Organise that equipment before the performance

Always organise any equipment well before the big day. String players should carry extra strings. Don't forget shoulder-rests, rosin, or other equipment. Keep a screwdriver in wind or brass instrument cases. Wind-players should take their pull-through or swab into the examination room; it is acceptable to take a few moments to clean out between longer pieces. Pianists should not hesitate to adjust the piano stool to a comfortable height, or to ask for another chair. Reed-players should start “blowing-in” reeds weeks beforehand to have several spare ones in case your tried and trusty reed packs it in.
(Excerpt from "Confident Music Performance" by Ruth Bonetti. Available at www.RuthBonetti.com )

How to handle mistakes in performance

What to do when you make a mistake? The first rule is to keep going! That moment is already passed; you cannot go back in time and fix it. It is overlaid with the beautiful sounds and phrases, or the intelligent content of your speech.
Don't let any fluster over small mishaps drag down the rest of your performance; put them behind you. Don't look back - or, like Lot's wife, you will be turned into a pillar of salt, or something that tastes equally bitter.
Remember, any mishaps are your secret. Don't move a muscle, flinch, pull faces, or in any other way wave a big placard announcing: 'Oops, I boo-booed!'
If you do make a mistake, flinching visibly will only give ammunition to your possible critics. Why draw attention to something they might otherwise have missed? Perhaps they were daydreaming in that alpha state that music induces, not hanging on your every note. Probably, most don't really know the score intimately. Even if they do, it is possible your mistake was not as obvious as you thought. They might just think you added an enterprising ad lib or ornament.
It's surprising how, even if we have played a piece many times ourselves, we hear it from a different perspective when sitting in the audience. Many people miss small mistakes unless they have a photographic memory. If you can't keep a poker face after a mistake, at least throw it off with a slight smile instead of a grimace.
(Excerpt from "Confident Music Performance" by Ruth Bonetti. Available at www.RuthBonetti.com )

How to impress the examiner, adjudicator or auditioner

o Play out with a big, positive tone. Even if the first dynamic is marked pianissimo, notch it higher. Remember, first impressions count. You don't want them to think you a wimp.
o Exaggerate all dynamics. Just as a soapie actor overplays all emotions, so too you should intensify all expression. Triple it. This simple quick-fix makes the examiner or adjudicator think; “Aha, musical!” Often we may act a dynamic with our body language, but less comes out in the actual sound.
o Act poised. Even if you are a quivering mess. Pretend. Body language which says “I am the greatest” might just bluff yourself as well as the listeners.

Dynamics make dynamo performance

Many pieces open with a soft dynamic. A positive opening is important to the listener and increases the player's confidence. Arrest the examiner's attention with a full, positive sound, not a small, mousy one. If it is marked piano, think of a soft white rabbit instead of a mouse and bump up the dynamic to mezzo-forte.
Bluff yourself as well as the examiner by playing out with a big, bold sound and with a wide range of dynamics and colour. Even if the composer marked little interest into the piece, add your own ideas. Be adventurous and imaginative. Why not make it your goal to turn that study which you thought was so boring into an interesting piece? Why not play the scales with a full, positive tone? Examiners love such enterprise.

Essential warm-up before performance

Those crucial minutes in the warm-up room may spell the difference between poise and fluster inside the exam room. It is essential to build confidence with a steady, accurate and clear warm-up before facing the examiner. If we rip through the most daunting, tricky passage at break-neck speed, it may do more damage than good. We risk falling into pot-holes of mistakes, the same ones over and over. Oops, keep going, splat, zoom, kerplunk, fizzle out. To walk into the exam room knowing that we have just turned the etude into tangled spaghetti is hardly confidence-building.
Play that difficult passage if you will, but at half-speed. Better still, warm up with slow scales, long notes (especially for singers, strings, wind and brass players) and calming slow, deep breaths. Stretching exercises and deep yawns help to release tension.

Music Success

If you suffer jitters, shakes and dry mouth when performing in public, here's a do-able technique to ease those symptoms. I've recently been using something called "Emotional Freedom Technique" in my in workshops, coaching and with music students and we've had had some incredible results using EFT.

Recently I visited a regional conservatorium in New South Wales to give students a one-hour “How to Prepare for Confident Performance” workshop. This was followed by a concert for students to play to parents and friends after which I was to debrief and give further feedback and tips at the end.

One pianist was so nervous that she stopped and started and could barely get through the piece. She walked away from the piano looking shattered. I thought “It's a risk but I'm taking this on now, rather than wait for the end of the concert."

So I asked if she'd mind trying a rather wacky experiment, saying I risked looking more stupid than she if it didn't come off - but I knew deep down it would. The idea is to think up a relevant affirmation then say it aloud while tapping on parts of the head, face and body that relate to meridian points. We did some tapping around: “Even though I have memory blanks and stop and start and feel embarrassed, I love and appreciate myself.” (After all, we performers spend so much time critcising ourselves, don't we? We rbeat up on ourselves over the failures and rarely give ourselves credit for what we do well.) Then she sat down at the piano and not only sailed through the piece note-perfect without a glitch but also played musically with rich tone and wonderful expression. Even my jaw dropped at the incredible difference! We all went ”wow!” and stamped and clapped. Her teacher has since emailled me that she played her exam program the next week, after some tapping and affirming and she played brilliantly, especially that particular piece!

OK, so where can you find our more? Visit http://www.mercola.com/forms/eftcourse.htm
http://www.emofree.com/

And where to tap? The mercola.com site above shows clear pics. Keep an eye out for an animation (credit to my son André) as soon as I work out how to post it!