How To End A Song
Often times at student recitals, we see a really good performance followed by a student bolting off the stage, some times wile they are still holding the last note. If you have ever played a recital you can probably remember that it can fell good to be done and running off the stage might not have been a bad idea. But as a music educator, I long to see these final seconds of a song played completely. The ending after all, is supposed to be controlled by the performer. I’m sure as teachers though we have all been there, sweating out the details of a piece in the lessons leading up to a recital and forgetting to talk about controlling the beginning and ending of a song.
Approach The Stage, Take A Bow, Breathe
To End A Song correctly, you’re going to have to start well too. A student should approach the stage and their instrument, take a breath, then take a moment to hear the beginning of the song in their head, take one more breath and then begin. At the end, the last note is not the end of a piece, the end is the short period of time afterward when a performer finishes his/her emotion. Jack really has a good grasp of how to end and with his expression controlled the ending of this great song, Elinor Rigby.
