Simpedia

Jane D., Australia

I recently had a recital in conjunction with another teacher and it was very successful. It was a noisy afternoon but lots of fun. All students played a piece of their choice. Then we had some accompaniment peices with words for everyone to join in. An 8 year old boy played Advance Australia Fair, and the 120 people present stood up. He was somewhat thrilled with that.

One thing that worked very well, which I wanted to share, was an impromtu blues duet with two boys, who had never played piano together before. I introduced them to the audience and mentioned that I was asking them to play together for the very first time. One boy played a combination of Light Blue LH with Jackson Blues chords RH, while the other boy played with both hands, doing the Blues Scale with whatever came to him. I had tried it with both at their separate lessons and knew that they felt confident at what they were doing. It worked beautifully and the audience were suitably impressed, as was I.

The afternoon ended with CAGE, BISHOP and C chord races. Students formed groups of four and raced the clock to see which group could run through 4 of each chord with 4 players, the quickest running down the piano. It made for a very noisy ending to a fun afternoon. Their were cheers from supporters as well as the odd cheat who was quickly pinpointed by the audience as I had my back turned and didn’t notice. In the end, good sportsmanship prevailed.

I highly recommend such events, as all students get to hear what others and playing. New students get to hear the more advanced ones, and it also creates a great sense of comradeship. People coming together to share their love of playing the piano.

Incidentally, as an enrolment event, it’s a great way to get new people excited about what they may be about to enter into.