How to Get Your Child to Practice the Violin Without Sugar
3 CommentsBy Lostcheerio on Thursday, March 04, 2010 at 10:43 AM.
A reader of this blog asked me if I had any more good practicing tips, having found my doll concert post helpful in getting her five-year-old to practice. So here is another idea which can be adapted in many situations to make practicing more fun. And here's another picture of my baby playing the violin:
The general principle here is to make the practice a physical journey that the child can visualize and experience kinesthetically. Here are several ways to do that:
1. Create practice cards with location on them. Place them around the house (or outside!) with each card giving the next location. So hand the child a card that says "Bathroom, standing on the toilet." They go to the bathroom, climb on the toilet, and play their first song. There they find a card that says "In the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room." They go there, play their next song, and there they find a card that says "Hall closet." Or whatever. If Mom is traipsing along behind to help with position and pitch, you can't go wrong. After a few times of playing this, let the child be in charge of placing the cards before practice begins. You could even let the child make the cards, place the cards, and *you* be the one who has to find the next card and listen to a piece at each location.
2. If you have, like we have, a bunch of little toy houses and buildings, set up a little journey for a favorite toy or doll. The castle, the pirate ship, the beauty salon, Barbie's house, the treehouse... whatever you have for little destinations. Say, "Now, this Polly Pocket has to go to all of these places today and at each place she's going to hear a different piece of music. When she gets back to the beginning, practice is over." At each destination, the child plays another piece of her practice, and along the way, Polly Pocket can run into all kinds of problems: becoming extremely hungry, getting tired and wanting to give up, being chased by bears, being hounded by Paparazzi, etc. When Polly Pocket gets home, the practice is over: no exceptions! Polly is exhausted. If you need a more tangible variation, have Polly Pocket deliver marbles at each location, or pick up marbles from each destination.
3. A simple, portable version of this involves a little toy frog or bee and a piece of paper, and some tiny stickers. Draw ten (or however many) lily pads (or flowers), with the names of the songs on them... you can have multiple "Minuet 1" lily pads if that one needs to be repeated. When the frog has visited a lily pad, the child can put a sticker on it or color part of it in. There should be seven stickers on each lily pad (or seven petals of the flower colored in) at the end of the week, then the child can turn in the whole thing for a reward. Moving the frog around the paper lets them keep track of their progress and gives them a sense of what's coming up.
I'm sure you can think of lots of other variations on this theme, using the idea that a violin practice can be mobile, visible, tangible, and progress can be marked in space. Be as goofy as possible, and don't worry about "Well, this is working now, but what about next week?" Next week, if you need to, you'll think of something else. Maybe that thing will involve sugar. But most likely, once your child gets accustomed to practicing "with joy" because you're turning yourself inside out to make it fun, you won't need all the bells and whistles to get a good practice. Everything goes in cycles, I have found. If you get yourself through a rough patch by pulling out all the stops with fun games and adventures, you'll find yourself on the other side with a happier child and a new attitude.
Labels: advice, how to, practicing, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin
This year Benny and I tried something completely different, the Fiddle Fever camp hosted by the Academy of Music. The camp is taught by local music star Carol Thomas Downing, director of the Virginia Children's Chorus, Suzuki teacher, and fiddler!
Because of Benny's tendency to be an active participant, his constant need to express himself verbally and also by bow-jousting and playing his instrument out of turn, and because I too have really loved fiddling, in my day, I decided to be a student of the camp also.
It was a fantastic experience! Carol Downing is an incredibly gifted teacher -- fun, inspiring, and creative. She had a whole room full of children, aged 7 to 17 (and then me, age 107), some of whom could barely read a note of sheet music and some of whom were accomplished violinists, all on the same page, at the same tempo, with the same twinkle in their eyes. I was impressed and then amazed, watching her technique.
Benny had a fantastic time, constantly busy, happy with his instrument, and really learning not only new songs but new techniques and ornaments, a whole new feeling of playing the violin. For this child who has been working hard on Suzuki repertoire for many years, the fiddling tunes were a delightful break. No less beautiful, but more whimsical, more emotional, more fun! And he could go as fast as he wanted, in practice, I told him. This made it easier for him to tone it down during the performances.
I highly recommend Carol Thomas Downing's Fiddle Fever Camp. We will definitely be there next year -- maybe we'll see you too!
