Holiday and Christmas piano recitals are going to be challenging this year. So many piano teachers got creative when the pandemic hit and learned to do online recitals. But, kids and parents are getting tired of Zoom and it’s so much more difficult to attend an online recital (especially a long one) in terms of attention span and interest. It’s just not the same as seeing the kids play and feeling their energy live!
But we all know that piano students need something to work toward. So eliminating the holiday or Christmas recital makes more challenging to motivate students.
Enter the Musical Advent Calendar idea that Sarah Miller of Miller Music Studio shared with me the other day. She gave me permission to share it at the Holiday and Christmas Music Kids Love® webinar, and I know it resonated with teachers, so I wanted to share it with you today.
Sarah’s idea is to do a Musical Advent Calendar for each day leading up to Christmas (see notes below about alternatives). Her students are already working on their holiday and Christmas pieces so that they will be ready to record these in plenty of time for Sarah to post one every day on YouTube (see below for variations).
Who records the piece? The teacher or the parents?
That’s up to you. You can certainly record it if you would like, but it will take up less lesson time if a parent does it for you. Sarah sent some of these guidelines to her parents so they know how to record. Some of these are really important (like making sure their camera is horizontal instead of vertical)!
- Make sure your source of light is behind the camera, get rid of distractions by the piano – we don’t need to see that basket of laundry!
- Hold phone horizontally.
- Make sure student faces camera when introducing the song (They would not have to say their name if parents don’t want this.)
- Remind student to speak slowly and distinctly to introduce the song.
- Remind student to put hands in lap and take a few seconds to “get in the music” before playing.
- Dress up or with holiday attire to help us all get into the spirit of Christmas! Feel free to put Christmas decorations around your piano as well.
- Wait until your piece is finished, take a deep breath and then wish the audience/camera a Merry Christmas, happy hoidays, or just smile and wave!
How can you get parents to watch the Musical Advent Calendar Videos?
Sarah is really smart about this. She will not be announcing who’s video she is posting, so when she sends the email (or text) to parents, they will need to watch the video to see if it’s their child! I can imagine that she’ll also be encouraging them to like the video and leave comments (like a compliment card!) for the students! And it’s almost certain that parents and students will share the video with their friends.
Variations, Challenges and Solutions
The possibilities for this creative Musical Advent Calendar are numerous, so here are some variations along with challenges and solutions that might help you adapt it to your studio:
- Parents get busy close to Christmas – So instead of posting and emailing a link to a video every day from December 1-24, you might only post a video from December 1 to the last day you are teaching (or the first day of the school holiday break). This might mean that you double up on students – making several students per video.
- You have more than 24 students – There’s no reason why you can’t post 3 students in one video! The idea is that these are short videos, so 3 holiday pieces aren’t going to be that long. This will help you work in more students.
- You don’t have a YouTube channel – You could also post these to FB, Vimeo, Instagram, or the social platform of your choice.
- Permission – Above all, make sure that you have permission from the student’s parents to post a video of their child. (See below for a permission slip wording.) And don’t post first and last names unless you have express permission. Parents can still watch, love, and comment on the video without knowing the student’s name.
- You don’t know how to edit video – You don’t need to edit too much (maybe not at all) as long as you just video the student playing the piece without the video camera running too long before or after the video. Of course, if you have a minute and can do it, it’s always a good idea to put your logo on the video for branding purposes.
- The students at the end might not get as many view or compliments – This is definitely a challenge because once parents see their child perform, they might be tempted to not click on the next link. Please post your ideas on how to overcome this in the comments! Let’s brainstorm and see how we can help solve this potential problem.
One thing to remember about this problem is that proximity to Christmas is a real issue. Personally, I completely check out of my email several days before Christmas and several days after. So it’s important to give families a real break from piano related things during the Christmas holiday. Therefore, I would encourage you not to do this from December 1st to the 24th, but rather from December 1st to maybe the last day you teach.
I do think that if you just remind parents that the students at the end of the program need their encouragement as much as the ones at the beginning, they’ll do their best to watch and comment. So many parents are kind hearted people who will care about this too – you just might bring it to their attention. - Parents don’t want an email every day – This could be true for some parents. So if you sense that a majority of your parents feel this way, you could just send the email out every few days. Honestly though, I think most parents will understand that these quick little emails are a short term thing and they’ll be fine with it!
Permission Form
I’m guessing you already have a permission form for media, but if you don’t, you can see one and read about them here. But in any media permission form, including one for this Musical Advent Calendar, you need to indicate how you may use the media, what kind of media, and also options for parents. There are many legitimate reasons why parents would not allow you to post their child’s picture or video (be sure to read that linked article mentioned above) and privacy and protection of children should be top priority for piano teachers. Here is some suggested wording to put in your policy or on a separate permission slip. (Be sure to include your studio name, logo, etc.)
I may post videos or pictures of students on my website or social media accounts. Please indicate your preference below:
I give permission for Sally’s Piano Studio to use:
__ A photo or video of my child with no names attached
__ A photo or video of my child with names attached
__ Only group photos with no names attached
__ None of the above
Where are those cute holiday ornaments in the picture?
