SIX TIPS: Practice performing
HELP PIANO STUDENTS BE READY FOR AN UPCOMING PERFORMANCE
The next of my Six Tips to Ensure Your Student is Ready for a Performance is to help your students practice performing.
there’s a difference between practicing and practicing performing
This might seem obvious to us as teachers, and even to our students, but if my students’ practicing is evidence, then the truth of this statement is not always applied.
Practicing (rehearsing, learning, working on things, solving problems)
is not the same as
Practicing performing (playing from start to finish with the focus required to carry out all that you intend to do musically).
I’m continually on a quest to teach my students effective practice techniques. I want them to be efficient learners who can play a lot of repertoire. Therefore, they should be using creative and varied practice strategies for all stages of working on any piece of repertoire.
However, when it comes time to be ready for an upcoming recital, exam, or festival, students need to set aside times when they are specifically practicing the art of performance rather than simply rehearsing.
This means that they should not
restart at the beginning after a few measures,
stop in the middle to fix something,
replay notes that they considered mistakes, or
mindlessly play through the piece.
These are all extremely tempting actions for most students - even students pursuing degrees in music! I know from being a student myself and from hearing others practice in the conservatories where I earned my degrees.
(I also happen to be the mother of four piano-playing kids, so I’ve heard a LOT of practicing over the years…more on that in this post if you need some solidarity on that front!)
how can we help our students practice this way?
One of the main things we can do is encourage our students to set aside times when they are "performing,” even if it’s on their home instrument. Two ways to help them enter that mindset are to
ask a family member to sit and actively listen
audio or video record the “performance” on a smartphone or other device
However, our other job is to create informal performance opportunities for our students outside of their home lessons. The more we manufacture “performance conditions” for our students, the more normalized the act of performing will feel.
Here are a few ideas for informal performance opportunities
a student performs for the next student in your schedule
a student performs for you in the lesson (complete with walking across the room to arrive at the piano, performing, then tainge a bow)
students perform for each other in group classes
students perform at retirement homes or other community venues
students perform for friends in their school band/orchestra rooms
want to help your students perform to their full potential?
Instructing students to play expressively and confidently, in a manner that reflects the quality of your teaching, is what my course, Preparing Confident Performers, is all about.
In fact, module 2, Creative and Developmentally-Appropriate Performance Opportunities, has even more ideas on how to incorporate more performance in your studio so performance is normalized and students are regularly practicing the art of performing.
Click the photo below for access to this course full of
food for thought, helping you set vision for your particular studio,
practical recommendations on how to work with students throughout the year, and
ideas to help you train your students in this essential part of piano study:
