Exposition

Cultivating courage on stage by applying various practice methods (2025)

Joost Hettinga
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About this exposition

This research focuses on cultivating courage on stage. Many music students in conservatoires struggle with stage fright and a big gap between potential and outcome. Three different practice strategies aimed at cultivating courage were selected and applied in a practice-based experiment.  Two of these strategies are science-supported, namely Random Practice and Practicing Performing. In Random Practice, musical material that needs to be studied is practiced in short bits instead of larger chunks. Practicing Performing entails choosing several performance moments and tracking possible development in performing skills. Additionally,  practicing 'Occupying Space' was applied, in which the performer seeks a feeling of playing outward and being open while practicing in order to make it a habit and ultimately being able to convert it to the stage. This combination of practice strategies was applied in the practice process of three fragments that were prepared for various performance settings. Each performance was followed up by an evaluation, which led to improvements of the applied practice strategies, adopting the methodology of action research. The research showed that the investigated practice strategies are potentially effective, but that the quality and timing of their application is highly influential. Random Practice is mostly helpful in a later stage of working towards performances. Practice Performing can be beneficial, but requires a high frequency and quality expectations should be set relatively low. Practicing Occupying Space provides the musician with a more suitable mindset to perform, but is only of value when combined with other strategies.
typeresearch exposition
keywordsstage fright, courage, practice strategies, random practice, practice performing, occupying space
date18/11/2024
published14/07/2025
last modified14/07/2025
statuslimited publication
copyrightJ.H 2024
licenseCC BY-NC-ND
languageEnglish
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3196442/3196443
published inKC Research Portal
portal issue3. Internal publication

References

  • Csíkszentmihályi, Mihály, Flow - The Psychology Of Optimal Experience, 1990
  • Selye, Hans, “What Is Stress”, in Stress of Life, ed. by H. Selye, 1946

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nameEUYO audition excerpt list
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nameHummel trumpet concerto (solo part in Bb)
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name1st round Military band
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nameConcertgebouworkest academy trumpet video excerpts
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nameLog Book random practice (EN)
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nameLogboek random practice
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nameEvaluation practice performing and occupying space
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nameEUYO 1st round
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nameTrumpet Class Concert 21-11-2024
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comments: 1 (last entry by Bastiaan van der Waals - 04/03/2025 at 17:36)