Recitals are Over, Now What?

Recitals Are Over - Now What?

Many music students enter recital season in the earlier parts of the year and during winter. They spend many lessons and practice sessions prepping for their performances, which are there to help evaluate the progress they’ve made over the past couple of months. 

Of course, not only are these performances there for evaluation, but they are also there for students to show off what they know in a performance setting, whether it’s for their teachers, their peers, their families, etc. 

In most instances, a recital is a one-time shot at nailing the pieces they’ve been working on for a long time, making sure the notes and rhythms are right and that they have a deep understanding of the interpretations. 

For students and teachers, this period can be an incredibly stressful period. 

It comes as no surprise that when recital season or contest season ends, students and teachers also feel like they’ve been wrung out of all potential work and inspiration. Essentially, as a music teacher, you’ve reached the goal with your students, giving the performances that you were working up to for so long.

Now, the question becomes,

What do you do next?

The idea of returning to the exact same lessons that you’ve been focusing on with your students for months does not seem like the most enticing thought, and we don’t blame you. It might not even sound very exciting to begin prepping new pieces for the next recital season.

Of course, you can’t stop teaching altogether either. The last thing you want to do is create a stagnant teaching environment where your students let all of the skills and knowledge they’ve gained over the past few months slowly wither away. 

The goal should be to move forward, but how do we do that while completely changing pace?

Over the years, we’ve seen many music teachers face this exact same problem, which is why we’ve been able to create some uniquely fun yet educational methods for allowing your students to decompress after recital season while continuing to develop new skills and take in new concepts. 

Substitute Regular Practice With Something Else

After recitals and contests subside, students are tired. They just spent months preparing for the same musical event by practicing a single piece or a few pieces day in and day out. Now, we don’t want your students to stop practicing altogether, though it’s important to remember that most students prefer playing their instruments vs. practicing them.

Instead of making them practice regular pieces at home, why not switch up what practice looks like?

Maybe you can assign sight-reading for practice, allowing them to pick a piece out of a few that you deliver to them. The beauty of assigning sight-reading is that students will be opened up to new composers and musical styles while reaffirming the fundamentals of music. 

Sight-reading is a crucial skill for any professional musician, so why not make it more practical? If one of these pieces really resonates, you can even add it to your students’ repertoire in the future!

Teach Improvisation Concepts

Giving students a chance to do their own thing is imperative. 

As students get accustomed to playing music that is written in front of them, they often get nervous about playing pieces that aren’t written down. Teaching improvisational skills, such as understanding how to use basic chord theory vamping over a piece or creating melodies or embellishments on the fly, can be a fun and useful exercise. 

Start with easier pieces, such as folk songs, and slowly work your way into slightly more difficult jazz pieces. 

Allow Your Students To Compose

You might be surprised by how many students show appreciation of music through every single note. Students have the ability to record themselves at home on their tablets and laptops, so why not work on fluency in music notation and allow them to be creative in their own unique way.

With knowledge of music notation, theory, and creating melodies, your students can craft their own pieces over the next couple of months. It’s pretty amazing to watch how your students’ pieces evolve and grow over time. 

You can even offer them the chance to play their own pieces for their peers if they’d like.

Finding Direction After The Recital

There are SO many paths you could take after a recital to reinvigorate your students’ creativity and continue getting them excited for what’s next. These suggestions are a few in a million, though we hope they’ve inspired you to continue adding interest to your education post-recital season.