Tuneful Tuesday: Why Lighter Practice After Recitals Matters
For many families, once recital is over, music lessons tail off. But that doesn't mean your child should put the instrument away completely. It simply means lighter practice is on tap for the next few months.
I encourage my students to play their instrument two or three times a week, but practice the songs they enjoy—previous songs they liked, or new songs they wanted to try out, Some students take this time to look up tutorials or Synthesia-style piano tutorials of top hits and popular songs.
Students need the “break” from music lessons for recovery. They’ve spent eight weeks (sometimes twelve weeks for more advanced players) practicing and memorizing a their music for a three-minute performance on stage. (I try to limit my first-timers and beginners to a one minute performance).
Recovery includes letting the nervous system decompress. Recital performance is stressful for even the most accomplished musician. It’s an overload of fear, anxiety, and excitement to get on stage and perform.
What you want to encourage in lighter practice is to keep skills and muscle memory in working order. Playing the fun and favorite pieces keeps the fingers nimble, especially with scale-like runs and finger turns.
Playing favorites allows younger students to maintain the skills of glancing between printed music and the keyboard, recognizing the note names and key names, hearing a well-practiced song and self-correcting if they hear a wrong note.
Allowing the more skillful student to tackle songs outside the lesson repertoire can spark an enthusiasm for learning new skills and styles. Some of my older students use the summer to explore blues and jazz, or hip hop and theater songs.
Giving students the opportunity to explore new music without the pressure of performance or teacher instruction can do much to keep their enthusiasm for music high and minimize the resentment of having to practice for fifteen minutes while the video game is on hold.
One final consideration is that performances are rarely individual experiences. Whether in music, sports, theater, or other activities, students learn that their preparation affects other people as well as themselves.
We tend to think of recitals as individual performances, but they are really group events. The energy, preparation, encouragement, and stage presence of each participant contribute to the experience for everyone else. It then becomes not just Johnny doing well with his piece, but also encouragement for Susie and Diego.
My hope is that families take time not only to praise their student for a successful performance, but also to recognize how their effort contributed to the entire recital. Music teaches individual skills, but performances remind us that we are also part of something larger.
