This weekend I swapped teaching piano for playing it, providing the music for a wedding reception at Rookery Hall.

For the guests, the performance began when I sat down at the piano and started playing. For me, it had begun rather earlier.

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A little glimpse behind the scenes, from preparing at home to packing everything away again afterwards.

Prepare

Earlier in the week, I spent some time at my Yamaha U3 revisiting pieces for the reception. Much of the music was familiar, but familiar doesn’t necessarily mean ready to perform. There are always details to revisit and passages that benefit from a little attention.

The U3 had also just been tuned and was sounding particularly lovely. Preparation isn’t only about practising: looking after the instrument, organising music and making sure everything is ready are all part of the process.

On Saturday that continued with setting up, soundchecking and getting everything ready before the guests arrived.

Then it was time to stop preparing.

Perform

Once the reception began, there wasn’t much point wondering whether another half-hour of practice might have helped.

It was simply time to play.

And there’s a rather nice parallel with what’s happening in lessons at the moment.

Over the last week I’ve been talking to lots of pupils about what they might play at our Autumn Showcase on Sunday 15 November. We’ve been choosing pieces and starting to think about what needs to happen over the next few weeks to make them ready to share.

I’ve also emailed parents with the registration details, so if your child would like to perform and you haven’t registered them yet, there’s still time to do so.

The setting may be rather different from a wedding reception, but the process is much the same:

Choose something. Prepare it. Then share it.

Enjoy

And perhaps this is the most important bit.

We don’t practise simply to become better at practising.

The repetitions, difficult bars, slow play-throughs and occasional moments when our fingers seem determined to develop opinions of their own are there to get us to the point where we can enjoy making music.

I certainly enjoyed playing on Saturday, and it was lovely to have several guests come over at the end of the reception to tell me how much they’d enjoyed the music too.

That’s ultimately what all the preparation is for.

The same applies to the Autumn Showcase. It isn’t an exam and it isn’t about producing a perfect performance. It’s an opportunity to prepare something, experience sharing it with other people and, hopefully, enjoy doing so.

There’ll even be coffee and bring-and-share cake, which should help with the final part.

Prepare. Perform. Enjoy.

There’s a connection here with the Play. Progress. Enjoy. idea that runs through my teaching.

Playing regularly helps us progress, and that progress opens up more opportunities to enjoy making music.

When we’re working towards a particular musical moment, perhaps we can think of it slightly differently:

Prepare. Perform. Enjoy.

Preparation isn’t about achieving perfection.

It’s about doing enough beforehand that, when the moment arrives, we can stop worrying about getting ready and enjoy being part of it.

And for quite a few of us at the moment, that next moment is 15 November.

Phoebe and Willow are preparing a duet and have shown great enthusiasm at having the chance to play together, so I thought this would be a good week to talk about duets.

Piano practice is often something we do on our own. A duet gives us someone else to listen to, and another reason to get a piece ready!

There’s quite a lot involved. Both players need to keep a steady pulse, listen to the other part and agree how the music should sound. Getting your own notes right is only part of it. You also need to know how they fit with what the other person is playing.

You also need patience when something doesn’t go according to plan. Your duet partner might hesitate or play a wrong note. In that moment, you have a decision to make. Do you continue, or do you wait for the other person?

With experience, you learn how to keep the music flowing and help each other along. You come to a non-verbal agreement as the music progresses, listening and adjusting, and hopefully arrive at the end of the piece together!

We’ve been exploring listening and responding through the Autumn Leaves project too. The short call-and-response sections give pupils a chance to play an idea, hear an answer and leave space for someone else.

Playing together can also be a lovely way to revisit a favourite piece. Something familiar can feel quite different with another part alongside it, whether that’s a teacher accompaniment or a duet with another pupil.

At home this week, perhaps ask which piece your child would most like to share with someone. It could be something they’re learning now, or an old favourite they still enjoy playing.

I’d be interested to hear their choices. We might find a few ideas for future duets!