Performance Preparation Practices

Performing can be a shaky experience... literally.  That can definitely complicate things when you are a pianist and shaky fingers lead to wrong notes and then your mind starts feeling like a Jenga game where one slip leads to more shakiness and possibly a total collapse. 

I attended an informative UVMTA workshop this week presented by Dr Stephen Thomas including preparation tips for performance experiences to help you avoid freezing up with mental blocks. I loved many of the ideas he shared and mingled them with some of my own in my notetaking. A resource that kept coming to my mind was the book The Practice Revolution by Philip Johnston. It is loaded with different gamified strategies for structuring and improving practice quality and I find it especially helpful for children who may not naturally know how to organize their home practice sessions.  

My personal key takeaways were

Beginning Organ Playing Tips for Pianists

Almost every pianist who can play hymns in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will at some point be invited to be a ward organist. Unlike many church organists, this responsibility is unpaid and often comes with little training.  

Although I learned to use the foot pedals in my college organ class, the coupler button has become my best friend as I play the organ for church services! It allows me to play the organ much like I would the piano but transfers the sound of the bass line to the deeper foot pedal stops for a richer sound and a less stressful playing experience for me since I am not an organ foot pedal pro!

Thanksgiving Turkey Blues Improvisation

Jazzy Turkey Blues Improv

While Thanksgiving is a fun holiday for people, it might give a turkey the blues! For this improvisation, imagine a turkey is singing his Thanksgiving blues song. Use these lyrics or come up with some of your own.