You may be thinking why our Muso Music Academy students LOVE performing. That's because we host 2-3 group performance classes every year, for our music students to get together and perform in front of another.
It especially helps those kids who have never performed before, and watch others have a go. The most important thing about Muso-Method group classes is that we PREPARE our students to be confident and create a SAFE place if they had some pauses in their pieces, in the event it does.
Step 1) Performance Prep
A - Event & Communication Planning
Set a date and email ALL students/parents at the beginning of the calendar year. If you decide to add one into your school/studio's program, then make sure you give them at least 3 month notice.
Most parents like to be well-informed and know what to expect. If you suddenly create an event, it will actually create stress on them and unfortunately they will not participate. So the better you organise, the most participants you will get.
At Muso Music Academy, we tell our parents at the BEGINNING of the calendar year. Sometimes, there will be changes within the weekend, or time changes on the day due to unforeseeable circumstances.
But because the parents already expect this event to happen on the weekend, they will be (sort of) more flexible with changes, understanding it's not YOUR disorganisation that is the problem - but the venue or external circumstances.
B - Allocate WHO will be performing
In a group of 15 to 40 students, it's best to allocate 12 performers. Now make sure they know they are performing 2-3 months in advance. Nothing is worse than suddenly telling a child that they are performing tomorrow.
C - PREPARE the students' performance
You need a minimum of ONE month for beginner to Grade 2 students to prepare their memory and performance. If you haven't seen our tutorial on '4 Memory Games to Prepare a Student's Performance' on musomethod.app, please go and watch it now!
If they are still learning their piece (e.g. completing their notes, or fixing rhythm) 2 weeks beforehand, then unfortunately they will not play well on the day. And as a result, will lose confidence.
Timeline of Memory Games:
- 5 weeks before the performance: Piece is ALL smooth, with the score. Teaching them bowing.
- 4 weeks before the performance: Start 3 memory games - RH only with score, LH only with score & Stop Point Memory game. Rehearse bowing.
- 3 weeks before the performance: Upgrade 3 memory games - RH only without score, LH only without score & Stop Point Memory game. Add Catch & Go game as a challenge. Rehearse bowing.
- 2 weeks before the performance: All 4 memory games - RH only, LH only, Stop Point Memory Game and Catch & Go. Rehearse bowing.
- 1 week before the performance: All 4 memory games need to be SMOOTH. Rehearse bowing.
Step 2) Plan the Muso-Method Group Class!
A - Event Outline
A typical Muso-Method outline looks like this for 1 to 1.5 hours:
- Intro to the 5 Muso Fundamentals
- Section A: 4 performances (2 hands up + 2 in-depth)
- 1 game e.g. Muso Flash Card Battle
- Section B: 4 performances (2 hands up + 2 in-depth)
- 1 game e.g. Rhythm/Clapping
- Section C: 4 performances (recital)
- Prizes
If you haven't watched our co-founder Lawrence Ng do the Intro to the 5 Muso Fundamentals, go ahead on musomethod.app to watch it now for free!
B - Performances (2 hands up + 2 in-depth)
What does that mean? Well, in our Muso-Method Group Classes, we train all our students to think like "music adjudicators". So every time a student performs, they are always looking out to see what the student did well in, and what they can improve. We tell the students to either put their hands up or give an in-depth presentation
E.g. Hands Up Example
Everyone close your eyes. Hands up if you think her rhythm was good, or leave your hands down if she can improve.
E.g. In-Depth Presentation Example
Alright, we need to nominate 2 champions to present what the performer played well in, and what they can improve on in relation to our music fundamentals! Whoever presents the best, WINS!
Step 3) Run the event & AWARD PRIZES!
A - Prizes
So how do we award prizes? At the beginning of each class, we typically split the group into 3 groups. Then, the students will perform at random (always don't allow the same group to perform in one section).
We then allocate points to:
- The best performer of each section - 3 points
- Other performers of each section - 1 point
- Best presentation - 2 points
- Group who claps the loudest - 1 point
- Answering questions - 1 point
Whoever has the most number of points, gets a prize! BUT we also make it known to the other participants to have a positive behaviour to those who won, and prepare better next time to win. At the end of the day, we are all on the same Muso team!
B - How to make the games even funnier?
To make things more spicy, every time a student gets a Muso Flash Card wrong or gets a rhythm correct, they can pull out a jenga or play a move in Connect 4!
Example 1 - Jenga
Oh no! Spike got the note wrong. He now needs to pull out a jenga... WOULD HE SURVIVE?
And obviously whoever team drops the jenga loses.
Example 2 - Connect 4
Woo! Tracy got the rhythm right, so now they can play a move on Connect 4!
OH NO! The other team didn't get the rhythm right, so they miss out playing a move on Connect 4!
And whoever has 4 in a row, wins.
Hope you enjoy this blog - these are fun ideas you can do at your next Muso-Method Group Class, and please remember to always announce that the style of the class is Muso-Method, so more more musicians around the world can learn classical music in a fun and serious way.
You are the best - see you Muso!
Isabelle Ng
***
Written by piano teacher and entrepreneur Isabelle Ng, co-founder of Muso Music Academy, Muso Music Publishing and designer of the Muso Music Flash Cards. Isabelle's mission with Muso is to help the world learn classical music in a fun and serious way.