Here are a few pictures from our final performance at Conklin's Irish Rover, an Irish pub in Virginia Beach that hosts live Irish music every first and third Sunday. For more pictures and video, check out my Flickr set for our summer violin camps. The fiddle tunes/pictures are the first nine entries.
Morrison's Jig:
Fiddlers, youngest in front, including Amy Ferebee on guitar:
Other guest musicians included Martha Giles on hammer dulcimer player and singer Marsha Wallace:
The experience was great for Benny and for me too. We have been playing our fiddle tunes all summer, and I'm even working on polishing my tin whistle skills again. A good reminder that having fun with music is the best motivator, as we approach Suzuki Book 6 and all the hours of scales and arpeggios that implies.
Because of Benny's tendency to be an active participant, his constant need to express himself verbally and also by bow-jousting and playing his instrument out of turn, and because I too have really loved fiddling, in my day, I decided to be a student of the camp also.
It was a fantastic experience! Carol Downing is an incredibly gifted teacher -- fun, inspiring, and creative. She had a whole room full of children, aged 7 to 17 (and then me, age 107), some of whom could barely read a note of sheet music and some of whom were accomplished violinists, all on the same page, at the same tempo, with the same twinkle in their eyes. I was impressed and then amazed, watching her technique.
Benny had a fantastic time, constantly busy, happy with his instrument, and really learning not only new songs but new techniques and ornaments, a whole new feeling of playing the violin. For this child who has been working hard on Suzuki repertoire for many years, the fiddling tunes were a delightful break. No less beautiful, but more whimsical, more emotional, more fun! And he could go as fast as he wanted, in practice, I told him. This made it easier for him to tone it down during the performances.
I highly recommend Carol Thomas Downing's Fiddle Fever Camp. We will definitely be there next year -- maybe we'll see you too!
Here are a few pictures from our final performance at Conklin's Irish Rover, an Irish pub in Virginia Beach that hosts live Irish music every first and third Sunday. For more pictures and video, check out my Flickr set for our summer violin camps. The fiddle tunes/pictures are the first nine entries.
Morrison's Jig:
Fiddlers, youngest in front, including Amy Ferebee on guitar:
Other guest musicians included Martha Giles on hammer dulcimer player and singer Marsha Wallace:
The experience was great for Benny and for me too. We have been playing our fiddle tunes all summer, and I'm even working on polishing my tin whistle skills again. A good reminder that having fun with music is the best motivator, as we approach Suzuki Book 6 and all the hours of scales and arpeggios that implies.
Labels: fiddle fever, fiddling, music, suzuki violin, violin, violin camp
I have no superlatives left for the Suzuki teachers at the Academy of Music. Over the years I have ranted and raved about their greatness to the point that I must sound like a broken record, both to them and to the people I'm informing about them. I will tell you this, though: In a world where summer camp has become another way to warehouse your children so you can work, and parents expect very little for the money they pay to get someone to take their kids off their hands for another week of summer "vacation," the Suzuki summer camp at the Academy of Music is a gem. Children learn. A lot. Children experience new things, grow as musicians, have enriching experiences, expand their musical horizons, and come away inspired and informed. Okay, there, apparently I had more to say!
Here are some pictures and a video. More pictures and videos are in my Flickr gallery.
Sadie in her performance on the final day:
Sadie and good buddy Miranda:
The kids learned a cool dance to Musette:
Here's a way even the littlest ones can play along with the Bach Double. This was very cool for Sadie for sure, because she has heard Benny play this a lot. Now she can play a little of it:
Thank you, thank you, as always, Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Morton, Mrs. Van Gomple, and the lady who's been teaching both my kids for the last six months and doing such a fabulous job, Mrs. Stevens! Yay for all of you -- you gave my child a fun and meaningful week and I'm very grateful.
Here are some pictures and a video. More pictures and videos are in my Flickr gallery.
Sadie in her performance on the final day:
Sadie and good buddy Miranda:
The kids learned a cool dance to Musette:
Here's a way even the littlest ones can play along with the Bach Double. This was very cool for Sadie for sure, because she has heard Benny play this a lot. Now she can play a little of it:
Thank you, thank you, as always, Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Morton, Mrs. Van Gomple, and the lady who's been teaching both my kids for the last six months and doing such a fabulous job, Mrs. Stevens! Yay for all of you -- you gave my child a fun and meaningful week and I'm very grateful.