It’s not necessary for a successful Musical Advent Calendar, but I know someone will ask. So I’ll tell you that you can get the cute little red and white holiday ornaments on my Pinterest picture above as a free download here on Pixabay.
Secular Theme Alternative
If you have students from all kinds of religious and secular backgrounds, you can still adapt this idea for them. Try having a Winter Wonderland Week and post a collection of winter themed pieces every day for one week!
Let’s Brainstorm About This
What other variations can you think of for this idea? Do you have an idea of how to make sure that the students whose videos get posted last will still get a lot of view and comments? Please share your ideas or post your questions below to help other teachers!
This is such a good idea. I’m thinking I could change it to the 12 days of Christmas for Dec 1-12. Then I’m done. Thank you for a great share!
Thank you for curating this interesting idea for us! This sounds easier for me, too, since I won’t have to have ALL the videos ready at the same time!
This is a great idea! I wish we could take the same approach with our Community Band, New Ventures Band. We are struggling to figure out a way to continue to bring music to our audiences in seniors residences and retirement facilities. Looking into a few short videos!
Thank you for this uplifting and informative post! An idea to get students/parents to continue watching: each video will present a clue to an overall puzzle or message only solvable when all the performances are watched for those clues, like cliffhangers in tv episodes. E.g. a story line that continues from video to video, a puzzle piece of a photo, a visual or written clue (maybe involve some music theory?) at the end of the performance which students are sent a worksheet to complete. Each student who completes the worksheet and emails to the teacher would receive a special gift or prize (e.g., surprise sheet music in their mail, etc.).
Wendy and Sarah! This is such a great idea!!!
33 of my group piano students are playing the same Christmas song and I hope to put them together somehow…. but I love the Advent Calendar idea for the private students. Thanks for sharing 🎄
What a beautiful idea! I’ve been at a loss at what to do with my students for Christmas. So kind of you to share your creativity with us all, Sarah and Wendy!
All the ideas above are excellent! Linda, your comment gives me an idea. I am a member of the Caring Clowns of the Comox Valley, a small group of adults dedicated to bringing joy into people’s lives. We walk in parades, “mingle” at community events, and lead a monthly sing-along at The Views, a long term care facility. Of course we can do none of these things during the pandemic. We have been trying to figure out how to continue the sing-along at The Views through a large picture window – one idea was to record the songs and burn them to CDs (one for them and one for us) so we could “lip sync” – but now we’ve been told the residents are not allowed to sing! The video idea would allow them to watch without singing.
Does anyone have the knowhow to burn the performances onto a CD and then send it to the students for Christmas??
You could create a front cover for them and then they all could watch it in when they get a more peaceful moment over the holiday period?
Let me know your thoughts on this and send help if you know how it could be done!
BTW – Brilliant suggestions from everyone going before. I love the idea of the advent calendar.
Perhaps there should be a small prize for the best costume? Best set to match the piece they are playing? Best family production? (get siblings dancing along?) Funniest unexpected moment from a pet?
You could really go to town here and send the students prizes, CD’s and Christmas cards all together in the post.
12 days of Christmas certainly seems less imposition than the whole 24 but I guess it depends on the number of students.
Sorry Everyone
I keep having extra ideas once I press send!
Teachers could send video Christmas cards to all the students. Record yourself playing your favourite Christmas Music and add it to the CD or send it as the last of the videos to the families. (the 12 days of Christmas might be a great one)
I love all the extra ideas…one idea of getting parents to keep watching is to have everyone vote on the best decorated piano or background from each video and then announce the winner on the final day.
So fabulous and fun! My students and I are currently working on video log recording projects to surprise their parents for Christmas, but I love how this Advent calendar idea fosters a sense of community among the students and their families!
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful idea! I have been at such a loss as to how I would be able to replace my annual Christmas/Holiday Recital. It is always a very formal affair. Everyone dresses up; beautiful decorations, large poinsettia, beautiful invitations and programs (I get them here from Wendy!)- you get the picture. The students all work so hard toward it, some of them start their pieces months in advance. SO this is a great alternative! I am of the older generation (teaching for many years) so all this tech business has been very difficult. I’m going to get going on organizing it straight away.
Hats off to you Sarah and to everyone else for all the other extra twists.
And Thank You so much Wendy for sharing. You’re the best!
Fantastic ideas for holiday memento CDs/DVDs! Does anyone know about the copyright permission side of making copies of these recordings for our students/families/their friends?
I heard the advent calendar idea from your Christmas music webinar and have been enjoying watching my students faces light up when I tell them what we are going to do this year! I was thinking about posting it to my private YouTube channel. Does anyone know if I need to send a new link everyday?
It’s so nice to see smiles and excitement on their faces
right now!!!! Great idea!!!!
I’m thinking of having a watching party of all the videos.
That’s a fun idea, Julie!
Can someone explain how to use the cute ornament numbers? Are they just for a printed page or can you somehow include them if/when you edit the videos ? Thanks in advance!
Hi Alix,
If you have image editing software, you can cut out the ornament numbers and include them as an image or image overlay in your video.
Hope that helps!