Predictable Repeatability: Average Performances

We practice to improve our skills. We practice to learn. We practice to develop consistency. 

We practice to give average performances. 

Wait, what? 

Sure, we practice so that our skills are above average (or, hopefully, outstanding). And we practice so that our performances are above average (or, hopefully, outstanding). So why would I say that we practice to give average performances? Allow me to explain. 

As author Lynn Helding says, "The evidence that a thing is learned is its repeatability" (p.76). As we have discussed in previous blogs, just because you do a thing once doesn't mean that thing is now part of your skill set. It isn't technically "learned" until you can do it often, with consistency, under different circumstances, and in different settings—in short, when the skill is repeatable. 

Therefore, we should practice to make our skills repeatable and our performances predictable. When we get to that point, we won't have to walk into an audition room thinking, "I hope this goes well." We will have practiced enough that we basically know how it will go.  

I think there is always a secret wish that something magic will happen once we get on stage. We hope that everything will somehow click in ways they never have before. That high note will rock like it never has, we'll make it through long phrases without needing to breathe, we'll suddenly be dramatically connected to the character in a way we've never experienced. 

OK, maybe that will happen. But probably not, especially if it's never worked for you that way in the practice room. 

If you do have a "magical" moment where something clicks in a way that is new (whether that's in a practice session, in a masterclass, or even in a performance), that can be the first step toward learning a new skill. You obviously have to experience something for a first time before you can build on that. But, as Helding reminds us, "Exposure is not learning...While exposure may be the necessary first step in the learning process it must be followed by practice in order to encode it in memory and make it habitual" (p.42-43). 

Therefore, once you have been exposed to something new, or experienced something new, it's crucial that you keep working on it: immediately after you first experience it and then often after that. If you wait too long to try to repeat it, you may not be able to access it again or it may not be there in exactly the same way. 

Then, when that skill has been practiced to the point of being predictably repeatable, you can head into a performance knowing that your result will probably be the average of what happens when you're in the practice room. It may go better than expected once in a while and, sadly, sometimes it's worse than expected. But most of the time, it will be an average of what you normally do on a day-to-day basis. 

So, maybe we shouldn't ask ourselves after a performance or an audition, "Did I give my absolute best performance?" Maybe instead we should ask, "Was that an honest reflection of what I do most days?" If not, too bad. Keep practicing and you'll have a better chance that it WILL reflect your average next time. If it WAS an honest reflection of what you can do on the daily, then I would call that a successful performance. You have done what you know you can do, shown who you are, and hopefully had fun in the process.

Related: Here's a fun video exploring the "law of averages" that can apply to a lot of what we just discussed as well as other aspects of musical theatre training (especially AUDITIONS!). 

How has your practicing been in these first couple of weeks? How are you doing on your goals? Do you need to make any adjustments now that we're on week three? 

Now go practice.