The Musician's Way Blog

“A concert may end when the applause fades, but your artistic work and your responsibilities as a performer are far from complete.”
–The Musician’s Way, p. 196

As you exit the stage at the end of a performance, how do you typically feel?

Then, when you interact with listeners and coperformers, how do things go?

Seasoned performers remain poised after a show – they support their colleagues and warmly greet listeners. They also apply what they learn from each concert to better their skills.

Aspiring artists, on the other hand, sometimes succumb to a post-performance blues. Backstage, they might rehash every phrase, berating themselves for flaws. And such a self-absorbed demeanor doesn’t endear them to audience members or their fellow musicians. Nor does such negativity nurture the spirit.

Here’s a 3-part framework for managing post-concert situations and using each performance to elevate our creativity.

1. Interact and Cool Down
The moment we arrive backstage at the close of a show, our first task is to express appreciation to any coperformers. In this way, we reinforce a professional culture and cultivate the positivity that fuels artistic growth.

Later, when we meet listeners, our role resembles that of a party host whom guests want to thank. So we listen attentively to listeners’ comments, show gratitude for their attendance, and express no dissatisfaction with our work.

Our foremost task, though, is to accept our performance. If things went well, we affirm the preparatory steps we took. If we performed beneath our potential, we treat shortcomings as information and commit to practicing differently (see “Rebounding from Subpar Performances“).

Following intense performances, before we interact with listeners, it’s often worthwhile to cool down with some gentle scales and a few restorative movements such as arm circles. These help us transition from the other-worldly dimensions of music to a place where we can be fully present in our interactions.

2. Assess
It’s usually best to defer our assessment for a day or more. Similarly, group members should hold off discussing any issues until their next rehearsal.

But when the time comes to review our work, recordings prove invaluable aids. And we gain the most when we evaluate our performances in deliberate ways.

One simple yet powerful performance evaluation tool is described on pages 202-203 of The Musician’s Way.

3. Move Ahead
As we evaluate a performance, it’s best to specify action plans. We might use a score and mark areas we’d like to refine, or we might jot down ideas in a notebook or file.

Either way, our ideas then function as artistic goals, and as we tackle them one by one in practice, we advance on our creative path.

See The Musician’s Way for comprehensive guidelines to becoming a masterful performing artist.

Related posts
Assessing Your Performance Skills
Backstage Mode
The Meaning in Mistakes
Practicing Performance
Rebounding from Subpar Performances

© 2012 Gerald Klickstein
Photo © yuyangc, licensed from Shutterstock.com