Labels: camp, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin, violin camp
Silly Suzuki: Silly Words to Allegretto
0 CommentsBy Lostcheerio on Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 10:04 AM.
Allegretto can be hard to learn because the sections are so similar and share elements. These words reinforce the ABCB form of the song, which is why the "sticks in my hair" part is repeated, and they are meant to be sung by the teacher and the student, with the teacher singing the part in italics.
Can I play Allegretto with beans in my nose?
Would there be any argument, do you suppose?
Can I play Allegretto with sticks in my hair?
Do you think that my teacher would care?
I don't care what you put in your hair or your nose
Just as long as you know where your fourth finger goes!
Can I play Allegretto with sticks in my hair?
Do you think that my teacher would care?
Can I play Allegretto with beans in my nose?
Would there be any argument, do you suppose?
Can I play Allegretto with sticks in my hair?
Do you think that my teacher would care?
I don't care what you put in your hair or your nose
Just as long as you know where your fourth finger goes!
Can I play Allegretto with sticks in my hair?
Do you think that my teacher would care?
Labels: allegretto, lyrics, silly suzuki, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin
Silly Suzuki: Silly Words for Go Tell Aunt Rhody
1 CommentsBy Lostcheerio on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7:46 AM.
Princess Go Tell Aunt Rhody:
Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a princess now
Go show her all my shoes and pretty clothes
Tell her I like to play the violin
Tell her I like to play the flute
Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a princess now
Go show her all my shoes and pretty clothes.
Plant Cell Go Tell Aunt Rhody:
Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a chloroplast
Go show her all my stacks of thylakoids
Tell her I'm green because of chlorophyll
Tell her I make light into food
Go tell Aunt Rhody how I make the food
Carbon Dioxide, water and the sun.
For those who are keeping score at home: When I'm done posting these, I will make a printer-friendly songbook as a PDF. Until then, you'll just have to cut and paste the words into notebook if you want to print.
Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a princess now
Go show her all my shoes and pretty clothes
Tell her I like to play the violin
Tell her I like to play the flute
Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a princess now
Go show her all my shoes and pretty clothes.
Plant Cell Go Tell Aunt Rhody:
Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a chloroplast
Go show her all my stacks of thylakoids
Tell her I'm green because of chlorophyll
Tell her I make light into food
Go tell Aunt Rhody how I make the food
Carbon Dioxide, water and the sun.
For those who are keeping score at home: When I'm done posting these, I will make a printer-friendly songbook as a PDF. Until then, you'll just have to cut and paste the words into notebook if you want to print.
Labels: go tell aunt rhody, music, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin
Singing Suzuki: Silly Words for Lightly Row
2 CommentsBy Lostcheerio on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 10:53 AM.
Lightly Row Princess:
Princess says, "Play with me!
At the castle come and see!
We'll ride ponies in the woods
And give them sugar if they're good.
Diamond is my favorite one
Hop on up and have some fun
When we're tired maybe we can
Have some chocolate cake for tea!"
Lightly Row Plant Cell Parts:
Plant cell wall, nucleus
Endoplasmic Reticulum
Vacuoles give shape to cells
And these are all the organelles
Chloroplasts turn light to food
then the mitochondria
Change the food to energy so
Plants can grow up big like me!
Labels: lightly row, music, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin
Not Very Suzuki At All: Confession of a Burned Out Violin Mom
9 CommentsBy Lostcheerio on Sunday, April 05, 2009 at 11:23 PM.
The Suzuki method is a triangle: the student, the parent, the teacher. For six years of Suzuki I have been an active part of this triangle with Benny and his teachers. I practice with my child, I play my violin along with him, I sit there alert and engaged at the lessons, I drive to group, I take him to workshops, camps, etc. I have put endless hours into this child's music education.
Two weeks ago, I decided I had had enough.
Picture a horse hitched to a stagecoach. The horse's agenda is to go as fast as possible. Never mind the safety of the passengers, the integrity of the coach itself, the driving conditions, the possible turns in the road. Then there's a driver. Her sole purpose is hauling on the reins. That's all she does, just pull back on the reins, with varying levels of frustration and patience, frustration and patience, yank yank yank. Occasionally the driver brings the horse to a halt, climbs down off the coach, and has a heart to heart talk with the horse. She explains all the logical reasons why this breakneck pace is not healthy or conducive to personal growth. During this conversation, the horse nods its head sagely, meanwhile tapping its hoof distractedly. When the stage driver gets back up on the coach again, the horse takes off at the exact same speed as before. Yank, yank, yank.
