Don’t underestimate how having an audience will help your rehearsal. Any audience.
In rehearsal last night we ended with a sing-through of one of our active pieces. And by chance, a security guard and custodial staff member wandered by part way through and stood off to the side. It wasn’t a performance, and they weren’t expecting one.
But having them listen as we sang the piece elevated the performance. Knowing someone is listening makes a difference.
I’ve got to imagine that the same is true for athletes, and I know it’s true for performers of all stripes, visual artists, authors. Knowing someone is paying attention changes your relationship to your artistry.
Athletes often get an audience dozens or more times in a season, and I often think that having an audience more often would spur on more growth in ensemble music-making. Formal performance opportunities are time-consuming to plan and execute, and so we’re left with too few. But finding any audience at all – a neighboring class, an administrator, even just a single fellow student – will make a difference. Find these opportunities weekly and the ground will shift for your music.