Performance Panic

My eldest son is entering a music competition next week and has to give a 15 minute piano recital. In an effort to reassure him, I showed him a couple of videos I discovered online under the title The Ten Worst Things About Being a Pianist.

Entry number 4 on this list – ‘Competitions’ – shows a male competitor who is obviously a talented pianist but has had a memory lapse/moment of panic and just can’t get his piece back on track.

Then, in at number 10 is ‘Playing from Memory’. Here we see a concert pianist who suddenly realises the orchestra is playing a different concerto from the one she was expecting to play.

My son will be performing one of his pieces from memory as this is a requirement of the competition. It is the first time he’s ever done this as – like me – he is generally dependent on the music. I’m not sure whether watching these videos will have boosted his confidence … or made him feel even more nervous!