(C) 2001
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How can we help the performers? What is the
basic rule for the audience
Why is a concert a multi-sensory event? |
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but the most important reason is
to watch and listen to the performers.
They are alive;
they can see and hear the audience;
they want to be able to do a great job for you.
Good concert etiquette helps the audience have a good experience.
With no visual or auditory distractions, performers can concentrate on giving a great performance.
They are trying their best to present an enjoyable musical experience for everyone.
- Don't wander around in the auditorium, especially while the performers are performing.
- Arrive on time. Stay till the end of the performance. Don't leave early to beat the rush.
- Don't take pictures. Especially flash pictures.
- Turn off all your noise making gadgets, like watches, phones and pagers.
- Take your coughs outside. And noisy kids.
- Clap enthusiastically
to show your appreciation. Don't holler and hoot.
If everyone follows these ideas, everyone can have a positive experience at concerts.
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that makes people notice you instead of the performance. |
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CONCERT ETIQUETTE |
You experience the concert with four of your five senses:
if you are close to the performers, you may even smell the instruments.
 Going onto the stage and nibbling
an instrument or two would be highly inappropriate, perhaps even disgusting! The orchestra members probably would not appreciate it at all! |
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CONCERT ETIQUETTE |
to have a positive multi-sense experience.
Some people don't realize this and they do things that can prevent us from experiencing the music without interruption.
Most of the bad examples listed below come from the real life experiences of the writer of this web page. And each of them is just as likely to be done by an adult as by a child!
Once you get the idea
of how you might disturb others, you will be able to use
good judgment in your own behavior. Common sense and normal
courtesy will always be good standards to use.
to
top
 Sense of Hearing |
- Don't talk or whisper
or whistle or hum or sing or drum your fingers or click a pen
or tap a pencil or chew your gum loudly or open up crackly food
wrappers or snap your fingers with the music or sniff, snort
and cough or comb your hair so others can hear you pulling the
tangles out.
- If you start and continue
to sneeze or sniff or cough, please leave the auditorium quietly
and quickly. This allows others to concentrate on the music,
not on you. This includes taking out crying babies and little
kids.
- Turn the pages of the
program or the music score (if you're following along with the
performers) so that others can't hear the pages rattle.
- Come in and be seated
before the concert starts. Moving around makes an audience
notice your sounds, not the music sounds.
- Make sure your "beepy"
electronic gadgets won't go off during the performance. TURN
THEM OFF. This includes watches, phones, beepers and anything
else that might disturb others.
- Do I even need to mention
portable radios, portable games and CD players? Leave them at
home. (Using a recording device may be considered a copyright
violation. Don't do it.)
- All performers appreciate
enthusiastic applause. Loud screams, whistling, etc., belong
at rock concerts, not at symphony performances.
- Be careful that your clapping is not so loud that it hurts the ears of the people near you.
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that makes people hear you instead of hearing the performance. |
- Don't wiggle around
or comb your hair or wave your arms or bob your head around or
wave your program or try to get your friends attention or rock
back and forth in your seat.
- Please don't wear hats
or have "big" hair. You could block the view of five
or six people!
- If you have to use
the restroom, do your best to hold it. Sit calmly until the music
stops and the audience claps. Then in a calm (but fast) manner,
leave the auditorium. Do not come back in until you hear clapping
again. Then enter and be seated quickly and quietly.
- If you arrive late,
wait outside the concert hall doors until you hear applause.
Then enter quickly and quietly. If you don't know where your
seat is, find another seat quickly. Sit there until the intermission
so you won't disturb others by hunting for your correct seat.
Promise yourself to be on time next time.
- Never use cameras during a performance.
The noise is annoying and the movement of the camera operator
is distracting and the flash is just awful! Even the performers
can get confused and make mistakes when cameras are going off
at the wrong time.
- The only person who
should EVER take a picture during a performance is the person
hired by the symphony, the official photographer. S/he will know
when to click, when to move and when to be still and quiet. S/he
will also have the kind of equipment that will not need a flash.
(A flash does no good further than about 10 feet anyway.)
Video/digital cameras are quieter (but not noiseless), but the
movements of the operator are very distracting. No one else should
take photos of any kind from the time the concertmaster/mistress
tunes the orchestra until after the performance.
- Do not bring something
else to do while you are listening, like a book, laptop, or homework. Leave your Pokemon cards and other pocket sized
fun things at home. Seeing you dig them out and fiddle with them
is very disconcerting to others.
- Don't pass notes to
your friends.
- Dressing up is optional, but a classical concert is one of the few occasions left that might be called "special" in our increasingly casual world. Consider dressing up as a sign of respect. After all, if the musicians are in tuxes and gowns, the least you can do is iron those khakis and wear something better than sneakers. Jeans and flip-flops just won't do.
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that makes people notice you instead of noticing the performance. |
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Sense of Touch  |
- the person behind you
starts tapping or pushing the back of your seat in time to the
music.
- when someone a few
seats down from you keeps rocking her chair around and you can
feel it.
- when the person beside
you hogs both arm rests.
- when the person next
to you puts his coat or her purse in the space where your legs
are supposed to fit.
- when someone in the row behind you gets up to leave and accidentally bonks you on the head.
Be considerate. Keep your motions and your "stuff" in your own space.
Use the rest room before the performance so you won't feel uncomfortable and fidgety.
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that makes people feel you instead of noticing the performance. |
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Remember - if you are noticing a scent, you are not noticing the music.
Even if it's a nice scent.
- Some folks think that
part of dressing up is to put on a lot of v-e-r-y fragrant after
shave or perfume. This can make others nauseated, have allergic
reactions or headaches. Use "good scents": leave them
at home.
- Some folks get so comfortable
in their seats that they remove their shoes and pee-yew - - not
a good idea! Keep your shoes on.
- Some folks don't bathe
enough or they have on dirty clothes and they --well, they stink.
Don't be one of them.
- Sometimes the mint or gum that folks eat during concerts has a very strong odor. Don't eat during a concert. Besides, the noise during unwrapping is extremely noticeable during a concert.
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that makes people smell you instead of noticing the performance. |
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Don't do anything that makes people notice you instead of the performance. |
This site is copyright protected by Martha Stanley, NBCT.
Please feel free
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or re-publication, including using parts or all of it in another site.
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