“Good recovery,” someone said to me after the recital was over. I already knew I hadn’t played my best. The mistakes piled on, and each one made me play worse, like a domino effect. To have someone else acknowledge it as well didn’t help. Others gave me the generic “good job”, but that also deepenedContinue reading “How to Recover from a Bad Performance”
Author Archives: Elizabeth Erenberg
The Case for Music Lessons in Adulthood
“It’s too late for me.” “I’m no virtuoso and never will be.” “I’m afraid of performing.” “I’m slow to learn new things.” Those are common statements I hear from adults who are trying to convince themselves they should not take music lessons. They are usually faced with one of two things: learning music for theContinue reading “The Case for Music Lessons in Adulthood”
How to Audition
Auditions can be scary. They are packed full of nerves, which in turn makes you do the two exact things that are counterproductive to playing music: 1) losing your sense of time, and 2) not breathing. How do you combat that? Well, you might think “duh,” play slower and breathe more. Yes, but there’s much moreContinue reading “How to Audition”
Learning in groups of various musical skill levels
Playing with other people takes music-making to a whole new level. How can it work with differing levels of skill? In any setting, especially in the classroom or group lessons, here are ways I found to be helpful in managing many levels of skill. 1. Have them teach each other Give the advanced students aContinue reading “Learning in groups of various musical skill levels”
Sight-read like a pro in 5 steps
Sight-reading is the necessary and oftentimes dreaded part of auditions. Why is it so important, you might be wondering, after you’ve spent endless hours preparing music that you know? It’s not meant to throw you under the bus after you’ve worked so hard. It’s meant to show how sharp your musical skills really are. IfContinue reading “Sight-read like a pro in 5 steps”
Elizabeth Erenberg 