Leave your nerves in the instrument case.
To do this, think of a master class as a lesson that happens to be on a stage in front of people. This attitude may take some effort, since a master class does feel like a performance.

Here’s how Rabson suggests you adjust your mind-set. “When you get out on a stage, you have to feel like king or queen of the universe. Inside your head you think ‘I’ve got something to say and it’s something really great.’ When you get up front in a master class, it’s more like, ‘I’ve got something to say, but I think it could be better. Can you help me?’

“If you’ve made up your mind to think this way, nerves settle down.”

Be prepared for nit-picking.
In addition to viewing a master class as a lesson, you need to think of it as a lesson under a microscope. For example, when you play for an audience, everyone claps at the end of the recital and no one talks to you afterward about an F that was slightly out of tune. In a master class, it’s all about that out-of-tune F. That’s the point, and honest scrutiny is what you want. A great way to prepare for the honest scrutiny is to sit in on a master-class audience before your big day, Cook recommends. “By observing a master class and getting familiar with the format, you’ll see that everyone makes mistakes, and it’s the master teacher’s job to point them out. When it’s your turn in the hot seat, you’ll know that no one’s picking on you. The teacher’s doing his or her job!”

Turn to the left and say hello.
Even if you know your fellow master-class students by name, look forward to meeting them on a whole new level. This is everyone’s chance to play their favorite piece, and it won’t necessarily be what you expect, making this a great opportunity to get up close with fellow students.

In addition, Rabson adds, it’s a fabulous way to get ideas. “Maybe your background is classical music and suddenly you see students at your same level exploring other stuff. Hopefully you’ll think, ‘Hey, I can do that.’ In a master-class setting, things don’t seem so remote.

In one of Rabson’s recent master classes, for example, someone played a movement from a Tchaikovsky concerto, the next student played a hip-hop piece for violin, someone else played a jazz standard, and someone else played an Astor Piazzolla tango.

“It’s so much fun for the students to see what their colleagues are doing,” Rabson says. “And it all goes right back to the possibility of possibilities!”

TO FIND A MASTER CLASS, BEGIN BY TALKING TO YOUR TEACHER.
If he or she does not host master classes, ask if he or she has a colleague who does. If you’re involved in an orchestra situation, ask the orchestra teacher for a master-class connection. You might also contact the music school at a nearby conservatory, college, or university. At the teen level, there is generally no fee to attend a master class and auditions are not the norm—it’s more about showing interest and then being invited to join.