Learning to listen to myself: performing as a conscious act

Abstract

For me, as a violin player, it is very important to develop my listening skills when practising and performing. By listening to my playing, I can get instant feedback concerning the parameters of intonation, sound quality and even bow technique. My research is focused on understanding why my listening did not work whilst playing my violin and why I needed to record myself to get some feedback, to get a more objective and instant perception of my playing. The research methods I have used were both theoretical and experimental. I have learnt techniques that have shown to have a positive effect on other performers. I put them into practice before and during performances. I followed my progress by recording them in order to analyse and compare the results. I have found that I can achieve a more objective perception of my playing when I work on my stress and tension levels. I have also developed a way of practising that includes a performance situation. I have discovered that my problem of a non-objective perception of my playing was due to high levels of stress, and not a problem with my aural training. From now on, I will try to work not only on technical parameters, but also on mind preparation and performance.