This lesson is not a "technical" lesson, but the techniques described can improve performance. As I have seen in my own teaching, this improvement can be quite dramatic.

There are really two kinds of mistakes performers make. One kind is purely technical i.e. a performer knows what he should do but the fingers do not do it correctly. The second kind of mistake is a mental mistake i.e. the performer makes a mistake due to a lack of concentration.

As audience members, we can forgive mistakes here and there if the person is "in the music" (concentrating). In fact, sometimes these kinds of mistakes can be pleasant. If you listen to any live recordings of Vladimir Horowitz, you will know exactly what I mean. The emotional flow of the performance is not broken even though some notes are lost.

The second kind of mistake (mental) breaks the emotional flow of the performer and performance. Not only are some notes missed, but there is also a "dead air" quality which is very uncomfortable to all. The audience members can sense this mistake much more deeply. This kind of problem can be alleviated through concentration techniques.

The first concentration technique is very simple but VERY important.

Take a piece which you feel is memorized- or close to being memorized. Run through the piece at a very slow tempo. Before you play each note, visualize and hear the next. If you can't do this through the whole piece at a slow tempo, then you don't know the piece by memory. Don't kid yourself into thinking that you need to just play it faster or under other different circumstances. If you can't get through a whole piece in the manner which I described, then you really don't know the piece by memory and you are apt to make some sort of mental mistake in a performance. After you can do this at a very slow tempo, use the same technique at faster tempos until you get to the performance speed you want.

The second concentration technique is even more difficult.

Take a piece that you know by memory. Without the guitar, try to go through the whole piece in your mind only. Visualize the left hand and hear the notes. As before, start at a slower tempo; then raise the tempo until you reach the performance speed you like. Try to do this in different situations i.e. alone in a quiet room, when exercising, when using public transportation. The more you can do this as part of a typical day, the better your musical concentration will become.

The third concentration technique is the hardest of all, in my opinion.

Again take a piece which is memorized or close to being memorized. Perform the piece with the right hand alone while visualizing the left hand. Hear the real notes of the piece in your mind. This can be quite distracting with the open strings. It is a great exercise for right hand awareness, left hand visualization and your inner ear.

If these techniques are used for the pieces in your program once a week, I guarantee that you will find your performances greatly improve.

A master musician seems to be "in the music". Part of this is being fully aware of the present and one step ahead in the near future.