Performance Pretending
This weekend I was reminded those great old feelings of dread that I used to carry with me while warming up for an orchestra audition. Generally, it seemed the pre-audition warm-up area was held in a huge, empty lecture hall of some sort. I would look around the room, listening for the competition, and would generally find two prominent attributes amongst the competitors. If you were to divide the competitors into two groups—one group would have a humble quality and the other would have a rather arrogant quality.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “And the first shall become last?” So I am asking you, what group do you think generally has technically sound players—the humble or the arrogant? I’m sure that you won’t be surprised by my answer, but the humble group generally are the better players. Why? Because they have nothing to hide. The humble player doesn’t have to pretend that they are good–they are comfortable letting their talent speak for itself. So, this is the challenge for each of you–1.) Never hide behind arrogance, be confident in your ability–just as it is and 2.) Make humility a habit–believe me, no matter what you do in your life–it will always be respected.
