Nervousness in performance isn’t a bad thing; it’s a way of collecting your energy, like a loaded spring. But anxiety, especially to the point of what some call stagefright, is clearly detrimental.

Below are some of the key suggestions of experts who deal with stagefright anxiety. How do you think teachers can encourage the enjoyment of performing, so that this terrible anxiety doesn’t have a chance to develop? I’ve made my own comments on the experts’ suggestions; please add your comments, too!

1. Practice, be prepared. Feeling prepared is clearly an important way to feel comfortable, and to direct energy into producing good music rather than into fearing mistakes or criticism. And yet there are many angles to practicing. If someone practices so as to play a piece perfectly every time, what happens if there’s a distraction in the performance or an unexpected mistake? Many experts recommend not only practicing the music, but practicing performing, to get a chance to adjust to one’s own thoughts and build confidence while playing for various people. We can give students opportunities to perform in enjoyable surroundings, as discussed in my earlier post. We can also give students confidence that they are prepared even if in small sections at a time. We can help them start small and successfully, with easier pieces done well (though this has to be balanced with giving them music that inspires and challenges them).

2. Relax. Some experts recommend meditation, stretching, breathing. I remember a teacher of mine listening to me play a difficult passage and More…

It’s spring, and what better way to connect with the budding weather than to sing about it! Here is a listing of easy, intermediate and advanced art songs for soprano, mezzo, tenor and bass/ baritone all about spring.
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Encouraging the enjoyment of performance gives students of every level a lifetime of rewarding musical experiences, not only in their own playing, but also in a better appreciation of performances by others.  This may seem obvious, but it’s sometimes hard to keep in mind when the realities of learning music intervene.

For example, if learning music becomes too much about whether the student can avoid mistakes, or if it becomes a test of whether the student can follow through on a commitment, or is built around whether they can win a competition or succeed at an audition, performance isn’t so enjoyable even if the student succeeds in all these tests.

In this post, I’ll take a look at the benefits of mixing performance with participation.  More…

Building confident musicians who enjoy performing their music is as important as, if not more important than, building good technique. What purpose does it serve if students can play well, but don’t enjoy doing it in performance, or get stagefright and other kinds of stress about music?

This is a big topic, so I’m going to address one aspect of it in this post, and continue in other posts. I look forward to your insightful comments; please add them at the bottom. Thanks to those who added such interesting comments to my earlier post, Parental Expectations.

The idea is to identify some key elements for teachers to think about in order to encourage students to enjoy performing. I will also mix in some of the experts’ ideas about how to avoid stagefright. After all, stagefright is, in a way, the flip side of the same question. (See my earlier post, Is Stagefright Taught?)

First of all, we need to think about how to instill confidence and pleasure in the playing of music. More…

As a young student, I was trained in the classical style in my vocal education, and I loved it. Today, I am really more of a contemporary singer, swaying more towards folk and rock music. My students are very attracted to this, because it’s the same music they love to listen to. When I first began teaching voice, I struggled with how to incorporate the very important classical singing techniques with the contemporary pop music that so many students prefer to sing. Here are some things I’ve learned over the years:

1. Keep the Italian vowel sounds at the core of the training. AH, EH, EE, OH, and OO are what make the words sound more professional. Have the student identify which vowel sound is central to each English word they are singing, and teach them to make their mouth into that vowell shape. Since it is contemporary music, it’s important that they are a little looser with their vowell shapes, however. There is nothing worse that a pop song that sounds like an Aria!

2. Teach a simple Italian song, such as “Caro Mio Ben” as an excercise in addition to their pop repetoir. Explain that by learning a song in a foreign language, they are forced to shaped the vowels exactly as you teach it. Once they are comfortable with the song, they will understand a little better how to form the vowels and to incorporate the same feeling into their contemporary songs.

3. Find good examples of contemporary singers and have students identify when that singer transitions into head voice. Singers such as Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton (love her!) are good to start with, but it would also be fun for your student to bring in a CD of one of their favorites to study. If they bring in someone like Britany Spears, you can also explain what not to do!

The biggest difference, in my humble opinion, between classical and contemporary singing is the shape of the mouth. Students still need to learn breathing techniques, head voice/chest voice, so that isn’t different at all. In contemporary singing, it is important to retain the proper mouth formations, while still remaining relaxed. No english accent is required, and students should just try to use good technique while still singing in the English language.

Even if you aren’t a teacher of singing, your voice is still pretty important to your teaching. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to communicate as effectively to your students or demonstrate what you want them to do with their instruments. Lets face it, if you suddenly lost your voice, things would definitely have to change in your studio. Although its not likely that you will completely lose your voice forever, it is possible to damage it and make it more difficult for you to do your job. Here are some simple changes that can help keep your voice functioning well.

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Finding an easy and effective way to communicate with students is what teaching is all about.

Phyllis Young’s book Playing the String Game, published in 1978, can be an inspiration to any music teacher, even though it’s written for string teachers and especially cellists. I’ve spotted it online at Shar for only $14 (though I came across it elsewhere in a first edition for $260!).

The book contains over 160 “mini-games” for teachers to use during lessons. These games help students get the feel of what you’re looking for. Some are specific to strings and cello playing, and others are more general. They are always positive, imaginative, and often humorous or fun. They introduce images and ideas that are memorable and quickly grasped. Just looking through the book can inspire you to come up with your own games for your teaching.

Below are some examples of Young’s mini-games, but note that these are just paraphrased. The mini-games in the book include several sections–the “outer game” (examples of what to say), the “inner game” (the teacher’s goal and the intended effects of the game), and a “when to use” section. More…

Below are a few different instructional areas that need to be included in the lesson plans for guitar:

• The Open Strings on a guitar are:

  • thick 6E
  • 5A
  • 4D Acronym to remember the open strings….
  • 3G “Elvis Always Does Good Before Eating”
  • 2B
  • thin 1e

• Tuning:

  Standard tuning is 440hz. Be sure your tuner is set to this number to be correctly in tune. If you want to tune down a whole step you would set the tuner at 438hz. The same is true if you want to tune up a whole step - set tuner to 442hz. For beginners, always tune to standard 440hz tuning.

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This is the third and final installment of the Essentials for the Classical Vocal Library series. This seems to be a catch all of topics, moving from style and reference resources to performance preparation and finally career development. This installment is particularly useful for the teacher who has budding students interested in doing more serious auditioning and making a go of the music world. Some resources are not books, in particular the career resources, which are online databases for audition searches. If you have used any of these references and have found them helpful, please blog about your experience with them. If you have found another reference equally if not more helpful in any one arena, please list the title below. Thanks for following the series- if you are interested in a series of other singing topics, please list that below as well.
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Your comments would be great on this one. It’s about the tension between parental expectations and student interest.

For kids to have instrumental music in their lives, they do best with music lessons. But some kids who love music and want to learn it are not ready to focus and dedicate themselves to serious practice. Meanwhile, parents find themselves paying good money for lessons without necessarily seeing their kids practice at home. And there’s the rub! Parents are naturally looking for value for their money, while kids may enjoy lessons but not always do their “homework.” More…