A Musical Journey from Music Camp to Piano Recital

It’s time for a silent film celebration!

Sixteen years ago after holding a movie themed recital in a movie theater, I remember thinking to myself, “wouldn’t it be fun to do a silent film recital one day“?

Fast-forward… In 2016, I created a summer camp called Let’s Go to the Movies. In the camp, students create a silent movie (scripting, acting and all). After editing the students films (very basic editing), they played along with their silent movies during the camp. I also shared the films on YouTube for parents to enjoy. It was so much fun and once again, I thought… “I should do a silent movie recital, so parents can enjoy this too!”

In 2023, I discovered that Heather Smith, a piano teacher in Utah, founded a non-profit music organization called Silent Film Celebration. When I found out about her deep dive into Silent Films and her mission, which allows teachers the ability to use these films with their students, I had to find out more. 

I decided that 2024 was going to be the year. Come along as I take you on my musical journey from music camp to a silent film celebration piano recital.

Choosing Silent Films

Once you decide you want to do a silent film recital, the first thing you will want to do is explore film options.

This past December at our winter camp, I held an accelerated version of the Let’s Go to the Movies camp and had my students film some silent movie shorts. The duration of the shorts ranged from approximately 1 to 3 minutes. Even though I wanted to use one of the official films from the Silent Film Celebration, I also wanted my students original films to be featured in our recital.

I had purchased a few silent films from Heather at the 2023 MTNA conference (also available online at Silent Film Celebration) so I knew I needed to narrow down which one to use this year. I decided to go with One Week by Buster Keaton, which ended up being a big hit with everyone.

Between the 6 student silent shorts and the One Week film, we had 30 minutes of material to perform along with.

One of the many advantages of purchasing a silent film with the Silent Film Celebration is Heather has provided a HUGE service and has separated the film into chapters (scenes). For example, in One Week, the film we performed with, there are 20 chapters, which means 20 students can perform for that film. If you have less than 20 students, you could have some play in more than one chapter, or you can fill in those spots. If you have more than 20, with some creativity, you can still make it work. Adding a chapter on the front end (prelude) or back end (postlude) or splitting some of the longer chapters up a little more.

If you have 25–40 students, I would recommend either adding in some student shorts or doing a couple of silent films. Because I included the silent film shorts as well, all my students had opportunities to perform twice.

Choosing Music

Choosing music was one of the most time-consuming parts of prepping for the silent film recital. If you are using a film from the Silent Film Celebration, Heather not only divided the film into “chapters” but she also gives a “theme” for each chapter. For example, “Dramatic Tension”, “Love”, “General”, “Villain” etc. I found this extremely helpful.

The first thing you want to do is figure out the themes for each scene your students are playing. And then let the music search begin!

As I searched for music, I dug into my studio licensed digital files. I ended up using a lot of Chrissy Ricker pieces as she has so much that fits into quite a bit of themes. I also purchased the incidental pieces from Silent Film Celebration and used Joy Morin’s, Incidental Music for Piano. Jazz, blues and ragtime pieces also fit very well for silent films. Pretty much anything can work, including pieces in the method books!

As I was going through all my music options, I divided them under music theme categories and then level. (Thank you to my friends, Lynnette and Valerie, for their help too!)

Prepping Students for Silent Films

Our recital was scheduled for May 11th. I wanted to ensure we had plenty of time not only to learn our pieces but also to practice playing along with the scenes. Additionally, we needed to rehearse what to do if we finished the piece early or if the scene ended before we were done. Because of this, prepping students began in January after our winter break.

I first asked students what kind of “theme” they would prefer to play along with. For example, would they want something more lyrical or more driven?

Once they chose their theme preference, then I looked at my list of music choices. I had divided the music choices into levels, so I can easily find options for a particular student. If I didn’t see an option that fit their level under a particular theme choice, then I would recommend another similar choice. Once we figured out their piece(s), then we looked at the theme options that would fit.

