Oclef Q&A: EP005 - I can play perfect during practice, but not in public. Why?

I’ll answer in two areas:
Headspace- mistakes in performance happen and
they should be expected. You have got to start focusing on the
characters and audience experience you reveal through the music.
Music for me is a verb. It is the act of communicating stories,
ideas and emotions through sound. A small blip in the screen during
a movie goes unnoticed, so don’t worry as long as you’re
passionately becoming the character. Practical -
You need to be relentless and obsessive. I don’t know for sure, but
you’re probably not practicing thoroughly. Talk about this with
your teacher and discuss how you should optimize your attention to
preparation. How are you designing the small wins leading up to
performance? Do you always have left hand memorized? Are all your
voices memorized separately in the counterpoint? Can you sing each
voice? Have you considered writing out the parts of all voices of
your pieces. Have you practiced transposing sections to better
understand the harmonic structure of the music? Have you played one
hand and conducted the other? Be thorough. Be obsessed. Most
students are not and that’s why they never make it as a concert
artist or even as a great pianist. If you really want results, put
all this extra effort in. Send me a recording after you’ve done
some of these ideas above and adjusted your headspace.

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