Last Friday, NCGS celebrated it's first full length student solo recital.  Liam Calhoun did an amazing job performing selections from Books 2-4 of the Suzuki Method.  As I watched him, I noticed how calm and collected he performed. I remember my first solo recital, my Senior Recital at Juilliard as part of their Pre-College program.  I also remember being incredibly nervous!  Liam in command, and performed with wonderful musicality and technical control.  For me, it was a textbook first recital and then some.  You only have one 1st recital -- if you can make that recital a positive experience it will make the continuing journey a pleasant one.

While Liam was preparing for his recital, we spoke at great length on how to prepare for his first full length performance.  It was quite clear from his performance that he followed the advice I gave him to the letter, thus making for an outstanding recital.  While we cannot control every variable of the recital, the better we prepare -- the better we play.

All of my students have heard this one:  ”Ok, great!  Now see if you can do it three times in a row.”  I am a firm believer in the power of three.  However, it is more then just playing a passage three times in a row.

Problem solving and identifying the solution are also important steps.  Without those, you won’t know what to reinforce and the repetitions will be meaningless.

Like most people, sometimes you just do not have much time to practice.  Below is a list of things that you can do to your practicing to maximize the time you have available for your practicing.   Most of these things can be done easily and quickly to your practice sessions.

1. Dedicate time to working on your technique.
2. Isolate the difficult sections of pieces and practice them by themselves.
3. Play through the piece only twice when you practice it.
4. Don’t practice all of your repertoire in one day.
5. Know when playing won’t accomplish any more.