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At our recitals, when there was an intermission, yes, a lot of families left. No amount of notes would change it.
Making it less than an hour has really helped keep everyone in place. Still there ar
e people who don't silence phones, those who talk, and now that the kids are seated in the recital room, some are really not well behaved. The last recital one had candy (like skittles or m&ms) and dropped them while another child was playing. So then you have the sound and kids scrambling around. Ugh. It is really annoying and you feel badly for the kid who was interrupted.
I wish notes worked!
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...some are really not well behaved. ... Ugh. It is really annoying and you feel badly for the kid who was interrupted.
I wish notes worked! Yes, we've got one group that brings a large extended family, arrives late during a performance with full voice conversation about where they will all sit, apparently completely oblivious to any performer except their own. On top of the usual stuff, the acoustics in the hard rectangular room are painful! (This year I'm planning to wear ear plugs to cut it down a bit!)
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At our recitals, when there was an intermission, yes, a lot of families left. Well, if I were the teacher, I would make a mental note of which families left, and they simply won't be invited to future recitals. It's simple as that. Making it less than an hour has really helped keep everyone in place. Still there are people who don't silence phones, those who talk, and now that the kids are seated in the recital room, some are really not well behaved. The last recital one had candy (like skittles or m&ms) and dropped them while another child was playing. So then you have the sound and kids scrambling around. Ugh. It is really annoying and you feel badly for the kid who was interrupted. Once upon a time a younger sister of my student was the most ADHD kid this side of the Mississippi. She would not sit still, and her parents didn't know how to handle her, either. My solution was to start teaching her piano and put the fear of god in her. It worked!
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...some are really not well behaved. ... Ugh. It is really annoying and you feel badly for the kid who was interrupted.
I wish notes worked! Yes, we've got one group that brings a large extended family, arrives late during a performance with full voice conversation about where they will all sit, apparently completely oblivious to any performer except their own. On top of the usual stuff, the acoustics in the hard rectangular room are painful! (This year I'm planning to wear ear plugs to cut it down a bit!) You should be tolerant of this. It's only a small group. And talking to them about it is just counterproductive. It'll just encourage them to rebel as a challenge to your rules ...
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...You should be tolerant of this... I'm tolerant of the whole thing. I'm just a lowly student in the mix, so I don't have rules or write notes. In fact, I wouldn't mind if they were noisy when I play--I could blame them for my errors!!
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If you do not invite the unruly families to recital, then it seems like they win. The student died not learn the value of preforming and the family gets free time. NNow, I've never had a bad bad family at recital, and I have a "Performing at the Piano" worksheet that I always give to new families, and I give a candy prize when it is turned in. Also, most of my students are from a private school that does chapel recitations, and is strict enough. So, I guess I am blessed.
I have 30 students. I do two recitals, back to back. I use an odd mix, of homeschool vs private school, siblings vs singles, or even just a mix of the songs, so the first group may have a student that plays the same song as a student in the second group. The first recital is a bit shorter, & I do tent to put more beginners, or single pieces there. The second recital is for students that have longer pieces, or more pieces.
First recital is 30 to 40 minutes. Sometimes shorter. I have some rank beginners that are playing a simple two line, eight measure piece. That will not take long!
So, it is not an intermission. It is two separate recitals. Both have a light reception afterwards. Yummy! Some students will perform for food. :-)
Learning as I teach.
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We will have about 30 students. 30 students, wow. If they can get from seat to piano in 30 seconds, and same for return, you've spent 30 minutes just moving. Then if they all play a 1 minute piece, you're at an hour. At our last recital there were 30+ students. My two boys took about 15 minute to perform 3 pieces, and the teacher performed about 5 minutes at the very end, and there were no 8 bar pieces. The whole recital was still done in one hour. I think the people can move more efficiently that you thought, a student goes up at the the same time when another student goes down. 10 seconds on the stage can feel like eternity.
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At our last recital there were 30+ students.
My two boys took about 15 minute to perform 3 pieces, and the teacher performed about 5 minutes at the very end, and there were no 8 bar pieces.
The whole recital was still done in one hour.
I think the people can move more efficiently that you thought, a student goes up at the the same time when another student goes down.
10 seconds on the stage can feel like eternity. Okay, so that means your kids and the teacher took up 20 minutes of the hour. The 40 minutes that's leftover is split among the 28 students. So each kid is playing no more than 90 seconds worth of music. What can you play in 90 seconds????????????
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I can play the Minute Waltz in 90 seconds. Have yet to make it (musically) at under 60 seconds, though.
Seriously, having families bring finger foods and desserts for afterward (in an appropriate venue) is a great way to keep them around.
Students lined up and "ready to roll" is the best way to avoid that time lag between performers. And a general four-minute time limit on recital pieces (with the younger ones being much shorter, of course).
Jackie "The Whole World Sings"
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And a general four-minute time limit on recital pieces What's the point of doing that? My branch of MTAC used to have this rule of 5 minutes max per piece, and then we got rid of it because it's ridiculous. Most advanced students are playing music longer than 5 minutes. I've been to a recital program at a local "music school," and they require kids to pad their 8-bar pieces by announcing the title, composer, and a little prepared speech about the piece. In most cases, the prepared speech sounded better than the actual piece.
