How do I practice for Recital?

We have our spring recital coming up very soon. My private students have been researching their composers to write program notes about their pieces. We chose our music a while ago and have been working on it bit by bit each week in lessons and classes.

How should we prepare for recital at home? Please work to run through your music at least twice each day without the music. Music will be performed on the recital by memory, so at this point, they should be practicing from memory every day. Don't forget to go back and check the music to be sure that the child didn't start to make new mistakes. Sometimes after working on one piece of music for a while, new mistakes start creeping in. Be sure to keep it steady. If you have a CD, practice along with the CD to keep a steady beat and to practice "keeping going." We cannot stop during recital to rehash a mistake, to restart or talk about a mistake made.

Have recital run throughs where the child practices walking up to the piano, bowing towards the audience and sliding into the correct position (usually in front of middle C). Tell them its ok to take their time to find the correct hand position and to think about their music before beginning. Other ways to practice include singing the piece, counting the piece, calling out the note names and practice starting from the different sections of the music. A good way to work towards memory is to remove the music and have the child attempt to play from memory. If the child begins to struggle, replace the music for that portion of the piece. Eventually, he will learn play it without the help. About a week away from the recital, stage practice recitals in your home for your family, friends, neighbors or even for the video camera. During the week before the recital we place more emphasis on the recital piece than ever.

In lessons we have been practicing the recital music each week. We will work on bowing correctly. We are also working to polish dynamics and correct any mistakes that have crept up along the way. The memory work should mainly be done at home so that we have time in lessons and classes to also work on other music. Music must be memorized by May 3 to participate in the recital.