NYSSMA Checklist

With NYSSMA season soon approaching (early March for most of you), it's important to make sure that you are staying in shape with your practicing. Here are a couple of goals you'll have wanted to complete by now - if you haven't, consider it a red flag and fix it before it's too late!

1. Is your piece learned?: Can you play your entire piece front to back at full tempo with little to no mistakes? Are you memorizing it? There are definitely exceptions but in general, you'll want to leave yourself about a month to settle in with your solo. Having to learn or speed material up the weeks before NYSSMA can be very stressful; save yourself the hassle!

2. Sight reading: If you haven't started yet, now would be a great time to practice sight-reading. Your teacher will definitely help you with this but it's your job to try new examples everyday. A lesson in sight-reading is of course helpful, but the more you do it at home will really help you excel at NYSSMA!

3. Paperwork: This is mostly left up to your school teacher, but it never hurts to double check that you've submitted the proper forms. If you're confused, not to panic - it's possible your teacher hasn't given you anything to take home yet. But as said, double check!

4. Scales: All your scales should be learned by now. They're the easiest points to get on NYSSMA so take the time to go over them!

5. Accompanist: If you need an accompanist, start looking immediately! NYSSMA season is very busy for any working pianist so make sure you've reached out to one and start to rehearse with them.