Piano Solos

I play the piano. I really enjoy playing the piano. In fact, I am currently the pianist for the children in my church on Sunday. I love playing for the kids. They don’t care if I make a mistake.

Several years ago I was asked to perform a piano solo in a church Christmas program. I have preformed solos before but they were for recitals when I was twelve(ish) and are not the same. When I was taking piano lessons there was always a yearly recital and the people that go to the recitals are: 1) There to see their own children and don’t care about the other children. 2) Have already heard the song over and over because they were around when it was being practiced. 3) Were dragged there and just want it to end quickly. At a Christmas program there is an entirely new level of expectation from the audience.

I enjoy playing the piano and while I am not perfect, I am enthusiastic. Enthusiasm doesn’t always cut it, especially when there are other performers who are both perfect and enthusiastic. When I perform in front of large groups I get really nervous. My hands start to shake and it is rather difficult to try and play the right notes since my hands are moving on their own. Before I play there are always people telling me that it will be okay. Normally those people are the ones who are sitting in the audience, not performing, clapping for me afterwards and their words of encouragement aren’t very helpful.

I practiced the solo for the Christmas program a lot. I had a really neat version of “Oh Come all ye Faithful” and I could play it nearly perfectly when I was at my grandparent’s. The day of the solo arrived and I was glad a lot of people were gone since it was the Christmas holiday. I was feeling pretty good until the other pianist did her solo of “O Holy Night.” I lost my calm at that point and my hands started to shake. I kept repeating a prayer over and over that my hands wouldn’t shake while I was playing.

When it was my turn I dragged myself up to the front and sat down at the piano. I organized my music and was amazed that my hands were actually steady. I have never played for any kind of audience with such steady hands. That was when my right leg started to bounce and shake. For the life of me, I could not get my leg to stop shaking. I am pretty sure I made it through the whole song but to be honest I have no memory of actually playing anything other than the first cord. After the services were over I had a lot of compliments on my solo so apparently I did okay.

You think I would have learned my lesson. Oh no. Two weeks ago I was asked to perform a piano solo for the Christmas program this Sunday. I really hope that both my hands and my leg are steady this time around.