where it all unfolds. A great pregame routine prepares you to navigate any one or all of these:
- Task: While we definitely set out to do things like win auditions or impress audiences, these are desired results, not tasks! The true task is to stay focused on executing your process moment by moment. This means that you’re present with the sounds you want to create, the lines you want to spin, and the narrative you want to express. Prime yourself by connecting directly to your process: center yourself, be present, review a key process cue…or two!
- Opponent: A challenging opponent keeps any game interesting, and performance is no different. But rather than a person, your opponent is the thoughts or situations that tempt you to abandon your self-trust. You KNOW there are probably a few habitual thoughts or less-than-ideal scenarios that tend to trip you up. Anticipate them, and decide now, while you’re level-headed, how you will choose to respond.
- Space: Like it or not, the hall gets a voice in your sound. Familiarizing yourself with it in advance, whether in-person or through envisioning, helps you to walk into the hall with certainty instead of questions.
Finally, decide that you are enough. You have assessed yourself and the situation, and you are here at this moment for a reason. Decide that you have all the knowledge and skill required. You want to feel a sense of certainty and determination. This is not about being egotistical, boastful, or even right about whether you’re good enough: it's about knowing that certainty and determination are essential tools in creating beautiful music. And as a musician, it's your responsibility to use these tools! In the words of performance coach Don Greene, “Courage is always the best option.”
When you’re connected to your strengths, you are familiar with salient aspects of your situation, and you’ve made the decision that you’re enough, that you don’t need predictability. Instead, you’re ready to perform with the skill, presence, and responsiveness required to communicate.
Here’s to all the musicians deciding they’re enough! I see you! I am you! We got this!
