Last week I had the pleasure of performing a piano quintet with a wonderful group of musicians for the local audience. It’s been a while since I performed in an ensemble in public and I almost forgot how fun it was to play for others on stage!

In my piano lesson plan for my students, I always include performance opportunities for them (and myself!) so that my students can experience the joy of sharing music with and performing for others. At first, my students would get really nervous that some of them would rather not perform. But once I have reassured them it’s going to be okay, and they really get out there and play, they realize it’s actually fun and there’s nothing to be afraid of! They would even ask me when the next performance would be so they can plan on what to practice!

Performing for others is a little scary yet exciting experience. You can always start with something small: playing for your family and friends, playing at a local community event, playing at your school or party etc. When you feel more comfortable, you can venture into playing at a bigger event, for a bigger audience. It’s about doing it more often- you need to practice performing! No one is not anxious playing for others, even big stars or great musicians who have been performing in public forever get nervous too. I sometimes organize small performance classes for students to participate in: some would play and others would listen. They take turn to give feedback on how each performer plays. It’s a safe space for them to share their hard work at the piano with one another.