judge yourself, lest you be judged! as we approach the upcoming recital and festival dates, test and score yourself in the areas below to track your progress. pianists are typically scored in these categories for competitions and festivals, so it looks very similar to an adjudicator’s sheet. if you were the adjudicator, how would you rate yourself in each of these areas? I have also included a few questions to get you thinking………..
Polishing your piece for performance–be your own judge
● Memorization
Is your piece securely memorized? Are you able to continue playing and finish your piece even if you have a memory slip? Have you practiced “slipping” and continuing? Have you tested your memory by performing for people multiple times?
● Accuracy
Are you playing the correct notes and observing all the written details of the score?
● Tempo, meter, and rhythm
Have you settled on an appropriate tempo? Is your piece “felt” in the correct meter? Is the rhythm precise?
● Interpretation- contrast, mood, phrasing, style, expression
Is your piece convincing in its mood, atmosphere, and contrasts? Are you successfully expressing something, or are you rushing through to get finished?
● Dynamics
Are you conveying the dynamics? Do your softs sound different than your fortes?
● Pedaling
Are you using the appropriate pedaling for your piece? Is the pedaling clear and clean, or mushy?
● Touch- legato, staccato, accents
Are you observing each of these details, and any others marked in the score?
● Continuity, flow
Does the piece sound like a total work, or like a bunch of different pieces strung together? Is the piece totally steady?
● Tone- beauty, control
Is your tone wimpy or strong?
● Other- stage presence, appearance
Have you practiced walking to the piano and taking a bow in front of a mirror? Have you practiced your piece in the shoes you plan to wear for the performance? These things may seem trivial, but at the performance you will need to be confident and solely focused on the music, rather than worrying about how dorky you feel when you bow or trying to remember how exactly to walk in heels.
