Creating: Connection + Clarity + Commitment + Courage = Confidence

How is practice directly related to performance, yet performance is not the same as practice? 

It is not a mystery, how creative, complete, connected, clear, committed, courageous and confident you are in your practice, is how you will perform. There is “magic”, music that happens when all these things align and you are in a state of trust and confidence, in the zone or flow. How are you at creating these meaningful, magical, musical, connections, clarity, commitments and courage as you practice, prepare, perform your music? Is your practice one of self and musical discovery, that prepares you for a connected, confident, committed, courageous, lesson, jury, audition and performance?  

Here are a few ideas to consider.

Connection :

The more meaningful connections you make in your practice, playing and performing, the more you will remember and stay connected to your flute, your music and your audience. Make your preparation and practice full of meaningful connections . When you do this, your brain will be activated on both sides and create more memory. The meaning you make, the connections you will create and the more memories you will have for yourself and your audience. M&M: Meaning and Memory = Connection.

Clarity :

The state or measure of being clear in thought, feeling, listening, looking, appearance, style; lucidity. Finding your own way and being taught through confusion, doubt, not understanding, leads to clarity.  Practicing with your awareness and open focus on creating clarity in your playing, music and artistic interpretation is the key to feeling prepared. Being taught and self discovery in clear, connected, meaningful ways will transform your playing and performing. The more clarity you gain, the more prepared you will feel. The more clarity and commitment to making artistic choices the more confidence you will develop. Clarity is a necessary step in learning, creating meaningful connections and choices in your practice, flute playing and music making. The discovery of these connections into clarity, commitment and the courage to be this, turns into confidence. Clarity = Confidence

Commitment & Courage :

The more connections you make to yourself and your music, the clearer you will become. The more clarity you have and in yourself, the more committed you will become and be able to express in your practice, lessons and performances. The more committed you are to making the connections, bringing clarity and commitment to all that you do, the more courage you will develop. Courage from the 12c., French,  courage: heart, innermost feelings; from the Latin, cor: heart, which remains a common metaphor for inner strength, passion and love. Playing and performing the music with a fearless commitment to what you believe and trust in is courageous.  The more commitment and courage you have to be your authentic self, the more confident you will be in your practice, lessons, juries, auditions and on stage as a performer.

Confidence: 

What is confidence? What are you confiding in, trusting in?  The meaning from the Latin root confidere is, firmly trusting, reliant, self-confident, bold, daring... Are you building upon the experiences of expressing yourself and the music in a trusting, confident way? Are you confident no matter what situation you are in? What is your optimum level of  “stress” for great practice and performing? Do you trust the connections you have made in practice and performance? Do you have clarity and commitment in and to your personal and musical choices? Do you trust the courage you have displayed and experienced? Have you made meaningful connections in this flow state, being in the zone, that lead to greater clarity, commitment, courage and confidence? 

Presence:

What is presence? What kind of presence do you create on stage?  

Studies indicate that your presence is the main thing that people experience about you. Here is an interesting  TED Talk by Amy Cuddy on, Presence & Body Language - How your body language shapes who you are. Try some 2 minute Power Poses before you perform.

http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

Presence ( From My Book Creative Practice Ideas & Exercises for the Whole Musician ~ Flute)

Presence has & is : How are you creating presence? Explore how you, Express Presence...
• Light - There is light in someone who has presence and in a sound that has presence. It is visible and

expressive, alive, alight, luminous. Kinds of Light: candlelight, moonlight, twilight, sunlight, spotlight... •Expansive - It defies the limits of body and space. It is multi dimensional, whole, unified, it is eternal...

• Intensity - Passion, purpose, power, desire, direction, drama, strength, commitment, expression, focus, determination and interest...

• Enchanting - Inviting, magical, imaginative, wishing, hoping, fearing, visionary, dreamy, singing...
• Attracting - Compelling, has character, wit, dynamic, intelligence, sweet, loving, kind, beautiful, funny,

connecting, magnetic, seductive, energized, vibrant...
• Alert - Presence is present, aware, awake, attentive, alive, alight, encompassing, inclusive, cultivating...

•Authentic - Being yourself, knowing yourself, real, natural, unique, original, one of a kind, special... • Permeable - Open, vulnerable, porous, empathetic, feeling, compassionate, connected... 

Art- ticulation - HOW you Articulate and shape your Air

In the last 2 blog post I talked about Embouchure and then Air and how it Creates the Music... Now adding on to this idea of air, yes... but what about the How of it... That what also matters so very much is the Articulation of your air, the shapes inside your mouth and the use of your tongue and the way your Embouchure is forming the release of the air. 

Now think about and experiment with this idea:

It is HOW you USE, SHAPE and ARTICULATE your AIR & EMBOUCHURE                (body, brain, imagination, knowledge...) that really creates the MUSIC.

I feel that most people do not think about and use a variety of articulations via syllables, vowels and consonants to shape inside the mouth and to create the sound, the music. 


What kind of shapes do you make with your embouchure, your tongue, your oral cavity to ARTICULATE the music? 

I am always investigating, watching and listening to great musicians, teachers and talking my musician friends. I just finished watching this video, http://www.keithflute.com/Keithflute/pay-to-view.html offered by Master Classes NYC  a great set of classes that Maryann Tu has developed and runs in NYC!  Go to some of these if you can or watch via online:-).
http://masterclassesnyc.com/masterclassesnyc/masterclassesnyc.html 
I highly recommend you spending the $20 and watching! Keith so clearly demonstrates how embouchure, muscles, articulations... effect the sound and music you are making. There is so much for you to enjoy and consider in your flute playing and music making from this fine teacher. 
In this video he goes into detail about:
FACIAL MUSCLES
EMBOUCHURE
TONGUE 
SHAPES INSIDE
ARTICULATION 
MUSIC...

My experience studying with great teachers, listening and watching great musicians, asking questions and practicing all these ideas, is that all of these artists shape and articulate their air in artistic ways. That they have thought in detail about what they want to create and they either can just do it or most have found out, via their teachers, their own study and practice... HOW to articulate and shape each note, each phrase, each sound that they make into music.

We can learn so much by learning from wonderful teachers, from listening to and watching the musicians we love and becoming keen observers and trying to emulate their sounds and music... Discovering HOW they do it and how we create that, is teaching ourself, is practicing, is developing our artistry. 

Your ART- TICULATION, is HOW you annunciate, pronounce, give voice, life to the music. 

Be CREATIVE and ARTISTIC in your ARTICULATION choices.