The Last Stage of Preparation

When I put a new piece of music on my stand I recognize that I will go through 4 stages before I take it out to perform.

In the initial phase I’m just putting my hands on the notes, so to speak. I’m getting a very general sense of the music and enjoying the thrill of exploration that comes with it.

During this process I become aware of where the particular challenges are. And the next phase involves getting under the hood – or bonnet, if your of the English persuasion – taking each of these sections apart and becoming intimately familiar with every detail.

Once I’m ready to begin putting it all back together it’s time to take a look at the big picture, to begin telling a story or creating an interesting aural canvas.

Finally, and this is a very crucial juncture, I must enter the last stage of preparation. This is where I bring the work before an audience.

Not a real audience, mind you, an audience held in my mind’s eye.

When at first I visualize real people sitting in quiet expectation before me, the ‘butterflies’ begin their dance. The last phase of preparation is an act of alchemy. It is where fear-based nervous energy gets reversed and transformed into joy-filled anticipation.

‘So how is this done,’ you might ask.

You go back through your practice, all three stages, and you check your work – while visualizing an audience present. If you’ve done you homework well the final stage will be a breeze, and you can count on acing the test. If you’ve missed things, they will be revealed in the bright light the audience radiates.

I recommend getting to this stage as early as you can. That way you have all the time, and more that you need to make success the only possible outcome.

And don’t forget, there are few people in this world that don’t enjoy having a violin played for them. And there are a few, in that majority, whose lives might be positively affected in a profound way by what you do.

All the best,
Clayton Haslop

P.S. Two time-tested, wonderful works to bring before any group of listeners are Bach’s E Major ‘Preludio’, and Kreisler’s ‘Praeludium and Allegro.’ The course I have on these two masterpieces leaves no stone unturned so you’ll arrive at the last stage of preparation at the head of the class.