This might seem like a really stupid question, sorry! If you are playing from memory in a concert, where do you look?

I'm playing a solo at prizegiving on Monday and I *think* I'm going to play from memory this year. I'm guessing you don't look at the audience (or do you?)... Should I look at my violin? The back wall? I've always used music before but I think performing without it this time might add a bit more 'punch'.

Any ideas?

Ok, so piano is different but when I play from memory I usually look straight ahead - basically at where the music would be if it were there! I also look at the music when I'm playing by memory to try and trick my teacher into thinking that I haven't just memorised it again it doesn't work but I try anyway!

Anyhoo, back to your question, I can't play the violin but all the violin performances I've seen where the person has played from memory they've tended to look down the violin at their hand if you see what I mean

Hope this helps, I'll defer to violin players through for a proper answer

Look at the audience. they like to connect with the msusician. Try not to look at the instrument all the time, just glance down to make sure the notes are correct occasionally.

I once took my daughter to a concert given at the end of a course by cello students preparing for the exam to get into the Paris Conservatoire (ie playing at least at DipABRSM level). They all played from memory, most looked at the audience or the back of the room. One played with her eyes shut, which was actually quite strange to watch (even though I did think that perhaps I might be less nervous if I could play with my eyes shut).

I tend to close my eyes, I don't know why it's just become an automatic thing...
Happens all the time when i'm doin an improv (obv. not from memory) or a solo with my band

usually look at my hands or straight ahead

maybe if i really feel the piece, i might close my eyes, but never do that

The hall at my school had a clock on the back wall. It was the perfect place to look in any play or any other time you were doing stuff from memory - looking out towards the audience, but not actually able to see any particular face in detail (as someone would always make a funny face if they thought they had eye contact with you)

Playing from memory is partly vanity - so I don't need to wear 'glasses. But then I am so short-sighted it makes no difference where I look - I still see nothing!

Mad Tom,

I know from personal experience that myopia can be almost more of a blessing than a curse in certain circumstances...

Maizie,

I like the idea of gazing at a clock / some other object at the back wall of the hall, I find myself doing that a lot when I play from memory.

Miss Ross,

Contact with the audience, even if it is slightly feigned, is always advisable - get them on your side and you'll be fine. Good luck,

denmark

Personally, anywhere except at the audience! I'm a bag of nerves in solo(ish) stuff anyway, so if I stared at them I'd just collapse into a jibbering heap.

Oggling the audience all the time isn't the right thing to do to be honest, but neither is staring only at your instrument. Finding a compromise between feeling the music (closing your eyes if necessary) and connecting with your accompaniment (orchestra/conductor/pianist) is a middle ground strategy. If you look at the audience, focus your gaze beyond them - because if you look directly at someone, even unintentionally, while you are playing and they are doing something inappropriate at the time (picking their nose for example ) it could be quite off-putting to your concentration.

Thanks all. I've got one final run-through on Monday afternoon so might experiment a bit then. Yes, I had imagined that happening if I realised that someone was, shockingly(!), looking at me.

Well, I've only played for family and friends so far (only been doing this since November 2007), so not the most experienced person, but when I've played the tunes from memory, I've looked wherever is comfortable at the time. Our son's face was my focus the first time I played, "Twinkle, twinkle little star". He's a very discerning audience, and knows his nursery rhymes. His face was a delighted picture. Which was good, because if I'd sounded terrible, he'd have had no problem telling me. Sometimes, I'll watch my fingers to see where they are, but mostly, I'll just enjoy playing, and enjoy the sounds I'm making, and not be particulalry worried what I'm looking at. Since I'm usually in our sitting room anyway, this is not a big deal. I suspect that if I were in a large hall with an audience (and playing from memory), I'd find a clock or a point on the wall (picture, maybe?) to focus on.

You'll probably find that you do something automatically - you may find yourself looking into the audience, or at your violin...I think when you know something from memory it's really easy to sort of 'drift away' and just do whatever happens - it's kind of like your subconscious takes over!! Or at least that's what I find - not that I'm a violinist (yet!).

Good luck, I'm sure you'll be great wherever you end up looking

I'm a singer and this might bias my opinion but I feel that it is vitally important to have a connection with the audience. So I always address my performance to them. This is not the same as looking at individual people, but the aim is to make each person feel that it's somehow aimed at them. I never close my eyes while singing unless it is to make a dramatic point (e.g. playing a character who is locked away in their own thoughts), and then only sparingly.

The real professionals have this down to a fine art - I went to a concert in the Albert Hall years ago to see Bryn Terfel perform, and despite the fact that he was a long way away and mostly facing at right angles to my seat, I still felt that he was singing to me! What a performer...

But I can see that there might be other norms for other instruments. Having a pianist gurning away at the audience while playing might lend a distinctly Monty Python feel to the proceedings...

How about some dark glasses? You wouldn't be able to see the audience and you'd look super cool!!

That's the best idea I've heard. I'm really nervous about it now and would rather not do it all, and so I think using the music might be a good idea. At least now I've got an idea of what to do if I play from memory in the future.

The back of the room about where a clock would be on a school hall. The important thing is that you keep your head up.

Looking at the audience can be precisely the worst thing to do, unless it is raked, as you are tempted to look down.