The majority of students in my studio attend weekly classes in addition to private lessons.  The focus is on group theory and performance.  If your students are not already comfortable performing for each other, there is no time like the present.  Why is this important, and how can you do it?

Why is this important?

As a young student, I did not have the opportunity to meet other students, let alone hear anyone else play the piano.  I saw other students once a year at recital (I could only assume we shared the same teacher), and that was about it.

It is important to start as soon as they begin lessons, and have them become comfortable playing in front of their class. My students are playing for each other all year, starting from about the 4th lesson in.  They love it. If you start them young, performance anxiety / shyness is virtually eliminated.

How do you do this?

If your students are used to participating in a group class scenario, it is easy to add in performance classes.  We usually have 3 weeks of theory, then 1 week of performance class, unless we are preparing for an event such as a community or studio recital, festival, etc.  If your students do not already come to a weekly class, you can begin by offering a stand alone class.

Prepare the students by giving them plenty of notice.  Have them choose one or two pieces to perform.  I usually use numbered cards so they can draw their order of performance, but you could use dice, or whatever you have. They may be nervous at first, but given time and experience they will be quite comfortable playing for each other, and that is a very good start.

For the few several classes, I do not offer any sort of corrections, unless they ask for help. I just let them play and get comfortable.  Then I will address any issues during their private lesson.  The last thing you want to do is discourage them right off the bat.

If you haven’t tried performance class yet, there is never a bad time to do so. This is also a great learning experience on how to be a good and respectful audience member 🙂

What do you incorporate into your studio to help with performance anxiety?