Recital Weekend!

Good morning! It’s finally here, the day we have all been working toward. Most of you have already recorded your songs and are well prepared. Today for our beginners recital I hope to break the ice a little and remove some of the fear associated with recitals.
Many adults have sour memories of their piano recitals that they attended as children. I do too. My teacher held recitals monthly and we were required to play 6 songs in a row every six months. Talk about a long recital! But that fear associated with those times is still very real for me. So as a teacher, I do my best to dispel my students’ worries by helping them to be prepared. We talk about breathing. We talk about focusing. And we talk about the fact that for many who are playing longer songs, mistakes are just going to be a part of it, so work with it. Don’t let the mistakes throw you off.
So as we get ready for our recitals this weekend, have your child practice moving through the mistake. Tell them not to get frustrated by it, but make it part of the song. And tell them to breathe. Slowing down our breath can go a long way toward helping us to relax.
Good luck today and tomorrow, and most importantly, have fun. Remember, there’s cake on the other side!