Case Study Jessica #5 - Performance Class

Jessica’s demeanor in the performance class revealed her aspiration right from the start. Her eyes were bright and hopeful. Her body language demonstrated that she wanted to achieve something great, but was unsure if she would gain the approval of those around her.

She approached the bench somewhat tentatively and began to play. She did not take time to think about her entrance into “Arabesque”, and was caught off guard at the first melodic change in the right hand. At that point, she made the decision to start again. On her second approach, she played “Arabesque” with a brilliant singing tone. The melody captured the attention of her listeners, but her dynamic level was not as strong as it could have been. Jessica was also tentative as she played “Medieval Sand Castle.” She played the opening section with ease, but was thrown off a little in the middle section. Despite her mistake, she was able to finish beautifully with poise.

Other students in the class made comments about how they liked her fast fingers in “Arabesque,” and how the “Medieval Sand Castle” sounded majestic at the beginning. I don’t know if Jessica was willing to absorb the positive comments because she was only verbalizing negative things about her performance and shaking her head when others said positive things. I encouraged her to try to focus on the positive elements.

She will have to focus on the middle of “Medieval Sand Castle” for the sake of memorization. She also needs to work on her overall musicality. She understands the necessity of note accuracy and rhythmic fluency, but I would like to see grow in her understanding of musical expression. Nonetheless, I was thrilled to hear her get through both pieces in a performance setting.

Indeed, her non verbal cues at the beginning of the class were consistent with her performance and her reaction to her performance. She is unsure of herself. She wants to perform well. She wants approval. She has been given every tool to be able to do so, but the many weeks of resistance to my teaching and to her own practicing add up to not being able to meet her own expectations at performance time. As she processes her performance, and desires to be a better performer, hopefully it’s not too late for her to pull off an excellent performance at the festival in three weeks. We will work hard toward this end in her next two lessons!

Is she concentrating on the music during her performance? How much of her self worth is wrapped up in her performance? How can I help her become a better performer?