As a musician, nothing terrifies you more than a botched performance. We spend weeks or months or sometimes even years working on a piece, only to get on stage and make a complete fool of ourselves. It is not that we lack the talent or passion for doing the music justice, but that simple, unmanageable factors make a huge impact when we have been stuck in the habit of using our typical environment to prepare for a performance. The smallest things can make the biggest difference- whether it be a different room, a different audience, or maybe even a different instrument altogether (which is very common as a percussionist, seeing as most of our instruments are much too large to transport everywhere we go). Nevertheless, an awful performance is
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The percussion section of our band was preparing to lose a large number of seniors by the next fall. As freshmen, we had to prove that we could hold our own and continue to represent our section and our band as a whole with complete and utter confidence. During freshman year, we are allowed to compete in a band festival known as the Elkhorn Band Olympics. Anyone who wants to go to E.B.O. is allowed, as long as they are able to prepare a solo, duet, or ensemble. There are numerous students from the surrounding area that sign up to perform at this festival, so ranking high in your designated room is a big deal. In the weeks prior to EBO, I had prepared a marimba solo entitled “Modo Nuovo” by Mitchell Peters. My performance was flawless, despite my nerves, and I came in second in my room. Because I landed in a top 3 spot, I was required to perform my solo for the biggest music event of the year: District Music Contest. I was completely terrified and having to prepare for such a major event stressed me out to the point where I refused to even look at the music, let alone actually rehearse it. The week of DMC, I finally talked myself into running through my piece. The run-through was a complete disaster, for I had forgotten every section I had needed to memorize in order to play the solo fluently. For the next few days, I was in a practice room every chance I had, scrutinizing every note in every measure as a last-minute attempt to raise my hopes and my chance of getting a superior
The percussion section of our band was preparing to lose a large number of seniors by the next fall. As freshmen, we had to prove that we could hold our own and continue to represent our section and our band as a whole with complete and utter confidence. During freshman year, we are allowed to compete in a band festival known as the Elkhorn Band Olympics. Anyone who wants to go to E.B.O. is allowed, as long as they are able to prepare a solo, duet, or ensemble. There are numerous students from the surrounding area that sign up to perform at this festival, so ranking high in your designated room is a big deal. In the weeks prior to EBO, I had prepared a marimba solo entitled “Modo Nuovo” by Mitchell Peters. My performance was flawless, despite my nerves, and I came in second in my room. Because I landed in a top 3 spot, I was required to perform my solo for the biggest music event of the year: District Music Contest. I was completely terrified and having to prepare for such a major event stressed me out to the point where I refused to even look at the music, let alone actually rehearse it. The week of DMC, I finally talked myself into running through my piece. The run-through was a complete disaster, for I had forgotten every section I had needed to memorize in order to play the solo fluently. For the next few days, I was in a practice room every chance I had, scrutinizing every note in every measure as a last-minute attempt to raise my hopes and my chance of getting a superior