I. Score Study
– Study the full score (piano and solo parts) not just your solo part. Listen to performance recordings with the full score in hand.
-Be very familiar with the piano part prior to your first rehearsal with your pianist
-Listen to exemplary recordings, while following the piano score. Listen to short sections multiple times to develop more of a sense of expectation and familiarity.
The goal is not for you to become a clone of the recording artist’s performance but to add their musical choices (colors, phrasing, vibrato, articulations…etc) to your vocabulary of possibilities.
-Write in important piano cues/rhythms lightly in small but clear notes under your solo line so you have a composite rhythm of rhythms you will be hearing as you rehearse. Do this especially for difficult ensemble sections and entrances after long rests- know and write in the rhythms to aural cues you will be hearing from the piano part that signal your entrance.
-Realize that you will be leading the rehearsal, not your pianist- that is, be sure you are not relying on your pianist to tell you when you are not together, etc. KNOW the piano part as well as you know your own through extensive study.
– Know how your part fits together with the piano part in every measure.
II. Mastery of Solo Part
– Choose fingerings and page turns early in the learning process
-Mark breaths from your listening and own observations early in the process too.
– Over-prepare! Over-learn the technique and gestures of your piece through repetition of short passages multiple times. Create technical drills (Mécaniques) for the problem passages and work them every day.
– Know whether you are leading or accompanying in any given moment
– Be sure you are taking ownership of all concepts discussed in lessons- be sure lesson goals are truly your goals when practicing daily. Areas such as intonation, technique, articulations, tone, rhythm and interpretation can all reflect your creative choices moment by moment. This is artistic work. Enjoy this creative process of imagining and choosing!
-Study the intonation of your instrument apart from and in the context of your solo part frequently.
– The goal is to build reflexes into your playing. How you want it to go in the moment is to be built into your playing by incredibly accurate and poised multiple repetitions of short gestures on a daily basis.
III. Getting Comfortable
-Play for friends in the weeks ahead of the performance- become comfortable with what it feels like to play for others. This, just like most concepts, is something one can get better at by doing it.
IV. First Rehearsals
-Work very slowly with your pianist in short sections, repeating each short unit several times, to work in a detailed way on putting things together accurately.
-Work for poise and accuracy before speed
-Use a metronome that is amplified in your rehearsals
-Adjust your written piano cues and rhythms if you do not hear what you expected to hear during your score study phase
V. Background Information
– Be familiar with the composer, his dates, nationality and stylistic tendencies.
-Listen to other pieces by this composer or pieces that are related stylistically to your piece to gain stylistic insights.
– Be able to describe any significant design elements relating to the style, form and sections of your piece. What gives it unity- motives, themes, returning material.
VI. Stay Healthy
– Eat well, sleep well, stay hydrated and exercise as you can to stay fit and on top of your game.
VII. Details, Details, Details!
-Collect and mark/keep an inventory of good reeds as you move through the weeks prior to a performance. Store promising reeds and test them occasionally. Avoid the last minute scramble to find a good reed in this way.
– Have water backstage. Plan ahead so you are not hungry when it is time to play- bring a banana, energy bar or the like to eat about a half-hour before you play if you think you may be running out of gas prior to starting.
– Be sure your instrument is in great shape as you prepare to perform