Mastering the Art of Performance: A Primer for Musicians
Stewart Gordon
Abstract
This book offers advice for all performers to achieve performance mastery. It defines performance in the broadest terms as being applicable to many life situations and challenges in many professions. Through real life experiences and pre-performance exercises, the book offers highly practical advice on every aspect of performance. It analyzes motivation, assesses talent levels, sets performance goals, suggests levels of energy needed, and develops a performance philosophy. It deals with building technique, practice routines, the role of repetition and drill, changing bad habits, and developing ... More
This book offers advice for all performers to achieve performance mastery. It defines performance in the broadest terms as being applicable to many life situations and challenges in many professions. Through real life experiences and pre-performance exercises, the book offers highly practical advice on every aspect of performance. It analyzes motivation, assesses talent levels, sets performance goals, suggests levels of energy needed, and develops a performance philosophy. It deals with building technique, practice routines, the role of repetition and drill, changing bad habits, and developing a secure memory. It discusses performance anxiety or stage fright and how to deal with it. It explores psychological states during performance, evaluation after performance, audience reaction, and challenges faced during a lifetime of performance, including career planning, plateaus, and burnout. Finally, it relates performance to the development of a spiritual life.
Keywords:
performance mastery,
motivation,
talent levels,
performance goals,
practice routines,
performance anxiety,
stage fright,
evaluation
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2006 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780195177435 |
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2010 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177435.001.0001 |