Performing - What Do You Enjoy About It? Options

[skylark]

I would join this, but the thing is... the more I play in front of other people, the more I want to?


I don't think it's "showing off", but more a matter of proving my worth and making sure that I can do it?

The above post in the Reluctant Performers thread (piano forum) made me wonder why people like performing. I must admit I enjoy performing on clarinet, and in my case, I think it's because of the type of music I like to perform, which is the popular vocal music of the 30s or 40s and the music from the older musicals. I had the most brilliant time performing in the orangery at a National Trust property recently - a group of two couples came in and they knew all the music I was playing. They sat down to watch and it was like they were having a private concert. They asked me to play Strangers on the Shore and were very kind about comparing me to Acker Bilk (I'm Grade 4) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) I played quite a lot for them and they wanted to get up and dance to Begin the Beguine but were too shy in the end. I would have loved it if they had done. They kept asking me to play some of the songs again and stayed with me for quite some time. I can still feel the warmth and pleasure from that group, and it's wonderful to enable people to enjoy something so much that you feel it back.

What does everyone else get out of performing?

[Mad Tom]

I would join this, but the thing is... the more I play in front of other people, the more I want to?
I don't think it's "showing off", but more a matter of proving my worth and making sure that I can do it?

What does everyone else get out of performing?

There is definitely an element of showing off. It would be lying to deny it. It is a rare person that does not enjoy being congratulated on doing something they are good at.

But a lot of what you get from performance - the feeling of power and control from being able to play such difficult stuff, the deeper understanding of the music that results from the preparation and from insights while playing, the increased powers of focus and concentration that it demands, the self-discipline of the preparation - these can all be served well enough by practice and private study, or by other things in life.

For me, performing on a musical instrument also forces me to confront (and hopefully conquer) my demons (fear, nervousness, crises of confidence) in a way that nothing else does. Nothing else I have ever done is so demanding.

Probably most importantly, it forces me to learn pieces properly, instead of the half-learning that can seem good enough in the cosy stress-free world of the practice room ... and that includes the "easy" bits, which tend to get neglected.


There is an element of "spreading the word" - that much of the music in the "Classical tradition" is worth listening to, and more deeply satisfying than the dross of much current popular music. And many famous international artists don't actually do a great job of this. The conventions of the typical classical concert nowadays are bad enough for someone that loves the music. They must be horribly off-putting to someone that is not yet a convert. And many performers come accross as cold and uncaring, both in their demeanour, and in the sound they create. So although technically the amateur may not be in the same league, we still have a lot to offer, and our more laid-back concerts are much friendlier places for new listeners to get familiar with what Western Art music has to offer.

But above all ... it is addicitive. It is the result of one of those drives that makes you do something even when it is not especially enjoyable, or useful, or the result of any rational decision making process. And who can explain that?