I am super proud of the work of my students this year! We gave a great concert yesterday! I am so grateful to all the parents and family and friends who well supported practice and lessons this past year and to Sarah Trouslard for accompanying the recital! Our Program Pieces: Humoresque Chorus Minuet 1 Allegro Rhody Twinkle
Tag: Parents
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,
Developmental Readiness: Playing the violin requires that the arms and hands do very different tasks. We learn to do the tasks separately at first, but then work towards multitasking with each hand doing something different. The main developmental skills required to start violin lessons are the ability to use hands independently and to be able to be
It can be difficult to ensure lessons begin and end on time. Please plan to arrive 5 minutes ahead of your lesson. 3-5 minutes before your lesson start time, come quietly into the room! You are free to then find a spot to drop cases and find an empty seat, use the bathroom, get
My son’s violin teacher, Francine Hamberlin drew a graph that looks a bit like this at our last lesson to illustrate how practice influences the development of a violinist’s skills. My own teaching practice confirm her findings. If a student does not practice or only practices once, skill actually may decrease during a week. It
Students and parents often struggle with how to structure practice time. Occasionally a student will come to a lesson and tell me that they don’t know what to do when they practice. In general it helps to have one or two intentions for technique development in mind for practice. Here are several examples: knees and hips over
Originally posted on steady she goes:
This is how violin practice went last night: John had “too much energy” to start, so he sprinted at top speed around the house for about five minutes. Top. Speed. Naturally, the sprinting ended in a dramatic “fall” and a hurt knee. The knee made it impossible for him to stand…
One of the most valuable aspects of the Suzuki method is the deep involvement and recognition of the parents in the development of the student’s violin study. Practice time is definitely the most intense of all the aspects of studying a musical instrument. Practice is intensely personal but the process of developing the ability to
My nearly nine year old son and I like to practice in the morning before school. It is nice to have practice accomplished before the day even really begins. Additionally, at the end of the day when we’re exhausted and hungry and dinner needs to be made, homework accomplished, and screen time is begged for, we don’t
At Hartt (University of Hartford School of Music) last week at their Suzuki institute I attended a discussion called, “Words that work: Language to Promote Effective Practice” led by Dr. Susan Bair. Here are are some of my notes from the discussion combined with some of my own thoughts. 1. From time to time, remember why
Emily Sunderman 