What does participation in contests bring

Participation in exhibition competitions and festivals is an opportunity for a musician or any other creative person to demonstrate his or her skills and abilities to the public.

In the case of adult musicians, this statement can hardly be questioned. But is it true of children? After all, their psyche is not yet fully formed, and competitions and performances in front of other people is quite a serious stress, which everyone can experience differently. Yes, victories are always animating and give a new impetus to their development, but there are also failures, because everything happens in competition.

From our point of view, children must participate in such contests, but there is another question - at what age? There are several opinions, which we'll consider.

At what age can children participate in creative competitions?

Some educators suggest that children should be involved in public performances as early as possible. This is necessary so that they at an early age overcame this psychological barrier and got rid of their fear of public speaking.

This position has another side of the coin. If the child is too young, the very appearance on stage is already mind-blowing, but the main purpose of the jury is to evaluate the performance. If everyone treats the event adequately (parents are mostly meant), then the most normal reaction is just to rejoice together at their children's success. But there are situations where parents begin to compare children's performances, give their "expert" evaluations, and question the jury's verdict. All this will surely affect the child, who may not understand what his mother is unhappy about, but he will definitely feel it.

Parents need to understand that the result of any contest or competition is the result of subjective assessments of specific members of the jury. It's just that on this particular day they decided that another child deserves to win, and there's nothing abnormal about that.

There's no need to perceive every performance of your child as the last battle. No one's life is at stake, so there's no need to hyperbolize the importance of such contests. Victory, of course, is pleasant, but at this stage, what's important is participation, that the child overcomes his or her own fears of public speaking. You only need to support him - only in this way will he feel that he is moving in the right direction, and victories in festivals and creative competitions will surely come.

Win at all costs

Every child develops differently: some may be more stable character, he is ready for new challenges, and some have a more vulnerable soul and any criticism can hurt him. But is this a reason to protect him from all possible situations that can cause stress?

After all, our whole life is a struggle, a constant assessment of our level of development, our skills. And if a child at an early age has already passed the stage of competitive selection, it will help him in later life, because he will be emotionally ready for the fact that he will be evaluated.

And you have to be calm about failures, because in any competition there are only three prizes. Unsuccessful performances can be a consequence not of the lack of talent, but of a set of circumstances: poor health, mood, a sudden cold, which affected the state of the voice. These small reasons can be full of and it is impossible to foresee all of them.

At our School "Three Quarters" we not only teach our students to play musical instruments and vocal skills, but an important part of our training is participation in various public performances and exhibition competitions. Children at our school not only develop creatively, but also overcome their fears in front of an audience, and this is very important for a performing musician and singer. You can check out the latest performances of our children at the link, which took place as part of our reporting concerts.

Why is it important for children to participate in competitions?

In a nutshell, children's participation in competitions is justified for the following reasons:

Such public events generate interest in learning through a change of scenery. There is a real creative atmosphere at contests, and the child is challenged not only to perform, but to do it well. This is very disciplining.

The competitive spirit makes the children excited, and they become more hardened. If you start performing earlier, it's much quicker to get rid of stage fright.

Not only winning, but participation in competitions itself makes a child more confident. He becomes more relaxed and adapts better to further life situations. Participation in the contest itself implies preparation, i.e. it is a waste of personal time and effort. But under such conditions, children value their time more, learn to organize their daily routine in order to have time for everything. As a rule, such children manage much more than those who do nothing but school. Participation in contests raises the level of professionalism.