Any ideas for a first recital or piano party??

[pianodeanne]

I am planning my first student recital for June 2.  It will be held at a church.  I plan to hand out participation certificates and have cookies and punch after.  

I have decided to have a piano party at my home a few days before the "big day".  They will get to know each other and play their 'songs' for each other and then we'll eat pizza.   They are pretty excited about the party, but I can tell they are getting pretty nervous about the recital.  

I was wondering if you had any ideas about games at my little party or something different for the recital?  Also, does anyone know of a way I can calm their nerves a bit??

[Mandy]

For the party: you could play music games like "music twister"....I don't know if you can actually buy one of these, but it is easy to make.  "Pictionary" with music terms, symbols would be good for a team game-make the kids work together.

For the recital: are the kids playing duets?  These are always fun and there are plenty of easy ones that they could do.  You could find some student/teacher duets too.  That always helps with nerves if they aren't the only ones up there.  Reassurance that it's not the be all and end all is of course an important aspect-while you want them to realize the importance of performance, they should know that it's okay if things don't go the way they expected.  If the kids are really young and they have a favorite stuffed animal, maybe they could bring that up to the piano with them.  Also, maybe you could play something?  That might ease their minds as well.

One thing my piano teacher did when I was in junior high/high school was that twice a month, a group of students, divided up by piano grade met at one of our houses, and right from the beginning of the year, we had to play 2 pieces-it didn't matter how good or bad they were-at the beginning of the year we were still sight reading.  We made comments after each performance-but it was very informal and then we just hung out and ate snacks afterwards.  It was great experience and really affected my performance anxiety.  Wtih little kids, my teaher worked out special activites that the parents could do with them-music games, some group theory activities....often one of the more advanced students would go to help out.

By the end of the year, everyone had grown used to each other, so playing in recitals and festivals, exams seemed like no big deal.  Also, much of the "bad" competition disappeared and we all really grew as musicians because we spent more time focused on the music.

Hope this helps!  Good luck!

[rich_galassini]

I also know several teachers that have "coffee concerts" and "piano parties" for their kids that are informal and get them to know one another and get them used to playing for people in a low stress situation.

For the future, I would recommend trying this out.

Good Luck,

Rich Galassini
Cunningham Piano Company
Philadelphia, Pa.
800 394-1117