Remaining 100% focused

[Wyvern]

I find that when I make a mistake in concert, it is usually due to a momentary lack of concentration.

I would be interested to hear, particularly from professional players of any techniques used to maintain that 100% focus on performance.

Thanks for sharing any thoughts!

[peter birch]

Have you come across the writing of Barry Green? He wrote a book with Tim Gallway (a sports psychologist) called "The Inner Game of Music" and another on his own titled "The Mastery of Music"
You will see momentary lapses of concentration in all areas of performance - for instance, you will often see a professional sportsman make an otherwise inexplicable errors at an unexpected moments (poor Tiger Woods for example).
One or two concepts Green has:
(1) It is not so important that you make mistakes, but how you respond to them. Every mistake saps your confidence, and makes it more likely to happen again.
(2) accepting that you might makes mistakes, reduces the likelihood of making mistakes.
(3) he suggests that a significant difference between a pro and an amateur is that the amateur is satisfied when he gets it right, the pro when he can't do it wrong.

But also bear in mind, most of come to our music after a day in the real world, with real worries and problems, and a wrong note, as disconcerting as it is at the time, is in the grand scheme of things, gone in a second (unless you are in Durham Cathedral, where it hangs around for more than 4 seconds).

Barry Green is an engaging writer and easy to read, and if you haven't read his books, I would recommend them.

[Matt G]

Without getting too much into the headshrinking, I would say that diet and fitness is important. Fitness is important, but secondary, diet would seem to be far more important. Making sure that your brain has the necessary nutrients (mainly carbohydrates, both simple and complex), would be very important.

Then the acceptance of human error, as mentioned above, is important. But it seems to me that a lot of people don't nourish themselves properly before a performance. It would be like going to race a car without putting fuel in it.

[windshieldbug]

For myself, it is proper preparation and active listening.

Knowing the work beforehand, knowing where your part fits into the texture, and knowing what the purpose is of your voice in the music. Responding to variations in dynamics, pitch, tempi, interpretation. Even in works you have performed time and again.

I know that it is possible to make mistakes, but I don't even consider that into any equation.
The minimum acceptable performance is no mistakes, so it does no good to dwell on them before, during or after. The question is, how much do you add on top of that?

Dwelling on a mistake serves no purpose. Worrying about it doesn't either. If you can't perform at at that level, you've chosen the wrong profession. The gig is about active listening and value added. In order to do that, you need to prepare, physically, mentally, aurally.

I also submit that this is from a programmed orchestral viewpoint.

[peter birch]

Can't argue with any of that, good nutrition and hydration will always help, as will the 4 Ps - Preperation Prevents Poor Performance ( there may be a couple of other Ps that could go into the sentence, I know).
This is not a problem of technique, or ability (and I know that, because I have heard a recording of Jonathons playing and he is lacking in neither).

This is an issue for lots of players, myself included, and it is not in the instrument or the music but in the mind of the player and it has to be faced and conquered in the mind of the player. You silence the internal voice that reminds of your mistakes and inadequacies, and instead tune in to the small voice that tells you that you are good enough and that you can do it. And, by the way, it is not always that easy to do.

[Donn]

You silence the internal voice that reminds of your mistakes and inadequacies, and instead tune in to the small voice that tells you that you are good enough and that you can do it.

It may not be so much of a problem with real tuba players, but I took it up as an adult, and I find that I have loosely speaking another "internal voice" that tries to help with fingerings and stuff. Another way to look at it is, left cerebral hemisphere vs. right. My right hemisphere knows how to play the tuba, within reason, but my left hemisphere is used to being involved in things and it thinks it knows how to play, too, so it's kind of like you're playing along and someone leans over your shoulder and says "see this note? index & ring fingers, you can't go wrong!" Needless to say, not helpful.

Best I can do is attend to the musical aspects, more or less as windshieldbug was saying and for me lately especially rhythm, which especially favors my right hemisphere. If I think about notes per se, I will make errors, lots of them.

[Alex C]

Technical practice time is one thing but once a piece is prepared you are ready to move ahead. It is important to often imagine yourself in performance and spend your energy practicing the concentration as well as the music.

Do this rather than learning how not not make mistakes.

[Tuba Guy]

For me, if I start thinking about anything that happened during the day, or if my roommate was being a jerk, or if my friend dropped my tuba or something, I will get distracted.
I often meditate before going onstage (that works, so does doing some long tones in a meditative manner...plus it amuses my friends when they see me doing long tones sitting on the floor crosslegged). A nap usually works well too, as long as you wake up enough before the concert to get ready and not still be asleep.

[jeopardymaster]

I'll just offer this bit of personal experience: the moment I let my attention wander from what I'm doing to how well I'm doing it, is often THE moment I fall short - missing notes, dynamic or the center of the pitch, or producing substandard tone. That is a trap to be avoided. I have to process the feedback as I go - but must NEVER assess how well I'm doing until I'm done. It's rather like acting on stage - one's "self" will more than likely get in the way. You must lose your "self" and be the conduit.

[Tubman]

Have you come across the writing of Barry Green? He wrote a book with Tim Gallway (a sports psychologist) called "The Inner Game of Music" and another on his own titled "The Mastery of Music"
You will see momentary lapses of concentration in all areas of performance - for instance, you will often see a professional sportsman make an otherwise inexplicable errors at an unexpected moments (poor Tiger Woods for example).
One or two concepts Green has:
(1) It is not so important that you make mistakes, but how you respond to them. Every mistake saps your confidence, and makes it more likely to happen again.
(2) accepting that you might makes mistakes, reduces the likelihood of making mistakes.
(3) he suggests that a significant difference between a pro and an amateur is that the amateur is satisfied when he gets it right, the pro when he can't do it wrong.

But also bear in mind, most of come to our music after a day in the real world, with real worries and problems, and a wrong note, as disconcerting as it is at the time, is in the grand scheme of things, gone in a second (unless you are in Durham Cathedral, where it hangs around for more than 4 seconds).

Barry Green is an engaging writer and easy to read, and if you haven't read his books, I would recommend them.

I started reading that book just recently. I'm only on chapter two, but I've already improved immensely as compared to a few days ago. It already addressed quite a few issues I had going on in my head while I was playing, such as the "good advice" voice in my head and how to ignore it.

[awaters]

i have increased my expectations in the practice room and lowered them on stage. at practice no repeated error is tolerated. thus if the third space Eb doesn't sound as good as the D this must be fixed. i have to fix this issue before going on. if that takes three days so be it. Arnold Jacobs "masterclass" CD suggests the "lessons" of the oboeist Tabateau(sp?). That CD contains great exercises to address issues(i've never seen these in a brass book).
I am fortunate to be able to have a large orchestral horn. i brilliantly decided to let the horn do its job. in playing two performances of Scherezade and Francesca da Rimini things went very well. increasing the intensity of my preparation made me more mellow for the concerts(surprise). last i have become much more aware of breathing tension and using my breathing on stage to keep the demon away. thus i might inhale/exhale long slow 3 or 4 times before an entrance