Are your students able to rise to the occasion when the pressure is on? How can they be sure of performing to the best of their ability when it really counts? What might give them that added edge when it comes to their VCE exam?
There is no denying that performing is both an extremely challenging and intensely rewarding experience. Every year thousands of music students perform when they sit for AMEB exams, VCE music exams, or play in school concerts, studio concerts or at eisteddfods and competitions. Most have devoted years of training to refining their technique and mastering their instrumental skills. While no one would argue the importance of careful preparation, performing at the best of one’s ability requires far more than just good physical preparation. It is also vital to develop critical mind-skills essential for overcoming nerves, releasing tension, staying focussed, coping with mishaps, calming your inner critic, developing confidence, enhancing enjoyment and giving a great performance.
Are your students realising their potential and getting the most out of their performances? Are they strengthening technical skills but neglecting to develop the skills needed for performance? Perhaps nerves are inhibiting their enjoyment or impairing their performance? Maybe they find it hard to focus or get thrown by mistakes or memory lapses. The reality is that all students will experience performance anxiety to varying degrees and have difficulty managing the demands of performing. As a result, music enjoyment is often severely diminished and many talented students will avoid performing, not achieve their potential or perhaps even discontinue their musical studies.
But my students are doing well. Do they REALLY need performance mastery skills?
The Keys2Play workshops are aimed specifically at music students to build confidence and optimise their performances. Based on sound principles adopted from both performance and sports psychology the strategies introduced in these workshops have been proven by elite musicians and athletes to be extremely effective.
By working through the 5 Key elements to mastering performance, students will learn to:
- Recognise and understand the different and subtle ways nerves can manifest;
- Monitor thoughts, emotions, and anxiety levels and understand their impact on practice and performance;
- Learn to switch from practice (analytical thinking) mode to performance (inspired, creative thinking) mode;
- Reduce the affects of performance anxiety through relaxation and coping techniques;
- Tune-in to a great performance, using a strategy that focusses attention, regulates anxiety and controls breathing in just a couple of breaths;
- Mentally prepare for a performance;
- Cope with mishaps during a performance;
- Make a confident appearance on stage;
- Develop a pre-performance routine; and,
- Improve their practice and preparation for a performance.
theperformancetrain have developed a number of Keys2Play workshops designed specifically with secondary students in mind. Alternatively, you can design your own workshop to targeting specific skills and strategies to meet the needs and interests of your students.
Keys2Play Workshops
Keys2Play is delivered as a series of three or four sequential workshops. Participants are provided with a Performance Mastery Kit (manual, worksheets and audio recordings of key strategies) to assist in learning the techniques and to enable them to monitor their progress. These mini-courses enable participants to develop an effective, personalised ‘toolbox’ of skills and strategies that can be easily integrated into practice in order to optimise the quality of their performances.
N.B. workshops are ideally spaced 4 – 6 weeks apart.
Keys2Play – Essentials (Modules 1 and 2)
delivered as 2×1.5hr and 1x1hr workshops (4hrs total)
Module 1 provides a comprehensive background on critical performance skills, the five key elements to mastering performance and the specific modes of thinking associated with a successful performance. Students will develop an understanding of why they experience nerves, the three different ways they can manifest, how they impact their performances and how to reframe the way they view nerves. The main focus of this unit is developing a pre-performance routine that helps them focus and switch into the right mind set in less than 30 seconds as well as some key strategies for regulating nerves. Strategies for building confidence and improving preparation are also discussed.
Module 2 introduces further strategies for improving preparation and building confidence through the four stages of the performance process. The main aim of this Unit is developing stage presence, focus and concentration. Participants will learn how to make a confident appearance onstage, be more productive in practice, what they should be thinking about when they perform, how to quiet the unhelpful mental chatter, and how to focus through and past distractions such as mistakes and other unplanned mishaps or events.
Keys2Play – Intermediate (Modules 1, 2 and 3)
delivered as 4 x 1.5hr workshops (6hrs total)
Module 3 builds on earlier skills with a focus on building confidence, improving preparation and reducing anxiety through visualisation and mental rehearsal skills. Students will learn their personal ‘visualisation style’ and will be taken through a series of simple mental rehearsal exercises. This unit also has a strong focus on their upcoming VCE exam. Students will explore why exams can be particularly challenging and develop effective strategies for dealing with this. This Unit ties together all of the strategies introduced over the Keys2Play course by detailing how many of them can be combined for the most effective results.
Design Your Own Workshop
Keys2PlayModules offers a range of modules for skill development. Each module targets a KEY performance mastery skill introducing KEY Strategies or techniques for developing that particular skill area. As students complete or move through the modules they will be equipped with a range of practical strategies that can easily be integrated into practice to help them play to their potential. Whilst all of the strategies are effective, maximum benefit is achieved when students have the opportunity to develop a personalised ‘toolbox’ of skills and strategies that can be used in conjunction with one another.
Although many of the modules are stand alone, the recommended starting point is the Tuning-In module. Following this the modules can be completed in any order so you can customise workshops that will meet the needs and interests of your students. (N.B. most of the modules are 40 minutes in length unless otherwise indicated).
All modules include 1-on-1 performance assessment, handouts, worksheets and (where appropriate) audio recordings of key strategies to assist in skill development. Tip sheets for class extension activities are also provided to further encourage and extend skill development following a workshop.
Tuning-In for a GREAT Start MODULE
Module Length: 1hr 30min
Provides a comprehensive background on critical performance skills, the five key elements to mastering performance and the specific modes of thinking associated with a successful performance. The main focus of this module is to build confident starts. Starting is the most critical part of a performance. Generally a poised and confident starts sets the performer up for a strong performance. Students often start without thinking. They do not take enough time to get focussed on what it is they are about to do before they launch into their first note which can lead to incorrect tempos, false starts and mistakes. They also tend to approach performances quite tentatively. Cautious and timid starts result in thin, shaky tone, wobbly intonation and poor posture and breath control. These factors alone are enough to throw any performer but combined with a spike in nerves and tension it can make it very difficult for a student to get back on track and play up to their ability.
In this module students will learn Tuning-In, an effective pre-performance routine which once mastered can be completed in less than 20 seconds. This will enable them to :
- Focus their attention;
- Control their breathing;
- Regulate nerves;
- Release tension;
- Adopt the correct postural alignment right before they start playing; and,
- Switch from practice (analytical thinking) to performance (inspired, creative) mode.
The following table shows the performance mastery skill targeted by each workshop module. For further information, please download our Keys2Play Handbook.
| PERFORMANCE MASTERY SKILL | ||||
| MANAGING NERVES | CONFIDENCE | FOCUS | PREPARATION | |
| Modules | Tuning-In for a GREAT Start
Fine-Tuning |
Critic to Coach 1
Critic to Coach 2 Making the Unfamiliar, Familar 1 Making the Unfamiliar, Familiar 2 Strike a Pose |
Tuning-In for a GREAT Start
Sharpen-Up Fine Tuning Making the Unfamiliar, Familiar 2 |
Making the Unfamiliar, Familiar 1
Making the Unfamiliar, Familiar 2 Rock Solid Memory |
theperformancetrain 