How to get rid of performance anxiety in your students
Stage fright is a real thing. Your hands get sweaty, you blank out on your piano piece and the eyes that are all on you while you're on stage suddenly feel very scary.
Here are some tips on how to help your students with performance anxiety:
START PERFORMING RIGHT AWAY Whenever I have a new student I let them and their parents know we have recitals at least 2 times a year. I say it with excitement so that they also may feel excited about performing. Sometimes they tell me there's no way they can play in a recital because they are too scared to perform in front of people. I reassure them that we will thoroughly prepare the pieces for the recital and they will be super prepared for it. If my very young students can play through a piece without pausing a great deal, then they are ready to perform. I like for my very young beginner students to perform right away so they get used to being on stage. Even though their pieces are short Usually, that first recital will make them feel so proud of themselves and they won't fear recitals.
REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT When the recital is booked, we go over which pieces will be chosen for the recital. Once those pieces are chosen, we will go over them every lesson. Repeating these pieces in every lesson will help them naturally memorize them. We will also go over memorization techniques such as repeating the difficult passage hands separate and then hands together several times. I'll ask them to play those measures a few times looking at the music. Then, I'll ask them to try it a few times for memory. Once the piece is fully memorized I will still ask them to play their piece looking at the music as well as memorized without using the music.
THE MUSIC BUBBLE All my students know about the music bubble. I tell them to visualize themselves in a music bubble when they are on stage. In this bubble it's only them and the piano. I tell them that in this bubble they can visualize themselves playing the piano in their living room and play as if nobody is watching.
PREPARE FOR ALL THE NOISE Even though I always tell the audience that there is no speaking aloud during the performance, and I ask everyone to turn off their phones, sometimes noise still happens. Sometimes there is a baby crying or someone opens the door in the middle of a piece or someones drops their phone and it makes a loud noise. I prepare my students for these scenarios. How do I do this? Well, once their piece is concert ready and memorized I ask them to play it for me. I position my chair as if I am an audience member. I place my chair facing my student and I tell them I will be making noise and to keep going no matter what. When they start to play I'll randomly drop a piece of paper, cough, drop a book…I make a bunch of sounds to prepare them for distractions. It's silly, but helpful!
MOCK RECITAL In preparation for the recital, I’ll ask my students to play for their friends and family or some of my other students. This helps them get used to playing for an audience and gets rid of any performance jitters.
PRACTICE This goes without saying but I'll say it anyway. The more time they spend practicing their piece the more confident they will be on the day of the recital. In class we will always review the piece together and work on any troublesome sections but it's very important for them to practice on their own for them to be well prepared.
I hope this will help prepare your students for their next recital!
Happy teaching :)
