Hi my name is Chris and I am a local Seattle piano teacher/performer. I teach mostly on the eastside (Redmond, Bellevue, Issaquah). Currently I work as a church music director, teach Sundays through Thursdays, and practice and gig on the weekends. I recieved both Bachelors and Masters of Music degrees in piano. Recently I have organized my own house concert series out of my home featuring local classical artists, worked for two schools of music , and accompany singers, choirs, instrumentalists and weddings.
APRIL NEWSLETTER
IMPORTANCE OF RECITALS and HOW TO PREPARE
Since I quit my employment with a reputable locally owned music school last summer I have organized a recital for my students to perform in last October, this past January, and now this upcoming May 1st. I have yet to meet other piano teachers who are able to organize quarterly recitals and almost 100% participation from their students. Introducing young kids to the discipline of performing regularly adds a completely different dimension to their lessons and has the ability to greatly enhance or sometimes diminish confidence levels. When a student spends months working on a few pieces and develops a complete understanding of the rhythm, notes, and phrasing, and is able to perform for other students and family/friends, they are able to walk away from that experience with a greater understanding and appreciation for their lessons. The music they are learning for the recital becomes more personal to them and several months or years after the recital many students still remember their songs by memory. Lately I have accepted several new students who have been taking from other teachers and have very little performing experience and very poor recollection of pieces they have played in the past. Perhaps one of the more frustrating aspects of preparing for a recital is that students must have their music memorized and more time is spent on less music. I view this more intense study of music as a positive and assure all parents that slow and steady learning is better in the long run.
I wonder what’s the point of learning piano if you aren’t able to share your music with others. Recitals are times for families to celebrate the accomplishments and hard work that the student has put into their music. It’s really unfortunate when parents don’t let their kids perform because the parents don’t believe their child is good enough to perform their pieces, or the parents want to wait till the kids start playing “hard” music. The earlier a child is introduced to performing, the easier it will be for them later in life when they are ready to perform more difficult works. The level of the pieces they are playing is completely irrelevant to the purpose of a piano recital, the quality of the performance and the experience gained is what should be considered.
Recitals are a great way for anyone attending to evaluate the quality of the teacher. If the students are well prepared, play their pieces-regardless of difficulty-with confidence, ease, and stong in all technical and musical aspects, that is a sign that the teacher is a keeper. If you are beggining with a new teacher and attend the first recital and you witness trainwrecks, one after the next, on stage, please take that as a sign that you are studying with someone who does not know how to prepare you to be competent on stage.
STUDENTS and PARENTS: HOW TO PREPARE
Leading up to a recital you should practice every day both your recital works and whatever new pieces are assigned. Recital pieces should be fully prepared and ready to perform a week or two before the performance and the final week should be all about reaffirming yourself that you can do it. I don’t “lighten the load” just because a recital is coming up, I continue to give new pieces regardless, so if you are practicing your recital works and new pieces than you should be practicing about twice as long as you normally would. Kids who don’t take it seriously and don’t put in the extra hours the week before the recital usually don’t play as well as they were expecting and leave the experience feeling like they wish they would have done better.
General Tips
- Memorize your pieces as soon as possible
- Continue practicing with the music open and eyes on the music after it is memorized
- Memorize phrasing, dynamics, and the emotional character of each piece
- Count out loud, memorize all rests, memorize the rhythm impeccably
- Don’t take any days off from practicing your recital pieces the week before the recital
Tips for parents of elementary school ages children the week before the recital
- Take an active interest in what they are playing by asking them questions, listening, and positive reinforcement
- Know the names of the pieces they are playing and tell them your favorite song (even if you don’t like it that much!)
- Get them to the recital 5 min early. (On time is considered late)
- Don’t cancel the lesson the week before the recital, this is there chance to be reassured that they are ready, or advised that they aren’t and need to step it up
