READING PRACTICE !!!!!!! On the day of my first piano recital, I became more and more nervous. To help me calm down, my piano teacher told me to place several cabbages in the room where I practiced. I was so eager to get over my nerves that I was willing to try anything. For the next few hours, I played to an audience of cabbages. When the time of the recital finally arrived, I was still terribly nervous. My hands felt like ice. When I finally walked across the stage, I looked out into the dark audience. I could not see anyone! All those people out there could just as easily have been cabbages! As I sat down to play, my hands relaxed. Before I knew it, I had played all my pieces without a mistake. For the first time, the cabbage heads applauded!