Horse = Benny. Stage driver = me.
Benny is in book 5. He is playing the third movement of the Vivaldi concerto in G minor. He cannot play this song, he cannot successfully pass this song, by ripping through it at maximum speed again and again. Repetitions at this speed do nothing to help him execute the song. What he needs to do is to slow down to a speed where he can play it absolutely correctly and in tune, and do a thousand repetitions. A thousand? Really? Yes. Suzuki would say, a thousand, in a slow tempo. This trains your hand and brain to correctly do the physical act of playing the song. Then when you take it up to speed, your reflexes take over. If you play it fast, you do not learn to play it right. You learn to play it messy. This is a tough piece, the toughest so far. It's not one he can just talent his way through.
So I said to his teacher, I can't do this anymore, it's so frustrating, I'm in this adversarial situation with my child, it's bleeding into other parts of our day, and I can't do this with joy, I can't approach practice with happiness, when I know that I'm going to fight with him the whole time.
His teacher, bless her heart, told me to take a break, let him practice on his own. That was two weeks ago. So, Benny has been practicing on his own. He is trying. He really is. He has in his mind what mature, independent practicing sounds like. He calls it "self-responsible." If he makes a mistake, he stops, dramatically fixes it, and then goes on. There's a lot of checking intonation with open strings. However, I know that what he's actually doing is teaching himself to play it wrong, and then fix it. You don't learn to play correctly by playing incorrectly and then fixing it, because then when you get to your lesson or in a performance situation, and you can't fix your mistakes, you're just left with the mistakes. Plus you're training your hand to play the wrong note by doing it over and over, regardless of whether you're fixing it or not! Not very Suzuki.
So, here we are. Lesson is tomorrow. He's not being very Suzuki and neither am I. I honestly don't know what the solution is. We can use a metronome, but that involves me standing there enforcing the metronome, measure by measure. Me as enforcer is the dynamic I'm trying to get away from. On the one hand, I want him to learn to practice on his own! When I was nine, I was doing it. On the other hand, I think maybe he isn't capable of practicing on his own yet, and what I'm doing by "taking a break" is just making things worse and being selfish.
I am overthinking it. I am complicating matters. But I just can't get my head around it -- I need help! And may I just say that it doesn't help that Sadie is so easy to practice. Oh yes, the Sadie/teacher/me triangle is fully functional. And maybe that's part of the problem too!
More Suzuki posts: Suzuki violin.
Two weeks ago, I decided I had had enough.
Picture a horse hitched to a stagecoach. The horse's agenda is to go as fast as possible. Never mind the safety of the passengers, the integrity of the coach itself, the driving conditions, the possible turns in the road. Then there's a driver. Her sole purpose is hauling on the reins. That's all she does, just pull back on the reins, with varying levels of frustration and patience, frustration and patience, yank yank yank. Occasionally the driver brings the horse to a halt, climbs down off the coach, and has a heart to heart talk with the horse. She explains all the logical reasons why this breakneck pace is not healthy or conducive to personal growth. During this conversation, the horse nods its head sagely, meanwhile tapping its hoof distractedly. When the stage driver gets back up on the coach again, the horse takes off at the exact same speed as before. Yank, yank, yank.
Horse = Benny. Stage driver = me.
Benny is in book 5. He is playing the third movement of the Vivaldi concerto in G minor. He cannot play this song, he cannot successfully pass this song, by ripping through it at maximum speed again and again. Repetitions at this speed do nothing to help him execute the song. What he needs to do is to slow down to a speed where he can play it absolutely correctly and in tune, and do a thousand repetitions. A thousand? Really? Yes. Suzuki would say, a thousand, in a slow tempo. This trains your hand and brain to correctly do the physical act of playing the song. Then when you take it up to speed, your reflexes take over. If you play it fast, you do not learn to play it right. You learn to play it messy. This is a tough piece, the toughest so far. It's not one he can just talent his way through.
So I said to his teacher, I can't do this anymore, it's so frustrating, I'm in this adversarial situation with my child, it's bleeding into other parts of our day, and I can't do this with joy, I can't approach practice with happiness, when I know that I'm going to fight with him the whole time.