Now it was time to learn their piece(s). Even though students would probably not be able to get through their entire piece (depending on how long the piece was), I did have them learn the whole piece for the most part. (There were some exceptions)

On their sheet music, I wrote down the title of their film (remember we also had shorts), their chapter and the time stamp (if needed) of when they began and stopped. The time stamp wasn’t necessary if their piece was from One Week, as Heather divided the video into chapters, which was really helpful. I found it very helpful for me to have that information on their music, making it easily accessible when they were at their lesson.

If you purchase a film from the Silent Film Celebration, Heather shares a Vimeo recording link that students can practice with at home. For our silent film student shorts, I uploaded the film they were playing with inside Practice Space, a program I use to communicate assignments with students. (affiliate link)

Once they had their piece learned pretty well, we started playing along with their chapter. This gave us an idea of where we were mostly likely going to land with their piece. Once we had a good idea, then we started practicing what to do if we finished before the scene was over. Some solutions were to improvise, go back to the previous line or two, etc. Then we practiced what to do if the scene ended, but they weren’t at their finish point in the piece. Our biggest solution was to end on the tonic chord or note. We did discover at the first rehearsal that an ending is not even a big deal as the next student starts right in.

As time went on and students became more comfortable playing their pieces with their scenes, we noticed that the original ending spot needed to change, so we adapted. By the time the first rehearsal came, the pieces were ready to go for most students.

Rehearsals for the Silent Film Celebration

Rehearsals were mandatory. I stressed the importance of the rehearsal and families were very respectful of that. There were a couple of students with very special circumstances that didn’t allow them to attend. For those select students, I recorded the rehearsal, so they could still get the visualization of how it was going to work with everyone.

I held two rehearsals before the big day. The first rehearsal was a month before the recital. You might ask, “Why a rehearsal a month before the recital?” I wanted time to a) make sure my students will be ready well before our big day (I teach several procrastinators), b) I wanted to work out any kinks well ahead of time and c) I wanted students to experience how the whole process would work well ahead of time, so anxiety levels would be lower by performance time.

The rehearsal was held inside my living room, so I tried to make it feel very similar to what it would be when we performed at the event location.

One of the things I did that I was so glad I thought of was creating performance binders for each piano that included a copy of the student’s piece, all in the performance order. I did this to help with the smooth transitions between students. (Note: all the music I used was studio licensed)

While “Student 1” performed on “Piano A“, “Student 2” was on “Piano B” getting ready to play. When “Student 1” finished on “Piano A“, “Student 2” would start to play on “Piano B” while “Student 3” went to “Piano A” to get ready to play, and so on. Their pieces were already at the piano ready to go so all they needed to do was wait their turn.

I’m SO glad we did the first rehearsal when we did! I asked students for their feedback and all of them said that they appreciated having a rehearsal a month in advance because it answered a lot of uncertainty of how it was going to work, despite all of my explanations. They expressed that because they were able to experience it, they were much more comfortable and excited about the big day as they continued to practice!

The second and final rehearsal was the week of our recital. By then, the students had experienced how it was going to run, so it went much smoother and efficient. Even though they probably could have done okay without the 2nd rehearsal, I do feel that it helped with the final performances running through it the week of. I did ask a handful of my older students if they felt the 2nd one was necessary or helpful, and they all expressed that they are glad we had another one. Whether you do a rehearsal is totally up to you. I know holding rehearsals takes time and is not always easy to do, but I found them valuable. I should also note that I did not hold regular lessons the week of rehearsals.

Silent Film Celebration Day Prep

A few weeks before the recital I drove down to our local piano store where the recital was going to be. I wanted to test out where the best place to put the projector was and play around with the lighting. I also wanted to figure out how to position the pianos on stage and how much room I had to work with. I’m glad I did this in advance, because it saved a lot of time on recital day as I already knew what was needed.

I highly recommend having two pianos as it plays a huge role in the smooth transition between performers as I mentioned above. If the location you are holding the recital doesn’t have two pianos, I would recommend bringing in a keyboard for the 2nd piano.

To save myself some time, I decided not to worry about decorations for this recital. I figured the event itself was going to be exciting, and it wouldn’t be necessary.

