Cassie at the recital
I’m still beaming from our Spring recitals that took place just over a week and a half ago! Approximately 115 students, spread across 3 recitals, came together to showcase their musical talents– bringing lots of family and friends with them for support and encouragement. The students played so beautifully. We heard everything from classical to pop to duets with siblings to pieces our students composed themselves. From the very young children just starting out to the older students performing very difficult pieces, everyone had a great time and our students and their families were very proud of what they accomplished. As the founder of Winterhalter Music, I couldn’t be more proud to see so many of our students and their families coming together to share their love of music with all of us! What a great reminder of why I do what I do.
Now that are recitals are over for this school year, I wanted to mention a couple of “after recital” points and suggestions. So often we focus on preparing for the recital and participating in the recital. After the recital can be just as, if not more, important.
Here are my thoughts:
1. Performing in a recital has amazing benefits!
Performing in a recital is filled with so many benefits! It’s worth reminding ourselves of these so we don’t take them for granted. Here are just a few:
- Increased self-confidence and self-esteem
You prove to yourself that if you work hard you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. So often in life our hurdles are psychological. If we believe in ourselves, take action, and work diligently, there are no limits to what we can do!
- Ease in front of large groups of people and in public situations
When you perform, you put yourself in front of an audience who will observe your performance. This can be very scary and nerve wracking! With each positive recital performance your ease in front of large groups of people improves. This will help with public speaking, oral presentations at school, etc. that will inevitably come up later on in your life.
- You improve as a musician.
Generally students learn a more difficult piece for the recitals than they normally would in lessons. This stretches your musical ability to the max and forces you work harder knowing that you will be performing for others. Once the recital is over, the pieces that you were learning before will likely seem easy!
- You get to hear others perform.
This is wonderful to do. When you hear more beginning students, you are reminded of how far you’ve come as a musician. Hearing more advanced students reminds you of what is possible if you keep taking lessons and practicing.
2. Retaining your recital piece requires action
Sadly if you stop playing your recital piece altogether, eventually you will lose it. You might have trouble playing parts of it or may need to play really slowly. Or, you may barely be able to play it at all. The degree of you “losing” your piece depends on many factors. However, it doesn’t have to be like this. You can take a few smalls steps to ensure retention of the piece.
Here are my suggestions:
- Keep practicing the former recital piece
You do not need to spend anywhere near the amount of time practicing the piece that you did while you learned it. I recommend playing it through at least once a week or more if that’s what it takes to keep it going well.
- Look for additional performance opportunities
Play for friends and family. Perform at school. Take advantage of any performance opportunity that arises. This will force you to practice and keep your piece in top performance condition.
- Have your teacher do random piece check-ins
After the recital I will ask my students to play their old recital pieces for me at random times. This is not every week and I tend to not tell them when I’ll do this. At first I get some push back for doing this. After a while the students look forward to playing all the pieces in their arsenal.
Thanks for reading today’s post! Now I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below and tell me the benefits of performing that you’ve seen in yourself or your child. Also: how do you ensure that they retain their recital pieces after the recital? Don’t forget to subscribe to receive our email newsletter and “like us” on facebook. Have a fantastic day!
Sincerely,
Cassie
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