His teacher, bless her heart, told me to take a break, let him practice on his own. That was two weeks ago. So, Benny has been practicing on his own. He is trying. He really is. He has in his mind what mature, independent practicing sounds like. He calls it "self-responsible." If he makes a mistake, he stops, dramatically fixes it, and then goes on. There's a lot of checking intonation with open strings. However, I know that what he's actually doing is teaching himself to play it wrong, and then fix it. You don't learn to play correctly by playing incorrectly and then fixing it, because then when you get to your lesson or in a performance situation, and you can't fix your mistakes, you're just left with the mistakes. Plus you're training your hand to play the wrong note by doing it over and over, regardless of whether you're fixing it or not! Not very Suzuki.
So, here we are. Lesson is tomorrow. He's not being very Suzuki and neither am I. I honestly don't know what the solution is. We can use a metronome, but that involves me standing there enforcing the metronome, measure by measure. Me as enforcer is the dynamic I'm trying to get away from. On the one hand, I want him to learn to practice on his own! When I was nine, I was doing it. On the other hand, I think maybe he isn't capable of practicing on his own yet, and what I'm doing by "taking a break" is just making things worse and being selfish.
I am overthinking it. I am complicating matters. But I just can't get my head around it -- I need help! And may I just say that it doesn't help that Sadie is so easy to practice. Oh yes, the Sadie/teacher/me triangle is fully functional. And maybe that's part of the problem too!
More Suzuki posts: Suzuki violin.
Labels: music, practicing, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin
Bach Festival 2008: Suzuki Violin Performance
5 CommentsBy Lostcheerio on Tuesday, December 02, 2008 at 10:09 PM.
Benny played with other students from the Academy of Music and Suzuki students from around Hampton Roads, at the Bach Festival, hosted by the Chrysler Museum. Here are a few pictures and videos. It was incredibly wonderful for Benny to have a chance to play with older children, and he really rose to the occasion. Definitely best ever effort at listening, following, and getting into step with the other kids. Seeing him play the Bach Double was very moving for me. I was very proud of him. He has worked very hard, and he also has a beautiful talent. And I love him.
A beautiful setting:
Serious artists:
Focus:
And Bach:
A beautiful setting:
Serious artists:
Focus:
And Bach:
Labels: bach, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin
Benny graduated Suzuki Book 4 at the Judy Blank Suzuki Violin Workshop. It was exciting. After he missed his official graduation recital because he was violently ill, it was a relief to be able to put on a suit coat and perform a couple of pieces to an audience, and be a certified, bonafide graduate.
Here he is doing one of his pieces:
So that's the end of Book 4. We're done with the unaccompanied Gavotte in Book 5 now, and polishing the 2nd movement of the Vivaldi in A minor, so now we've just started working on the first page of the G minor. Exciting.
I just want to take this time to unabashedly show off my children's violin position. They are awesome (which means, of course that their teachers are awesome).
Sadie participated in the workshop also. In her master class, we were congratulated on her awesome position, and Judy Blank just encouraged her to use more bow and produce more sound, and she gave us some games to play to help with that. She played Go Tell Aunt Rhody in her master class, and she's now learning May Song. Benny's master class was all about fingering and bowing stuff in the Bach Double -- different ways to practice hard passages. Neither got corrected on position, and I was so completely proud of them for being such cute little snickersnacks. I mean such fine musicians.
Here's Sadie's position:
I mean have you ever seen such a lovely bow hand on a four-year-old?
Here's Benny's:
His bow hand has come a long way, and his vibrato is now really amazing. He's matured so much as a musician in the last year -- I'm floored by him. There are many ways in which Benny is not the most mature 8 year old on the planet. However, being able to pull off that schmaltzy middle section in the third Seitz is something I have never been able to do convincingly, and he does it beautifully.
One more picture from the workshop, on the night of the potluck dinner. Yes, this is how I get results from my four-year-old! Artificial colors and flavors!
So here he is. Eight years old and on to Book 5. Suzuki forever!
Here he is doing one of his pieces:
So that's the end of Book 4. We're done with the unaccompanied Gavotte in Book 5 now, and polishing the 2nd movement of the Vivaldi in A minor, so now we've just started working on the first page of the G minor. Exciting.
I just want to take this time to unabashedly show off my children's violin position. They are awesome (which means, of course that their teachers are awesome).
Sadie participated in the workshop also. In her master class, we were congratulated on her awesome position, and Judy Blank just encouraged her to use more bow and produce more sound, and she gave us some games to play to help with that. She played Go Tell Aunt Rhody in her master class, and she's now learning May Song. Benny's master class was all about fingering and bowing stuff in the Bach Double -- different ways to practice hard passages. Neither got corrected on position, and I was so completely proud of them for being such cute little snickersnacks. I mean such fine musicians.
