How to help prepare your child for recital

-Meredith Manley

Our Christmas Holiday recital is just 2 short weeks away! All of our students have been working hard on learning and memorizing their piece(s), and soon we will start incorporating elements of stage presence in their preparation. As parents, you can actually help us make sure they are prepared for their upcoming performance: here are a few things that you can do with your child in between lessons to make playing on recital day a breeze!

• Know what your child is performing at the recital, and encourage a performance for you and your family. Playing in front of family at home will probably feel different for them if they have only played for their teacher during lesson. This experience will make sure they are ready for the presence of an audience!

 

• Discuss recital etiquette: if you are not on stage, you should be sitting quietly and listening to the performer.

 

• As they play, listen for musical elements that you can recognize: are they playing with a steady beat, or are they slowing down or speeding up in parts of the song? Are they playing at one volume level, or are there moments of quiet and loud? If it’s a familiar song (as many holiday songs are), do you recognize the rhythm and tune as being correct?

 

• Practice running through the sequence of approaching the stage and performing the piece
  

​For pianists:

1. Walk up to the piano from a short distance away and remind them to adjust the bench if needed.
2. Before beginning, have them place their hands in their lap, take a deep breath, and mentally prepare. This includes thinking about the mood and the tempo (the speed) of the piece.
3. Play through the piece. Some of our students will be using music in front of them if they are playing it as a duet with their teacher. If your child is playing a solo, the piece should be memorized. If you’re not sure what they are doing- check with your teacher!
4. After they finish their piece, have them place their hands in their lap for a moment, then stand up and bow facing the audience.

For vocalists:

1. Make sure they have good posture (standing tall, arms down by side) and feet are firmly planted (about hips width apart).
2. No fidgeting! This includes playing with their clothes, looking around, wiggling, standing on one foot, etc. Students may be incorporating gestures or moves to help with their storytelling- just make sure it is appropriate and fits with the song!
3. Encourage them to make eye contact and smile, especially when they are not singing during an instrumental break in the track. If they feel uncomfortable making direct eye contact, ask them to look at the top of your head- it will give the appearance of eye contact with the audience.

 

• Sign up for our prep class. Honestly, this is one of the best ways to help them prepare in my opinion. If you don’t have time to go through these steps with them at home, this is a great way to cover all of the bases, plus get written feedback from the teacher leading the class. Our 1:00 classes in Richardson and Park Cities are full, but we do have 1 spot left in our 2:00 Richardson class. It’s not too late to sign up, so let  your teacher know!

By practicing these steps at home, teachers can then focus more on the final polishes for the piece. We will be going over these stage presence steps in the lessons, but the more practice your child has with this, the more natural everything will feel on recital day. Your teacher is always available to consult with you if you have questions or concerns about recital. We can’t wait for recital day and we look forward to our students performing!