December is just around the corner

We are fast approaching our last recital of 2012 and the Christmas season. Here are some pointers to help get everyone through the next few weeks.

The week before the recital:

1. Play your performance piece everyday (but don't obsess or go overboard playing it!)
2. Listen to your piece everyday! Sit down with your music book while listening and track your piece. Memorize and remind yourself of the landmarks of your piece; starting note, ending note, repeats, accidentals, dynamics, bowings, shifts, etc.
3. Once you've done a run through, take out practice spots, new & old, meaning take out spots that came up in your current run through, and take out practice spots that maybe might sound great now, but were problem spots in the past. 
4. After some successful repetitions, put yourself in performance mode. Picture yourself on the day. Where are you standing, how much time do you take getting yourself set up, do you give a lead-in for the piano or are you waiting for an introduction?
5. Focus and listen only to your sound and the piece you are playing.
6. Have family act as a distraction. Can you still keep playing and play well?
7. Use family, friends, stuffed animals as a practice audience. Try recording yourself! How do you think you sound? What would you change? What do you like?
8. How are you ending your piece? Bow on the string or off the string? How much time will you take?
9. Bow and smile! Practice this! We must thank our audience for listening to and supporting us by bowing and smiling.  

A few things for parents and students to remember on the performance day:

1. Dress: what you wear is up to you for these recitals. However, please make sure that whatever you wear does not interfere with your playing. This could be collars, hoods, flowing sleeves, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, heels on shoes, etc. Practice performing your piece in your recital clothes just to be sure you are comfortable.
2. Tuning: Please have your violin tuned by a teacher before the recital begins. Once in the ready chair, please remember to head over to your teacher for a quick tuning before you play your piece.
3. Set up: where should your scroll be pointing? Where should the f holes be pointing? Have you adjusted your feet so that your scroll is still over your toes and your hips are aligned?
4. Parents participating with a pretwinkler: please do your best to ensure your child is playing with their best posture at all times.
5. Bow and smile! No matter how "perfect or imperfect" you think your performance may have gone, you prepared the best you could, you stayed focused and you had fun! That's what matters. Besides, any little mistakes become undetectable by the audience when they feel the performer is having fun. 

There is no reception at this recital, but there will be a Christmas surprise at the end. 

December 1st is only a few days away. Think about things you can do during this month to motivate practice. 

1. Have an advent calendar just for practice! You have to practice that day to get your picture, chocolate, etc.
2. Pull out the christmas tree, or you can buy miniature trees with mini ornaments at the dollarstore. Every day you practice, you can put an ornament on the tree. You can also do this for days you got review done or for repetitions of a practice spot.
3. Christmas chains! Cut out strips of Christmas coloured construction paper. For everyday practiced, number of repetitions etc. tape/glue a piece of the chain together. 
4. Paper snowflakes are also a fun activity. Look online for tutorials and instructions if you've never made them before. 
5. Click here for a site I came across with some repetition charts (seasonal and non).
6. Something I did as a kid was make recordings of myself playing the violin for grandparents as Christmas gifts. Back then its was cassette tapes and recorders. Today, you can just hit a button and you have a great sounding and looking video recording! Send it by e-mail or burn it on a disc so you have something to wrap and send my mail. Share your child's abilities with family members who maybe don't have a chance to come to recitals and see your child in action. Have fun with it! Say Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to whoever you are sending it to and introduce what songs you will be playing. These are also a great keepsake for yourself and your child. In years to come you can look back and see what they were able to do at such a young age.

This week pull out any Christmas sheet music you may have played in past years. I like to spend the last few weeks of lessons before Christmas break looking at and learning some seasonal tunes in the lessons so that everyone has something to play for family over the holidays. If you don't have any music, I will provide you with some. Those not reading music yet will have the chance to learn some tunes by ear if they'd like. 

Have a good last week of November!