Whether it’s a 5^th grader’s 1st piano recital or a high school student’s college audition, every performance is unique and has a certain level of unpredictability. Regardless of experience level, you can never be over-prepared. Listed below are some tried and true tips and tricks to ensure confidence come performance time:

1. Memorize using all your senses
Sight: Practice both with and without your sheet music. When playing without, visualize the line and page you’re on to stay on track.

Touch: Muscle memory is an astonishing thing; sometimes your fingers remember your music better than you do. Practice until you can play your piece without having to think about it, but make sure not to rely entirely on this.

Hearing: Do you know how the melody goes from start to finish? Go back and pick out the melody lines from your piece and play these alone.  Try humming the melody the ENTIRE way through.

Taste and smell: Practice breathing with musical phrases while you play. Just as singers time their breaths during a song, musicians should practice breathing as they play their instrument. When your adrenaline is rushing, it’s important to get a healthy flow of oxygen to your brain so you can perform at your peak.
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