Unfortunately, many people have negative memories centered around piano recitals. This can make it difficult to persuade Uncle Joe to come to hear little Susie play her piano piece at the annual recital. It can also make it hard to persuade little Susie’s mom and dad to stay for the entire recital. Even the fear of future negative memories centered around piano recitals can make it almost impossible to get little Susie to agree to play in the piano recital. So, what’s a piano teacher to do?
Here are 7 ways to make sure Uncle Joe, Susie, her mom, and her dad not only attend the recital, but thoroughly enjoy it as well!
1. Give your recital a “cool” upgrade and call it a CONCERT instead.
Let’s face it – most people associate the word recital with boredom. How many people do you know who are telling their friends they can’t wait for the next recital? On the other hand, how many people are proud to announce that they have tickets to see their favorite artist in concert? I’m just saying…
2. Allow students to play more than one song and put one song at the beginning of the concert and the other later in the program.
This will work especially well if the pieces your students play are short. Be sure to keep concerts no longer than about 90 minutes at the most.
3. Highlight other talents your students have.
If you have a student who loves to sing, have her sing while playing.
4. Encourage students to collaborate.
Have one student play the piano while another student sings.
5. Promote interaction with the audience.
In the picture above, a student and I get the audience to chant the main phrase of the song we had just performed as a duet.
6. Invite other artists to be special guests at your concert.
Dancers, singers, poets, and instrumentalists who play something other than the piano are good choices. It gives the audience a break from piano music, gives you time to get kids ready for whatever comes next, and exposes your students to the other performing arts.
7. Consider having parents and students collaborate.
You may have parents who sing, act, dance, etc. Ask them to accompany one of your students as they play the piano. This works really well when you pair parents up with kids other than their own.
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Kids & Keys 
Funnily enough, I was just working on a draft of the same topic – with a different slant. (Should be posted Friday). Great ideas! Let’s stamp out of boredom of the piano recital.
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Ooh I can’t wait until Friday – you always have such great ideas! Yes – just say NO to boredom!
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Oh no. Pressure is on. I don’t have solutions – only statements of the problem. I’m totally linking to YOUR post for the solutions!
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Lol! We make a great tag team!
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Love these ideas! 5, 6, & 7 were especially thought-provoking for me. Do you do a backdrop or decorations? When I taught elementary music, I almost “ruined” my first concert because I hadn’t decorated the auditorium. I didn’t know it was a faux pas, but the other teachers saved me at the last minute from masses of riotous parents expecting decorations. (Ha!) I haven’t decorated for a piano recital (concert!) before, but I’m considering it this year.
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Hi Lauren! Thanks for checking out my blog and commenting! I do get decorations – thankfully many of the parents are often more than happy to come early and decorate. I’ve always wanted to do a backdrop but never seem to have an artist around who will make it for me. I am terrible with visual art! I have to really work on getting help from some of the local art teachers! I agree that not having that stage decorated definitely makes you have to work harder to keep everyone interested and excited.
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#3 and #7 both have been things we have incorporated into our dance recitals each year. I think your great suggestions would work for several types of recitals. Thanks so much!
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Catherine! Thank you for reading Kids and Keys and commenting. I had not even thought about using these ideas for different types of recitals! I like the way you think out of the box!
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