Pre-Twinkle Checklist

This is a checklist to assist parents monitoring new student progress.

Bowing (feet together, lean over look at toes, 5 count- hippopotamus)

Bow Hold

• connecting dots on fingers to dots on bow
• check for bent thumb
• curved pinkie

Shaking hands

• Mississippi Hot Dog (or Dirty Doggie Scrub Scrub)
• Run Pony, Run Pony
• Tricycle, Tricycle
• Motorcycle, Motorcycle (or Alligator, Alligator)
• Tony, likes ice cream, and peanuts, and choclit, and….

Driving bow on shoulder

• Mississippi Hot Dog (or Dirty Doggie Scrub Scrub)
• Run Pony, Run Pony
• Tricycle, Tricycle
• Motorcycle, Motorcycle (or Alligator, Alligator)
• Tony likes ice cream and peanuts and choclit, and….

Rhythms

• Singing twinkle little star

Up like a rocket

• Up like a rocket, down like the rain, back and forth like a choo choo train.  Round and round like a great big sun. Top of your head, check pinkie and thumb.
• Bow stays straight and perpendicular to floor
• Bow hold stays intact

Learning finger numbers and building left hand finger coordination and structure

• finger pops
• hot stove game

Introduction of violin

• Rest Position (feet together, violin bridge side out in crook of right hand, bow dangling from right pointer finger)
• Bowing holding violin in rest position
• Violin Hold Setup (teacher helps fit violin for student) shoulder pads, chin rest fitting, etc.
• Violin Hold Setup (parent places violin)
• Child builds strength to hold violin for one minute (or listening to two Twinkle Variation As)

• Child learns to hold instrument

• feet unzipped to V shape, then to \ / shape
• hand on bout of violin
• instrument to body
• turn head
• violin out and on shoulder
• nose towards finger board
• shoulders over hips over feet (no body twisting)
• child holds with no hands

Left Hand Set up

• cupcakes on body of violin
• dumping games on body of violin
• cupcakes on neck of instrument
• dumping games on neck of instrument on finger tapes

Playing

• Staccato:  with each sound or note sharply detached or separated from the others.
• Clearly identifiable attack, sustain and release — beginning, middle and end of note
• • My turn, your turn Twinkle variation rhythms
  • Teacher / Parent alternates driving with student
  • Call and response with teacher or parent
  • Single Rhythms on open strings
  • Multiple times of rhythms
  • E to A string consecutive rhythms
  • A to E string consecutive rhythms
  • Backwards scale Teacher / Parent Drives
  • Backwards scale Student Drives
  • Twinkle Bread Teacher / Parent Drives
  • Twinkle Bread Student Drives
  • Twinkle Cheese Teacher / Parent Drives
  • Twinkle Cheese Student Drives