Reflections after the student Christmas Recitals.
- Win some: Best comment from a parent: “I can’t keep her off the piano. In the middle of dinner she has to get up to play a piece before she finishes eating.”
- Lose some: This will have been the last recital for a student who has been struggling. All the (very) small gains I thought we had made simply evaporated. The kid struggles too much and the fun has gone out of it. It is, frankly, a relief – but still a loss. For him, for his mother, and for me.
Lessons for me:
- Share with the students and parents that there will be mistakes – there will be memory slips – nothing will go exactly according to plan. For the first recital of the year, this is OK. Let’s enjoy the experience.
- Share pre-recital instructions: warm up the fingers, then run through the performance piece once – slowly – with the music – leaving no room to invent new mistakes. The newbies didn’t know this.
- Recitals are ALWAYS worth the extra work. The students’ level of playing increases – the parents see results of all their money and effort – and it keeps the lessons on track for achieving a certain success.
Image: scaryzona
Related articles
- Boring Piano Recitals (ladonasmusicstudio.com)
- 2011 = Why We Perform, and How Teachers Can Facilitate a Positive Experience for Students (musicstudioblog.com)
- How to Plan and Run a Recital (ladonasmusicstudio.com)
“I can’t keep her off the piano. In the middle of dinner she has to get up to play a piece before she finishes eating.” Right here. This is what it is all about.
UGH!!! This comment got sent to the Spam box. Good thing I check periodically.
Thanks Dave – for EVERYTHING
Thanks for sharing this, LaDona. I’ve been missing in action from the blog scene lately because of getting ready for student performances. Congratulations on another round of recitals! I’ll be keeping your wise comments in mind as my students and I take our turn at it!
All the best with it, Dana.
…and looking forward to you getting back in action on the blog scene
Thank you for the mention of my article. This is such an important topic, and I love reading other teacher’s takes on it.
2011 = Why We Perform, and How Teachers Can Facilitate a Positive Experience for Students (musicstudioblog.com)