Choosing the Right Competition Piece
One of the most exciting, rewarding, and nerve-racking experiences for musicians is performing in a competition.
From thinking you’ll win the competition, to dreading having to be judged for your playing, there are so many emotions that you may feel at this type of event. It’s common to be overwhelmed, especially if you’ve had no previous experience playing in competitions.
Typically for classical music competitions, judging panels consist of around 2-5 adjudicators who are tasked with critiquing every performance they hear and rewarding the best ones.
Depending on the type of competition, these panelists might consist of a multitude of different instrumentals, composers, music historians, or music theory professors.
Regardless of their occupation or speciality, in general these panelists have some type of performance experience.
With piano competitions you can expect each judge to have a wealth of performance experience, specifically on piano.
So what does this mean for you?
Well for one, it means that you need to remember that these judges will most likely be extremely familiar with the work you are planning to perform for them.
They probably already have some idea and opinion of how they think your work should sound and their comments will reflect this opinion.
Practically speaking, this means that prior to choosing your competition piano work, you should do some research and listen to as many famous recordings of it as possible.
Get an idea of the different approaches that previous famous pianists have taken and emulate what you connect with as a performer.
One local Orange County piano studio, KW Music Studios, recommends that some classical works aren’t worth choosing for piano competitions.
There are many works where judges can have such opposing view points on how the work should sound that it makes it impossible for you as the performer to please all of them.
One highly controversial work is Brahm’s Intermezzo in A Major from Op. 118, No. 2.
Although it is a beautiful work, there are so many varied opinions on how it should be played, that you would be better off selecting a different piece.
How To Practice For Piano Competitions
Practicing for piano competitions is not too different from practicing for an important concert, however if you have little concert performance experience then it’s important to heed the following advice.
When you’re on stage a piano competition you are most likely going to be nervous.
Just accept that fact.
The question for you shouldn’t be, how can I eliminate anxiety for a performance, but rather, what’s the best way to cope with anxiety that will inevitably come at a competition?
For one, you need to know the piece you are playing inside and out.
It goes without saying you should be practicing a lot in preparation for any competition as you will be more heavily scrutinized for any small mistake that you make while on stage.
However, one great way to practice is to memorize everything and perform the work in front of friends and family as much as you can.
When you perform in front of other people, it often can change what is going on mentally from a performance perspective as there is one more thing you’ll need to think about or at least be aware of.
Performing in front of friends and family prior to a competition can help build up the mental stamina you will need when you step on stage in front of a panel.
Another piano practice technique that a local piano studio uses in their Irvine piano lessons, is to find the “problem” passages or phrases within the overall work and isolate them.
Once isolated, these passages can be repeated over and over again until the performer no longer needs to think about it in order to play it.
When you’re on stage at a competition, there can be so many distractions that can throw off the technique on more challenging passages.
However, if you’ve prepared by isolating these passages in your practice sessions, you’ll find that your fingers will be able to get through these more challenging areas without you even thinking about it.
Metronome, Metronome, Metronome
One of the most common mistakes that pianists make at competitions is rushing the piece that they are performing.
Picture this, you step on stage at your first piano competition.
You smile out to a panel a judges that you can’t see because the overhead light is shining in your eyes.
You sit down at the piano as you hear the judges shuffling through papers and you get the go ahead to start playing.
Confidently placing your hands at the piano, you begin performing.
At first you feel confident, having played the song hundreds of times…
“I’ve got this…” you say to yourself.
But gradually as you progress, small hiccups and errors begin to pop up and you start to lose control.
More and more missed notes start to occur until you’ve completely stopped playing because your hands aren’t cooperating.
What happened?
Why did it work so perfectly in practice but not on stage at the audition?
One of the most common mistakes that pianists make at piano competitions and important recitals is playing too fast.
You might not realize it, but because of the amount of anxiety you feel during a performance you typically will speed up phrases without realizing it.
So how can you compensate for this?
By diligently using the metronome in your practice routines leading up to the auditions.
When you practice consistently with a metronome, you often allow yourself to have a greater technical control over the piece you are performing and will minimize the effect of rushing phrases due to stage anxiety.
In the week or two leading up to the performance, spend a lot of time isolating more difficult sections of your performance work with metronome practice.
Set the metronome to a tempo that is slower than the tempo you plan on performing.
Once you feel you have complete control of a challenging phrase at a slower speed, gradually increase the tempo until you’ve reached your target.
Establish A Performance Routine
If you’re preparing for a highly important piano audition and you want to go that extra step, another option is to practice everything that goes into a good piano performance.
What this means is that you should know what time of day your audition will be taking place, and literally practice performing your work at that time of day.
If your audition is in the morning, then you need to practice performing your work in the morning at that time, and vice verse if the audition is scheduled in an afternoon or evening time slot.
Additionally, you should be aware of what you’re eating and drinking prior to a competition.
In general, it’s a good idea to stay hydrated but don’t go overboard with this on your audition day, otherwise you could be quite uncomfortable during your performance.
For example, KW Music Studios recommends that in the weeks leading up to your competition, drink plenty of water each day to get your body acclimated to how much water you’ll be drinking on competition day.
Additionally, eat foods that you know won’t upset your stomach.
So if you’re craving that In N Out hamburger an hour before you’re set to perform, make sure you wait until after the performance to indulge yourself.
In conclusion, so much of preparing for a piano competition revolves around getting the details right.
Think about everything that goes into a performance, not just the music.
The more you mentally prepare yourself to step onstage, the better prepared you’ll be to impress those judges!
Finally, whether you’re looking for piano lessons for kids or piano lessons for adults, make sure that you consult experienced piano teachers who can help you achieve your performance and audition goals.