Dear parents and caretakers:

 

For some, this is your student’s first piano recital. Congratulations! For others, this is nothing new. Let me be the first to welcome you back to another recital. Any performance is an important events for young musician as they are an opportunity to publically share what the student has learned. My hope is that students walk away from any recital or performance having had an enjoyable time, having learned a little about themselves and what they’re capable of accomplishing. As you already know, preparation for recitals and performances happens months in advance, but there are some additional steps to be taken in the weeks leading up to a public performance. My aim is to set students up for success, so that any and all performances go as smoothly as possible for everyone involved. The items below should help do just that.

Please have your student perform in front of other people. Performing is a skill which also requires practice and it’s important for the student to be accustomed to playing for others. There is a heightened sense of awareness that occurs during performance and obviously, the more they perform, the better equipped they at dealing with that hyper-acuity. Possible audience members may include neighbors, family friends, classmates, extended family members, strangers off the street, or whomever. At the recital itself, every student is expected to bow before and after their set. Their mini-dress rehearsals are perfect opportunities for them to practice bowing.

Typically the standard for most recital dress codes has been “Sunday’s Best.” That is, more formal clothing, such as what they might wear to church, temple, mosque or to a wedding. Certainly, new clothes don't have to be purchased, but make ‘em look good! For male students: dress slacks, a button down shirt and nice shoes are a must. Ties and sport coats are not necessary – encouraged … but not necessary. Jeans and tennis shoes should be saved for another day. Female performers should wear skirts or dresses, or dressy slacks with blouses. High-heels and thick heeled shoes [clogs] are to be avoided as it makes pedaling very difficult. Parents should follow their student’s example and dress well too.

Please do not tell your student that they need to play “perfectly!” Instead, students need be encouraged to do their best. There have been numerous studies dealing with this very issue and striving for “perfection” often creates many more problems than it solves -- the anxiety and stress of trying to do something "perfect" most often causes it not to be perfect. What we are striving for here is progress, not perfection. The students have been working to correct any mistakes that they may have made throughout the course of their studies, but sometimes mistakes happen in public. What’s important is that your student knows that you are there to support them regardless of how they perform.

No caffeine for the student the day of the recital. Nerves and caffeine are a dangerous, dangerous combination. This obviously includes soda, chocolate and candy bars. They can have all the espresso in the world after the recital, but please, not before.

Go bananas! Have the student eat a half or whole banana (depending on their weight) an hour before the recital. Bananas are rich in B-complex vitamins which have a calming effect on the nervous system [no pun intended] and they do wonders for reducing performance anxiety. This works for nervousness in all kinds of situations too, like public speaking. FYI.

Students should warm-up a couple of times during the day of the recital; once in the morning, and once before they leave for the recital. This not only gets their fingers ready, but their brains too. Once they leave the house for the recital, they probably won’t touch a keyboard for over an hour, so it’s best to at least minimize the amount of time in between playing. It also gives them a chance to play in their spiffy recital clothes!

Honor your student. What this means is different to each family unit: this may mean taking the student out for dinner, buying him or her a gift or a lapel corsage, or simply saying that you love them. Whatever it means to you, I encourage you to embrace of the opportunity any performance presents. Carpe diem, as they say.

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