It’s the nightmare of many a beginning ensemble player. You’re hanging in there, playing your part, when all of a sudden a black hole opens up the musical universe and you are swallowed up. Your fellow players soldier on without you. You’re lost. And you don’t know how to get back in.

Getting lost can feel disorienting, scary, and upsetting. For some players, it can be such an aversive experience that they quit trying to play in groups entirely. And that’s a shame, because playing with others is some of the most rewarding playing we can do.

Unfortunately, playing with others is off the table for most of us right now thanks to the global pandemic. But hopefully there will come a time when we can gather again. Which makes NOW the perfect time for you to brush up on the most important ensemble skill there is- getting lost- well

How do you practice getting lost well? Here’s my guide:

1) Accept that you will get lost. Look, you’re going to get lost. My students get lost. I get lost. My colleagues get lost. When you get lost, you have three choices. You can panic, flooding your body with adrenaline and making it much more difficult to do the kind of focused processing you need to get back in. You can tantrum, using all spare brain power to silently or not so silently excoriate yourself. Or you can roll up your sleeves, embrace this great new opportunity to practice getting back in, and go to work.

2) Get used to hearing other people play while you play. For beginning ensemble players, the sound of others playing can be disorienting. Playing your part while you are receiving a lot of auditory input from other people playing is a skill, and skills must be specifically practiced. Few of us have live partners to practice with at the moment, but you can simulate other players using recordings. Find (or make) a recording of the piece you’re working on. First, just try following your part in the score with your eyes as you listen. Then, try playing along.

3) Learn your music. You probably thought this was supposed to prevent you from getting lost. And it does- to a point. But knowing your music also helps when you when you inevitably do get lost, by giving you a better understanding of what is supposed to be happening in your part, now and in the future.

4) Learn everyone else’s music. It’s not nosy! It’s survival! If you learn the line of your duet partner, listening to it will be more helpful to you as you attempt to find your way back in.

5) Stop playing. One of the most common mistakes I see people make is to keep on playing even though they know, or suspect, that they’re lost. This isn’t smart. First, it takes up brain space you need to figure out where you are and how to get back in. Second, it produces lots of confusing auditory input that muddles the musical waters for both you AND your ensemble mates. If you know, or suspect, you’re off, stop playing and take a pause to orient yourself.

5) Track the beat. When you get lost, the beat is your life preserver. If you hold onto it, it will keep you afloat in the musical ocean until you can drag yourself back onto the boat. You need to keep it in your body, but you also need to keep it visually, tracking where are you move on the page with each pulse. How do you practice this? Embrace your mistakes! Mistakes are an organic opportunity to practice keeping the beat while you fumble around. Treat each one as a practice opportunity and you will improve! You can also create opportunities for yourself to practice this skill by purposefully dropping out, even putting the recorder physically down, while keeping a pulse in your body and your eyes on the music.

6) Find the most audible line. If you haven’t managed to keep visual track of where you are in the music, you need to open up your ears. What’s the line that’s easiest to hear? It can vary, depending on spacial placement, range, and musical material, but the line you can hear most clearly is the one you want to use to orient yourself. Latch onto it, locate the material your colleague is playing on the page, and once you have, get ready to hop back in.

7) Make appointments. What if you don’t have the score, or what if the things you’ve tried haven’t worked? This is when you want to set up a series of appointments with yourself, throughout the piece, in advance. What are appointments? They’re music’s mountain peaks- big, easily recognizable locations in the musical geography that clue you in to exactly where you are. Think group rests, everyone playing in the same rhythm, cadences….anything that grabs the ear can make for a great appointment.

8) Get back in, no matter what. It doesn’t matter that much if you get lost. What matters is that you get back in. Ideally you do this quickly as possible, perhaps within a few notes. But if not, you get back in a few measures down the line. Or you get back in at your next appointment. Or the appointment after that. Missed all those? Jump back in when you hear the final note of the piece, and end with grace and pride. Getting lost is inevitable. Giving up is not.