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"Preparing Students For Performance"
in
Making Music and Enriching Lives
Learn even
more ideas in
Making Music and
Having a Blast!
to help you and your students get more out of their lessons
for concrete solutions to your everyday problems and ideas to get more satisfaction from the
best job in the world!
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It's not worth it unless it's fun!
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Greetings!
Annual activities for my students include several contests. Participation in contests gives the students goals, expert opinions from other teachers, performing experience, and a chance to share music. It also holds us all to a higher standard throughout the year.
But the most important thing I want my students to gain from contests is a feeling of confidence in a job well done and to leave smiling and happy.
That feeling of pride and accomplishment inspires them to keep practicing and move on to the next level.
 | | Every note deserves to be played well. |
In the last few years, unfortunately, I've seen many students of all instruments crash and burn at contests; their music is riddled with mistakes, they play most of the notes (but none of them musically), they mistake speed for musicality, and they have huge memory lapses. These poor kids stand on stage shaking in fear and sometimes even crying in embarrassment. Perhaps just as bad are those that play badly and don't know the difference.
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How can you prevent your students from falling apart?
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There is no guarantee, but giving them the right music for their motivation and their current musical level will give them the best chance for success. I'm going to write this in big print:
Please don't give your students music that is too hard for them to play well.
It's an easy trap to fall into! Parents may pressure you, students may beg you, and you may want to brag that your students are playing advanced literature, but when your students can't play the music well, you are doing no one (including the audience) any favors. If you wouldn't play poorly in public, why would you let your students?
Your job as a teacher is to promote a love and a respect for the music. Of course, there will be some mistakes, but giving your students music they can't understand or technically and musically perform well sets them up for disappointment and for quitting.
Who wants to play in the contest next year after leaving the stage this year in tears?
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Happy contest performers with adjudicator Mary Stolper
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Insurance for Success
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Here are some tips to set your students up for success:
- Ask students for a practice commitment.
"This is a tough piece. Are you sure you will practice an hour every day?"
- Give students intermediate goals
Memorize through page 5 by January.
- Practice the performance, not just the music.
Schedule small concerts before the big day.
- Make sure students can play the music well.
Remember that music is not just notes and rhythm; it is phrasing and feeling.
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The big day is not so scary when you've performed in practice concerts before.
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What happens when students aren't prepared to play their best?
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On those occasions when my students don't play well in the practice concerts and the two lessons before the concert are ill-prepared, I first give them "the speech" and then offer additional help.
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Got the flute flu?
Practice is the only cure.
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If that doesn't work, then they mysteriously come down with the "flute flu." I just pull them out of the contest.
Usually the "threat" of being pulled out gets instant results, but I believe it's better to miss playing in a contest than to play poorly and feel bad.
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Flute Flash
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 After graduating from the Eastman School of Music, my former student Kasumi Leonard joined the Army Field Band (a fulfilling career path).
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Thanks to my friends in Gig Harbor for being such a receptive audience.
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Got ideas for future newsletters? Let me know!
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Hi Bonnie,
Just wanted to tell you that you are such an inspiration! Every time I hear you speak I come away with something very useful. Your examples are entertaining and instructive at the same time. Thanks for all you do!
Marian Wisham, Gig harbor
Dear Bonnie,
Thanks a lot for your good discussion with us yesterday, so very well-ordered and winsomely presented. I thoroughly enjoyed your topic and found your good ideas both insightful and worth implementing. I look forward to diving into both books that you have written. Thanks again!
Cordially,
Ron Bechtel, Gig Harbor
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| Memories from MTNA convention at Disneyland | |
 | | Northwest Division Dinner |
 | MTNA-
where dreams come true |
 | | Before the pumpkin |
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