How To Motivate Your Child Before a Music Performance?

Performing before others is a nerve-wracking experience for many. Even many professional musicians and actors admit they still have some stage fright before a show begins.

If your child seems unmotivated to practice or perform, it may be due to anxiety and feeling unprepared or outside their comfort zone. To help your child overcome any anxiety associated with performances, create a supportive environment that motivates your child to practice and feel confident.

When a child feels confident in their abilities, they are more likely to practice their musical instrument and be excited about an upcoming performance. While you want to avoid phrases like "practice makes perfect" because mistakes may and will occasionally happen, providing positive support goes a long way in creating internal motivation.

Whether your child plays an instrument, sings, or is involved with dance, this article offers advice on preparing your child to perform in front of others. It also provides tips for parents on motivating and supporting their child's musical experience.

Struggling to motivate your ADHD child?

 

Download the Joon App and start your free 7-day trial.  

Download App

   

Tips to Prepare Your Child for a Musical Performance

Like all skills, music takes practice and patience. But in addition to making practice time part of your child's daily routine, there are some things you can do to build up your child's confidence and increase their motivation.

Try Joon To Help

Kids are often easily distracted and struggle to manage their time effectively. So what may seem like a lack of desire to practice may actually be a child struggling to focus and follow through. Joon is designed to promote independence, increase attention span, and improve task completion through gamification.

Joon encourages kids by motivating them to attend to the activity at hand by rewarding task completion. This process builds healthy habits and helps kids focus on their music and practice as needed. Claim your 7-day free trial here.

Private music lessons

In addition to practicing, most children will benefit from private lessons from a music teacher or vocal coach. Those are great learning environments if they're in the school choir or taking group lessons at school, but children don't receive the one-on-one attention often needed to excel.

Kids who study privately with music teachers often take music lessons more seriously and are more invested in practicing. Plus, extra music practice with a private teacher will also boost your child's confidence.

Keep It Fun

A hobby should be fun. That doesn't mean it won't present challenges occasionally or have low moments, but on the whole, learning music or dance should be enjoyable. Unfortunately, many parents push and nag their children to practice turning it into a chore instead of an activity to enjoy.

While you might have to remind your child to practice occasionally and creating a music practice routine is advisable, if you have to force your child to practice daily, there might be better hobbies for them.

Older children playing an instrument for a few years will likely be more invested and require fewer reminders. If your kid who used to be fully invested seems to be wavering, it might be time to check in with them to see why they're no longer enjoying the process.

If you play any musical instruments, have jam sessions, or invite other family members to play along. Younger children can shake maracas or bang drums, and people of any age can dance!

Ask their teacher to help them learn their favorite song. When kids like what they're learning, they're more likely to practice music.

Be on time

Nothing spikes performance anxiety like feeling rushed. When your child has a performance plan, extra time to get ready and travel there, especially if this is your first time going to the location.

When they have music lessons or music practice, help them arrive on time. Not only does it show respect for their teacher, but it shows respect for your child's practice time and the other kids in the organization.

Celebrate successes

Celebrate each of your child's wins as they learn to play an instrument. For example, when they choose their new instrument, be excited (even if your child's instrument isn't your first choice). Of course, to keep a child excited, parents must be excited too!

When a child gets the solo in the school concert, the lead in the spring musical, or even moves up from the 5th chair to the 3rd chair in the orchestra, a parent should celebrate these events.

Even non-performance goals like mastering a tricky line of music in a song they've been working hard at are moments for joy.

Support music education

Support music education and music teachers in your schools and area. Music is often one of the first programs cut when schools need to find extra funds because it is seen as superfluous. On the contrary, music is essential to child and human development.

Music can decrease stress and anxiety, promote positive moods, decrease physical pain, improve memory and cognition, and enhance emotional development. Therefore teaching music should not only be recommended but essential in all schools!

As a parent, when you support music education, you support students and schools in a significant way! And kids who see their parents support their musical endeavors are likely to keep playing.

Praise Their Efforts

Like celebrating success, praise their efforts, especially when accomplishing specific tasks. However, avoid criticizing them and only critique them if they ask for help, and you can do so in a supportive and constructive manner. The best teachers know how to offer constructive criticism that will enhance performances.

Enlist people to cheer them on

When it is time for the big performance, make sure they have fans in the crowd. Bring their friends, grandparents, siblings, etc. Music and art need an audience; nothing is worse than being on stage and not finding a friendly face or two in the audience.