Music Competitions

I used to hate music competitions. The practicing leading up to the date wasn’t the bad part. I would put the time and effort into the studies and my teacher would be happy with my progress. However, on the day of the big event I would lose my self-confident veneer. This was the fear of failure, the needling in the back of my brain of how bad I would feel if I messed up in front of an auditorium full of people.

It is a well-known fact that people need to be tested. It’s how we get better at what we do. if there were no tests for airline pilots or engineers the world would be in sorry state. But why do we need to test kids for music trophies.

Well, I just observed this first-hand. My two 11 year-olds (twins) were entered into the local Kiwanis Festival in three categories of Grade 4 Conservatory. As we had been away the week before I thought they did not have enough time to prepare and asked them if they wanted out. They said they would like to do it.

Now, I’ve never said I wanted to do a recital let alone a test in front of people so I was astounded. I had given them a back door out of it – much like I wished someone would have done for me so many years ago. The difference was that they weren’t carrying the “fear of failure baggage that I had accumulated and so were all for the festival.

They both played wonderfully, as did almost all the kids there. And I feared for everyone of them praying that they didn’t make a mistake. And what if they had? They are just 11 year-olds playing some piano tunes. And they get to hear how other kids played the same tune. In fact, one of the boys remarked, “You know, I really liked how that #4, the little girl, held the “A” before Bar 122. I think I’ll try that.”

What I Learned? Don’t transfer my fears to someone else.

Out of 3 performances each one of the boys got a 1st and 2nd and the other got a 3rd. They had fun, met other kids, tested themselves and heard other ways to play the same songs.