Children often love taking music lessons and learning to play an instrument and still feel nervous about performing their music in front of an audience. Even as music teachers work tirelessly to prepare students for their recital, and students practice hours on end to perfect their musical pieces, children can feel unprepared and anxious about their upcoming performance. As parents and caregivers of young musicians, you can do your part to help prepare your child for their upcoming recital performance. Here are several ways to help decrease your child's anxiety and increase self-confidence before their music recital.
Give Your Young Musician An Audience
Almost all of us experience some form of performance anxiety before we speak or perform in front of an audience. Anxiety is a natural response to the excitement of an event and our anticipation of a performance. Your child may be nervous about performing because they care what the audience thinks and want to do their best. Acknowledging these feelings can help your child move through the anxiety of performing positively.
One way to calm performance anxiety is by giving your child an audience to perform while they practice. The more they practice playing music in front of people, the more confident they will feel at the recital. Your child will benefit from playing their recital piece in front of parents, caregivers, friends, and extended family in person or virtually.
Offer Performance Feedback From Practice Rounds
As an audience member during recital sessions, offer feedback to your child on non-musical aspects of their performance. Music students not only play their piece in the recital but there are also other aspects that they must practice to ensure they feel confident in their performance. Not only should your student practice these non-musical aspects, but they should have them down to rote memory.
If your child is supposed to enter the stage a certain way, approach a microphone, announce their name and song title, and bow at the end of the performance, offer constructive criticism on how they practice these components. It is much easier for them to succeed at their recital if they've practiced the overall procedure multiple times. You can offer to help them practice walking with confidence, speaking clearly, and smiling while giving them any tips for improvement.
Always Show Your Pride In Your Young Musician
The most significant thing you can do for your young musician is to let them know how proud you are of them. Most children's most considerable fear before a performance is that they will make a mistake. You can assure your child that mistakes are not only okay but also a regular part of live performances. The more your child practices stopping and starting any time they make a mistake, the more quickly they will adjust on stage if they make a mistake.
Let your child know that you are watching them in the audience as their cheerleader, not their judge and that you want them to have fun performing no matter how their performance goes. The more fun children have playing musical instruments, the more likely they will continue to pursue their passion as they grow older. As a parent and caregiver, your role is essential in their positive growth and development as people and musicians.