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In most cases, the prepared speech sounded better than the actual piece. Love it!
gotta go practice
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What can you play in 90 seconds????????????
The level 2 method book pieces were typically around 30 seconds, Level 3 method book pieces were mostly under 60 seconds. Half of the crowd were around that level, allowed time for the more advanced students to play longer pieces. My boys played longer pieces, but not the most advanced pieces. Some kids played short, but technically demanding works.
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In most cases, the prepared speech sounded better than the actual piece. Love it! Really, some of these speeches were obviously written by the teacher (recent college grads), and they asked the kids to memorize everything word for word, and the kids dutifully rattled off these college-level sentences. I'm not even sure they understood every word they said. I prefer to let my students' playing do the talking. I think in all these years I've had maybe two or three intro speeches, and those were for special occasions. Hey, at least these kids know the title and the composer. You'd be surprised how many students don't even know that.
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What can you play in 90 seconds????????????
The level 2 method book pieces were typically around 30 seconds, Level 3 method book pieces were mostly under 60 seconds. Half of the crowd were around that level, allowed time for the more advanced students to play longer pieces. My boys played longer pieces, but not the most advanced pieces. Some kids played short, but technically demanding works. I don't think you got the spirit of what I wrote. Of course I know there are short pieces. The point is, some kids are mindful that they are playing a short piece, so why not give them 2 or 3 short pieces? At least they'll sound like they are more "prepared" than playing a simple 30-second piece.
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I have been in the shoes of a student lined up in these recitals. When you play in more ordinary circumstances, you have a chance to get warmed up to your surroundings and circumstance. In a 90 second recital it's over before you've even started. The student waits interminably, must be "instantly on", and then is off again. I suspect this would be hard even for a professional. Also, these recitals are an important event for the student, even if they are a routine thing for the teacher. He looks forward to it for months prior, and looks back on it later on for quite a while. And yet those proposed 90 seconds are over with in the blink of an eye, with no chance to redeem yourself if you fudge it. That in part is the student reality regardless of age.
In reading some of the descriptions of these "smooth functioning" recitals, I keep seeing a frozen fish factory. The fillets are moving along the conveyor belt, neatly spaced out, and at the right time each one drops plop-plop-plop into the carton. It's tidy bit of processing within an optimum time frame. But I can't help feeling there is more to it.
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Why not give them more pieces?
Well....if the one 30 second piece sounds terrible, why keep the audience suffering through more? I'm not a music teacher but I'm talking...terrible. That is about half of the performances at least. Then 1/3 of the remaining half are tolerable but you can tell that their piece is their piece. There isn't another piece that is played as well in their repertoire. The rest are advanced students who mostly play 90 second pieces. Then there is usually one adult or an older teen who plays longer, but I'm pretty sure it stays around the 3 minute mark.
But it doesn't really seem about how well they play. It's more about the kids having fun and having the experience. All kids can sign up and pay and play.
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What my previous piano teacher used to do, since she had a studio between 35-40 people was hold 1 very long recital as in usually 3.5-4 hours long with 30 min intermission.
However, she always plans either a dinner party or pizza party or something similar after the recital for students and parents that want to join. You have to tell her ahead of time if you are going to join for the dinner, and pay for the number of people that are attending from your family. Since a payment is involved, people are not likely to flake out on the day.
Since many of the children know each other from recitals and can be friends (siblings or referrals of families that know each other), they want to attend the party after to chat with other kids. Thus everyone attending the party won't leave for the entire 4 hour recital because it's pointless to leave for the 2nd half and come back for dinner. Plus that's rude and most people won't do that.
Edit: Just wanted to add that that teacher was very very dedicated and planned the recitals with talks, awards, photo opportunities and everything. Her recitals were pretty fun with both classical pieces and piece well known by many children like some disney songs, movie themes, simpsons theme, game tunes so I don't think most people in general were inclined to leave in the middle.
Last edited by Michiyo-Fir; 04/06/16 01:58 PM.
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Well....if the one 30 second piece sounds terrible, why keep the audience suffering through more? Recitals are supposed to be for the students, for their growth, for their learning and learning experience! If you want to be an audience to be entertained with good music, then a professional venue is the place to go. There were a few things that my former lessons had very much right. One of them was this. The parents, acquaintances, and other students were there like a warm blanket of support and safety. In the reception (potluck in church basement) afterward they mingled and supported all the students. I think they had their priorities straight.
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Keystring - That is why I ended the post with it's about the kids.
The kids seem to enjoy after the recital, they have the piano out and kids can play at will, have snacks, take photos. It seems to be more comfortable and relaxed.
Last edited by MaggieGirl; 04/06/16 02:10 PM.
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What my previous piano teacher used to do, since she had a studio between 35-40 people was hold 1 very long recital as in usually 3.5-4 hours long with 30 min intermission. That's ridiculous. Even professional concerts are not that long.
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