Here's Sadie's position:
I mean have you ever seen such a lovely bow hand on a four-year-old?
Here's Benny's:
His bow hand has come a long way, and his vibrato is now really amazing. He's matured so much as a musician in the last year -- I'm floored by him. There are many ways in which Benny is not the most mature 8 year old on the planet. However, being able to pull off that schmaltzy middle section in the third Seitz is something I have never been able to do convincingly, and he does it beautifully.
One more picture from the workshop, on the night of the potluck dinner. Yes, this is how I get results from my four-year-old! Artificial colors and flavors!
So here he is. Eight years old and on to Book 5. Suzuki forever!
Labels: suzuki, suzuki violin, violin
Little Sadie played in her first concert. Her first time playing in front of people who aren't other moms and dads and kids in our tight-knit Suzuki community. She and Benny played with the STAHR group in the lobby at Chrysler Hall, a warm-up act for the Virginia Symphony and Jennifer Koh. It was AWESOME!
First, let's talk about Sadie. She had total calm, total poise, complete concentration on her instrument. She put her fingers down in the right spot, kept her bow hold exactly perfect, and when she got behind a little bit she caught up without showing distraction or worry on her face. Amazing aplomb, this girl has. I was so proud I could have exploded. Here she is warming up:
Then let's talk about Benny. The last time Benny played with STAHR at Chysler Hall, he engaged in a lot of bow-jousting and eventually lay down on the floor luxuriously and kicked his feet in the air to the rhythm of the other kids' playing. Not a good performance. Last night he was focusing on the word "unison." Syncing up with other kids does not come easy for Benny -- he has to work very hard to be an ensemble player. Last night he did his very best yet -- seeing his bow going up and down in concert with all the other children really made me swell with joy. Here he is:
Sorry the pictures are so bad -- all I had was my phone for pictures and video, as I seem to have lost my camera, along with my mind.
Anyway, I stood and cried all the way through it, just so proud of my tiny little girl and my smart big boy, both doing their very best in their own way. They just astonished me. It was a true delight.
Yesterday's schedule:
9:30 Leave for canvassing with Ahno.
10:00 Canvassing launch
1:00 Pick up kids from home.
2:00 Finish canvassing.
2:30 Drop off packet to organizers.
3:00 Grocery shopping to get food for pot luck.
3:30 Shoe shopping -- Benny's dress shoes were too small.
4:00 Home and pop focaccia in oven.
4:15 Arrive late at STAHR rehearsal and drop off children.
4:20 Home to get focaccia and concert clothes and whatnot.
4:40 Back at violin school, set out food, watch rehearsal.
5:00 Pot-luck dinner with Suzuki family including guests from Harrisonberg violin program.
6:00 Change clothes, change children's clothes, head to Chrysler Hall.
6:45 Arrive Chrysler Hall early, wander about, knit.
7:00 Tuning and warm-up.
7:30 Performance.
8:00 Go into concert hall to see the Virginia Symphony and Jennifer Koh performint Saint Saens' Symphonie Fantastique.
When I settled into my seat at the end of the day, I was exhausted, but in my mind were the voices of my children. On the way down the stairs from the dress circle after their set was over, I was raving about how proud I was of Benny and he said, "Mom, did it blow your heart?" Yes. And Sadie, looking up at me with glowing eyes, so revved up, so electrified by the performance, said this: "Mom, am I a violinist now?"
One more video. The tiny blob right in front of the teacher is Sadie Grace. Benny is behind the piano. I know the video is low quality but doesn't it sound beautiful?
First, let's talk about Sadie. She had total calm, total poise, complete concentration on her instrument. She put her fingers down in the right spot, kept her bow hold exactly perfect, and when she got behind a little bit she caught up without showing distraction or worry on her face. Amazing aplomb, this girl has. I was so proud I could have exploded. Here she is warming up:
Then let's talk about Benny. The last time Benny played with STAHR at Chysler Hall, he engaged in a lot of bow-jousting and eventually lay down on the floor luxuriously and kicked his feet in the air to the rhythm of the other kids' playing. Not a good performance. Last night he was focusing on the word "unison." Syncing up with other kids does not come easy for Benny -- he has to work very hard to be an ensemble player. Last night he did his very best yet -- seeing his bow going up and down in concert with all the other children really made me swell with joy. Here he is:
Sorry the pictures are so bad -- all I had was my phone for pictures and video, as I seem to have lost my camera, along with my mind.
