On the Importance of Being an Audience

Although you are probably aware of all the reasons why it is good for your child to perform in front of an audience, we don't talk much about what your child gains from being a part of the audience! Here are five reasons why it is good to attend live performances with your child.

1. Live performances are a good chance to practice listening skills. Guide your child to listen for specific phrasing gestures or articulations. For example, “Let's listen and see if there is a forte section in this next song!” or “Can you hear any choppy notes?”.
2. Learning to listen quietly with your body is an important skill. it helps kids calm themselves and pay better attention to the outside world. The first step is keeping voices quiet or silent. Slightly more experienced audience members can also think about keeping bodies quiet to avoid drawing attention.
3. It expands your child’s ear. When children only hear music on one type of instrument, it limits their ear to the tone and range of music that’s available.
4. Children learn from each other! When your child listens to the recordings, they are hearing one adult’s version of each piece. This is useful, but it is also beneficial for students to hear the repertoire with childlike expression. It makes the music more accessible to young students, and gives them ideas they might incorporate into their own playing.
5. Watching live performances motivates your child to practice and progress! When students see other children performing advanced pieces, they have something to look forward to as they grow as players. It demonstrates how their focus and hard work can pay off!

As children strive to become better listeners and audience members, they will learn better focus! Although your child may not be the perfect audience member, it is an important skill to build and grow with practice.

- Shannon Jansma, published in the May 2017 issue of the Ann Arbor Suzuki Institute newsletter