A simple tip for performance

I had my bi-weekly piano lesson today with Kevin Bales.  I have talked about Kevin before.  He is probably the best pianist I know and probably knows far more about music than anyone I know.  I cannot even begin to say how much I have learned while studying with him.  That is why I found one of today’s conversation very interesting.

We were talking about performing and the natural tendency to want to impress certain people in the audience.  If you are performing and you know that there are quality musicians in the audience, it is very normal to worry about what they think about your performance.  My guess is that every musician reading this knows exactly what I am talking about.

I was mentioning some feedback I got from an educated musician after a performance that I thought was way off base.  Kevin mentioned that he also is often on the receiving end of questionable criticism from musicians in his performances.

His advice was to forget about impressing the musicians and focus on communicating to the masses.  That is good thinking.  You have almost no chance of impressing musicians.  Musicians are rarely impressed by each other–they instinctively look for things to criticize.  I admit I am that way.  I shouldn’t be but I am.  Some musicians are so insecure that if can’t find anything to criticize, they will make something up!

Just find a way to communicate through your music to average people who know little about music and you will be way ahead of most of your detractors.  I can promise you that is a fact.

I heard a quote from Kenny Rogers one time that I have never forgotten.  He told a young singer this statement: It is not your job to impress people.  Your job is to make them cry.

That is good advice.