Spring is in the air, which means it’s that time of year – recital season! I always have at least one student who absolutely dreads playing in recitals. To be honest, I was that student! I had performance anxiety, and loathed having an entire group of people sit there in silence and stare at me perform. Every wrong note could be heard, every cough or squeak from a chair was a distraction – it was agony. So when my students express these same feelings, I have a secret weapon – Audience Participation Recital Music!
What Is Audience Participation Music?
Audience Participation Recital Music means the audience participates in the music in some small, but still impactful way. Some pieces, like Yee-Haw or Guy Eye, have the audience participate through clapping a rhythm. Others, like Take Me Out to the Ball Game or We Three Kings, invite participation through cup-tapping a particular rhythm.
The wonderful thing about these solos is that each comes with an mp3 of the audience part. That way, your student can practice with the audience sounds and be prepared once the live performance happens.
Why Are They Good for Recitals?
These pieces are electric, fun, and inviting. Beyond that, there are several reasons audience participation recital pieces are so wonderful for recitals:
- It makes an amazing impression on the audience! You come across as an incredibly creative teacher, and it gives everyone a chance to be involved and engaged. No one can sleep through these pieces!
- For students afraid of messing up notes during a performance, knowing that the audience is focused on their own rhythm-making (and maybe even messing up themselves) takes some pressure off.
- They end your recital on an energetic, uplifting note. They can also be used to wake everyone up mid-recital when energy and interest levels can start to dip. One teacher said, “Total hit! Everyone enjoyed getting involved and half way through, it got the audience up on their feet and moving, which helped them stay more engaged for the rest of the recital.”
- Think of it this way – you probably don’t feel nervous singing “Take me out to the Ballgame” in the stands. There’s so many people, you don’t stand out. But if you had to sing solo in front of that same group? No, thank you. Audience participation recital pieces can have the same effect on our students. Now they’re one of many, and they’re not the primary focus.
- Many students feel a sense of comfort having the teacher on stage with them during the performance. If it helps your student, it’s completely appropriate for the teacher to stand up on stage while the student is playing to lead the audience in the clapping or cup tapping. Knowing that eyes will be on the teacher as well has taken my own students’ level of anxiety down visibly when they realize it’s an option.
Can the Audience Really Learn the Part Quickly?
Yes! These are easy rhythms, and the group aspect allows room for mistakes because most of the audience can easily follow along. Will everyone clap it absolutely perfectly every time? Probably not, but that’s half the fun! Students who aren’t playing the piece think it’s a riot to clap with their family and friends… especially when they make a mistake!
In fact, when Marie Harris told her students that they were going to perform Mob Bop at the mall, ALL of her students wanted to play it! So she turned the piece into a multi-keyboard piece, and even bystanders at the mall were able to pick up the audience clapping portion just while walking by!
Which ComposeCreate® Pieces Include Audience Participation?
The Student Solutions Catalog has an entire page dedicated to Audience Participation Recital Music (page 57)! If you haven’t already downloaded the Free Student Solutions Catalog, you can find out more information and download it here. This 88-page PDF was designed to help you find music you need quickly and easily so that you don’t waste time searching for a piece that meets a specific need.
The catalog is very user friendly – just click on anything in the catalog to go directly there! See something in the Table of Contents you want? Just click it and you get taken directly to that page. See a piece on a page you want to check out? Just click the picture and you’ll be taken directly to that item in the store.
Not only can you find music based on a theme, like Audience Participation, but you can search for pieces that solve specific problems, themed music, holiday music by level, and so much more. There are so many ways to use this Catalog – you can find some great ideas listed on this post.
Audience Participation Recital Music Available:
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Product on sale
Original price was: $21.98.$19.99Current price is: $19.99. -
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Is there a way to use audience participation pieces in Zoom or Forte recitals?
That’s a great question! If you are doing a recital via Zoom, you already know that you’d have to have the audience muted while the student performs. So yes, if the audience is muted, and if you can play the sample clapping tracks with the student while they are performing (on the performance end), then the audience members can definitely clap along with the student. You’ll be able to see them clapping and even if they are not quite right on beat, they will FEEL like they are because they are perceiving themselves to be clapping right with the music. For more information on how this works, read this article: https://composecreate.com/how-to-use-rhythm-menagerie-and-rhythm-cup-explorations-online/
Interesting and helpful article, thank you