Online Recitals: Things the Parents Should Know

 

Wow. I am about to write a post on something I've never done before. 

   I mean, once upon a time, I had to do that with my first in-person recital. But I'd been to in-person recitals -- plenty of them. I'd watched my teachers. I'd even participated in a joint recital with another teacher. 

   In spring I did a YouTube recital. That was more video editing than I want to be doing this month; hence the switch to music teachers' least favourite platform, Zoom. So what I'm putting down here is just quoting the experts. 

  So, parents, what should you do in preparation for recital day? 

• Be there -- not just you, but your whole family! The idea of a recital, be it in-person or over Zoom, is to celebrate what your child can do. Just because it's at home, don't make it an excuse for everyone else to be off in their own bedrooms playing video games while your young pianist is nervously performing in front of a screen for other's benefit. 
• Help your child feel relaxed before the recital. Many children get very nervous before a recital, which doesn't help them play their best! All your children are prepared for this. And, much as we'd like it if everything went perfectly, mistakes do happen and they're not a big deal. Remind them of these things. They will be fine!
• Set up comfortable seating around the piano area, including for your young pianist. Please don't leave them on the bench for the entire recital. This won't help them relax. 
• Setting up Zoom: This is very important! Your webcam should be in a similar position as it is for lessons -- looking at a side view of the piano. Except, because I will have students bowing at the end of their performance, you may want to give more room between the webcam and the piano than you would in a lesson, so they aren't smacking their heads on it when they bow. Another important thing: Open your Zoom settings. Click on Audio, then Advanced. Where it says 'Suppress persistent background noise,' and 'Suppress intermittent background noise,' make sure that those are not checked. If the feature to suppress background noise is selected, Zoom has a tendency of tuning out the piano so you can't hear it. Not good! 
• Log in to our recital five minutes early. 
• Mute yourself while your child is not playing. Remind family members to be quiet while your child is playing. And encourage them to actually listen to the others while they're playing. 
• Does clapping for the other students work over Zoom? I don't know. But out of respect and appreciation for the effort everyone's put in, let's clap when each performance is done. (You can choose to stay muted or unmuted while clapping.) 
• Help your child participate in the activities I've chosen. I'm going to be sending out one Christmas-related question for each of them to answer. (If you're sending a pre-recorded video, ask for your child's question ahead of time so you can include it as part of the video.) I'll also be sending listening worksheets, to motivate them to listen. That will add a touch of fun to our recital, since we can't have the party atmosphere of being together! 
• Optional: Turn recital day into a family party! Have some snacks ready for post-recital. Keep it simple (who needs more complication in their life?!) but fun. 

       There, I've written my part. Watch for the student post coming up!