The prep that I had for that day was to set up my laptop and projector to show the films. We projected on the wall between the two pianos, which worked perfectly. The film was bright enough on the wall with one set of lights on, so I didn’t have to worry about special lighting at the pianos.

We determined a few weeks prior that the best place for the projector was on top of a short ladder (covered by a piano blanket the store had). In front of the ladder, I added a small table where I placed the students awards. The programs were placed on a table at the entrance.

Then it was time to prep the reserved seating. One of the best purchases I made a few years ago was these reserved seating signs. (affiliate link) I have my students sit in performance order. Prior to this, I would tape students names on the chairs but half the time, they wouldn’t stay on. So now I just pin their names to the reserved signs. I love how they make the set-up look professional and classy. You can find them on Amazon through my affiliate link here.

Because my students were performing in both student shorts and the One Week film, students would need to switch seats. So, I created detailed signs and divided the information students needed into two sections. The first half had the film name, the students name and their piece. The 2nd half had the film name (a different one), the students name and their piece.

You might have noticed in the picture above that the names change. After we performed along with the 6 student short films, we took a very brief intermission and students changed to their other seats. What I thought would be a 5-minute intermission, turned into a 30-second intermission because of this organization. Yay!

They work perfectly and look classy! You can find the set I purchased here. (affiliate link).

Silent Film Celebration Recital

I asked families to arrive at the recital 10–15 minutes early, so students could find their reserved seats and get comfortable before we started. I promised them some entertainment they wouldn’t want to miss while they waited. (Encouraging those who tend to run behind to be on time)

While families were waiting for showtime, I had some pre-show entertainment playing. I looped the 3-minute video, so it would play for 20 minutes until showtime. In the pre-show video, I included a senior spotlight, silent film trivia questions throughout, and student spotlights throughout. I also included the QR code (several times) for our recital program. If they missed the QR code when they walked in, they could scan it while they were watching the video. (I did include one printed program per family as well)

I loved how the pre-show video turned out so much that I’m considering doing something similar for future recitals too. In addition, I created some trivia questions adapting Joy Morin’s Canva template that families could fill out while they waited. Most of the answers were in the pre-show entertainment. Each family who filled out a trivia sheet was able to take a “movie buff” trophy home with them.

Before the recital I had created a one-page performance order sheet, so I could keep track of what piano students needed to be on and when. I’m so glad I did this! There were a couple of times a student was distracted watching the film that they didn’t realize they needed to get to their piano. Since I was on top of it, nobody was the wiser.

I am thrilled to share that the silent film celebration recital was a huge success! I was SO proud of my students. They were able to adapt their performance if/when needed. It was fun to hear laughter from the crowd (students enjoyed hearing that too) while watching the silent films. The student shorts made it extra special as most of my students acted in those as well during our camp in December.

Was it a lot of work? Oh, yes! Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Definitely!

Bloopers

I have to say when it was all said and done, there weren’t any major bloopers! Hooray for that! The only hiccup that I had was that a family (2 students) backed out a month prior. I was very surprised to tell you the truth as we have been preparing for months. I might have not gotten that far advance notice if I hadn’t held our first rehearsal a month before. (Thank goodness for that!)

My solution? I asked a few that I felt could handle another piece to fill their spots. Thankfully they were easier pieces. Another solution I had in my back pocket was for me to fill those empty spots. But I didn’t want to add to my recital day plate if I could help it. It all worked out in the end.

Fun Silent Film Fact

One of my students from our 2016 ‘Let’s Go to the Movies‘ camp, is now a Junior in High School. In 2016, she starred in a solo film where she repeatedly slept through the alarm. I thought it would be funny to add to that film, “8 years later”. I added additional footage of her sleeping through the alarm, but this time as a teenager, as if she had slept through 8 years.

We got a big kick out of that one after I explained to parents during our short intermission that both students in that film were the same person. Her Mom joked that the film was very accurate. Ha ha!

How about you? Have you held a silent film recital before or are you planning one? I hope my experience helps yours be a smashing success!!