Communications

What was the first live performance that you can remember? Go ahead, I'll give you a few moments to reminisce over it…. I wouldn't be surprised if you remember sights, smells and tastes along with what you heard. I can still remember the sound of the drums as the band marched towards us in what was some unknown parade to me. I was 3 or 4 and I still remember the scary and fascinating sound of the trombones and Sousaphones. I remember the biting sound of the trumpets and the feathered caps and uniforms. It was an awesome wonder to me. I think it was from that moment that I was predestined to become a musician when the chance arose. I guess I forgot all about it until one day in school my teacher mentioned that we could learn to play an instrument the following year if we so desired. All the emotions and feelings of that parade came rushing back and I nervously and excitedly raised my hand to be in the band. That first performance by a bunch of high school kids was so powerful in my young mind that my entire life has been affected by it.

In my experience as a music teacher I have found that motivation is key to keeping students working and striving for new goals. One of the best methods I have found for motivation is to have students attend live performances whenever possible. There is something shocking about the dynamic levels of a real performance. Something uncontrollable and exciting and wondrous. I like to keep tabs on performance dates and to send out reminders to parents, both early reminders so they can get the events on their calendars, and last minute reminders so they don't forget. I encourage parents to do so for their own enjoyment as well as that of the student. As an example, I recently had a beginner trumpet student who went to an Airforce Jazz Band concert (a free concert by the way). The next day was his lesson and he was so excited about the concert that he started taking on two, then three times the normal assignments and working them up. Before long his sightreading was so good that I moved him into some advanced studies. Then one day he showed up with a brand new Bach Strad trumpet. He had shown so much interest that his parents decided that it would be a good investment for him - in the sixth grade! I'll have to be truthful, I was a bit jealous - I didn't get my Bach until college.

Yes, this may be an extreme case, but I have seen many success stories that I attribute to attendance at a live performance. You just never know when that magical moment will occur, or just how it will manifest itself, but you can be sure that it is always positive. Again a story: I had a beginner French Horn player who was doing well except for a timid, safe playing style. That is until one day when she heard a Horn soloist at a concert. Overnight this student began playing with the breath support of a professional. Her tone quality and confidence level were untouchable. You see, she finally got a striking image burned into her memory of what a Horn soloist sounds like and it was more than I could ever have expected from her.

Encourage your students to attend live performances, you won't be disappointed. I jot down the details for all concerts to be presented in the area, and I even encourage some concerts that are not in the immediate vicinity for my more developed students. By this stage, the students have usually shown that music is a serious part of their lives and they have the backing of their parents. By the way, I now use my teaching software to maintain concert dates and to send out Email notices about the concerts. The software that I use has special filters designed specifically for private music teachers, so when I hear of a trumpet soloist coming to town I my email function sends notices out to all my trumpet students. If I hear of a French Horn performance I filter for my Horn students and the software sends the message out to all of my Horn students. The same applies whether I want to send to my high school students, the jazz band students or virtually any other category. I highly recommend this software, PLSoft. It cuts down your work dramatically when you are doing things like this for your students. By the way, PLSoft stands for Private Lesson Software and this is where it excels.