navindra I admit I still believe it must be possible to play without this affliction... perhaps I just haven't cracked the code yet, but your strategy/advice is definitely the most realistic.
I sort of hate to say this, but I think it starts with figuring out how to perceive the shakes as something other than an affliction. Itās a paradox, or a Zen koan. Itās almost like you canāt get over the shakes until you figure out how to accept the shakes. š
I wonāt go on for now, but if you would like to start (or have me start) another thread about combating the shakes, we can do that.
Back to the rest of your post! That Petrof, and that space, is absolutely beautiful! I would love to play somewhere like that! Wow!!
navindra KevinM I feel uncomfortable with the issue that most students will be young and their parents will be there for them and not really interested in the other players. But how else am I going to find other local adult learners.
I feel like it would be the opposite, most likely you will be a highlight of the recital and an inspiration to others. At least that's how I felt when I listened to all the adult beginners at last evening's recital. I wasn't the only one dealing with nerves but I very much enjoyed all the adult participation.
To this part of the discussion, I totally get where Kevin is coming from. I decided to stop attending the recitals at the community music school (after I think 3 times participating) because I could feel the disinterest in the air, and that seemed to really compound my performance anxiety. My teachers (I worked with two different ones during my time there) always said āthere might be some other adult students playingā but there never were. The kids were not interested in listening to anyone else, the parents clearly were only interested in their kids. And it was kind of a high pressure, fast turnover event. I think they scheduled too many players per session. They would have six 90-to 120-minute recital sessions over an Sat-Sun and even with that many sessions it was obviously hard to fit everyone in, so that didnāt help. And I most certainly was not a highlight or an inspiration to anyone. I just felt like a bother.
Compare that to the two times Iāve played at the retirement center, the first time I think there were close to 50 people in the audience and the second, maybe more like 30. I played first both times, and each time I was the least advanced performer and played the least advanced music. But the people in the audience wanted to be there, some of them had clearly dressed up a bit for the event. And they listened. You could just feel it. Both times, afterward people came up to thank me and compliment me, and the compliments were often specific, like mentioning a specific piece or asking something specific (like questions about the composers etc.) And the organizer of the event as well as the representative for the center were so affirming and appreciative (āthank you so much for playingā etc.)
@navindra it sounds like the recitals youāre attending are much better than the music school ones I described above. Hopefully @KevinM ās event will be better as well, and will give him the opportunity to meet and coordinate with other adult players.
Actually, as I think about it, maybe itās just that music school thatās the aberration š ā¦ you know how one thing that adult beginners are said worry about is playing right after some 6 year old who plays advanced music beautifully? There were no kids like that in the school recitalsā¦ In fact, most of them were terrible, and I found it hard to listen when all the kids were unable to maintain a consistent tempo, stopped and startedā¦ š
