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Teacher Ideas for Piano Recitals

Piano recitals should deal with themes that enhance the students skill.

The piano recital has subsisted throughout history to display a performer's skills. Bach put on recitals as early as 1768, and Liszt referred to his solo concerts as piano recitals. These masterful pianists and composers used recitals to display their work and premiere new instruments. Today, piano recitals are effective marketing tools that help to educate the student, bring in new potential students, improve students' self-esteem and provide a venue for students to perform publicly.

Costumes


Ask each student to dress up as her favorite composer of piano music. For the costume to qualify, ensure that the composer had an extensive output of piano music. For instance, Mahler wrote very little piano music, so exclude him from this theme, even though he is a masterful composer. Beethoven, on the other hand, was a hugely famous pianist. Ask the students to talk about the composer’s output as a composer for piano. This will help your students develop essential public speaking abilities.

Grocery Store


According to MCPM, the idea for a grocery store recital started in Oklahoma. The students should get together for the recital; help them set up keyboards and amplifiers for the recital. The students will then perform at the grocery store for people that are shopping. Get permission from the store ahead of time, and the store manager may even set up a space for you to perform inside the store. This is a great idea to increase exposure for your studio and your students.

Animal Themes


Animal themes can be especially fun for young children. Look for piano music that deals with specific animals; assign a song for each student to play. Saint-Saens "Carnival of the Animals" is a good selection for this group. You could also find music for "Peter and the Wolf" by Sergei Prokofiev. Whatever music you choose, ask students to dress up as their favorite animals and play piano music that deals with this theme.

Time Periods


Assign each student a specific time period in music history. Make sure that the music involves the use of both hands and develops a specific piano technique that the child needs to work on. If you have a large studio, assign contrasting works from each time period from the Baroque to Modern periods. The students should give a short discussion about the difficulties of playing this music for piano, as well as the composer's life and influence on piano music.

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