Anyway, I stood and cried all the way through it, just so proud of my tiny little girl and my smart big boy, both doing their very best in their own way. They just astonished me. It was a true delight.
Yesterday's schedule:
9:30 Leave for canvassing with Ahno.
10:00 Canvassing launch
1:00 Pick up kids from home.
2:00 Finish canvassing.
2:30 Drop off packet to organizers.
3:00 Grocery shopping to get food for pot luck.
3:30 Shoe shopping -- Benny's dress shoes were too small.
4:00 Home and pop focaccia in oven.
4:15 Arrive late at STAHR rehearsal and drop off children.
4:20 Home to get focaccia and concert clothes and whatnot.
4:40 Back at violin school, set out food, watch rehearsal.
5:00 Pot-luck dinner with Suzuki family including guests from Harrisonberg violin program.
6:00 Change clothes, change children's clothes, head to Chrysler Hall.
6:45 Arrive Chrysler Hall early, wander about, knit.
7:00 Tuning and warm-up.
7:30 Performance.
8:00 Go into concert hall to see the Virginia Symphony and Jennifer Koh performint Saint Saens' Symphonie Fantastique.
When I settled into my seat at the end of the day, I was exhausted, but in my mind were the voices of my children. On the way down the stairs from the dress circle after their set was over, I was raving about how proud I was of Benny and he said, "Mom, did it blow your heart?" Yes. And Sadie, looking up at me with glowing eyes, so revved up, so electrified by the performance, said this: "Mom, am I a violinist now?"
One more video. The tiny blob right in front of the teacher is Sadie Grace. Benny is behind the piano. I know the video is low quality but doesn't it sound beautiful?
Labels: suzuki violin, violin
Since we've been here at the farm, we've relaxed our practice schedule somewhat. I'm trying to get him through the Vivaldi A minor 2nd movement at least once a day, so he can firm up his memory on where the shifts are, but that doesn't always happen. We've been working on the shifting exercises and tonalization, string change etudes in Book 5, but we haven't been working very seriously on anything. Benny will be graduating from Book 4 at some point in the fall, so we are also vaguely reviewing the Seitz concertos and the rest of the Vivaldi in A minor. The thing is... unless we practice right away in the morning, our days are so full of activities and outdoor exertions that neither of us have the vim and vigor for a really serious violin practice.
I have to work against my reaction to the A minor 2nd movement -- this was my Waterloo as a violinist -- past which I could no longer really get by with my fake vibrato. Second movements always my downfall. Allegros, Gigues, more my style.
Two good things have happened:
1. Benny wrote a song -- not a classical song but a rock song. He has a violin part for it that I think is completely hooky, adorable, inventive, and amazing. I say that without patronizing him -- it's a riff Rasputina would be proud of. His teacher has been encouraging him to write down some of the improv tunes he comes up with, and he doesn't really do it, partly because he doesn't have the theory enough to do it, and mostly because I think he just doesn't care. When he does want to write something down he can -- he used staff paper to write down an Irish-ish tune that was in his head the other day and did fine with slurs, ties, key signature, etc. So, I think that maybe writing songs for him is going to take a different shape than we envisioned. Not so much with the Gavottes and Etudes. More with the Verse-Chorsus-Bridge. Which is so fine with me. He asked me if I want to be in his band, and I said, unreservedly, YES.
2. He's been playing outside a little bit, and in different spaces, and I think it's improved his tone. Sometimes at home we play on the front porch or on the back deck, just for variety, but standing under the trees in the front yard, which are ancient maples five stories high, or inside an evergreen house of pine branches -- I think it creates a different feeling for him. Anyway, I think he's sounding pretty good!
After he gets the A minor wrapped up, it's on to the G minor. Hard to believe he could be done with Book 5 by spring. He already knows the 1st violin part of the Bach Double. So we're one concerto and a few dances away from Book 6.
Labels: suzuki violin
Since Benny was 4 we have been participating in the Suzuki performances at the Stockley Gardens Arts Festival. For one reason and another, we took a two year break from these biannual concerts until last Saturday, when Sadie and Benny played their violins with the rest of the STAHR students in the bright hot Virginia sun.
Sadie wore her special Tuka-Tuka-Stop-Stop t-shirt which I had made specially for her. She loathed it so totally that I had to allow her to wear it over a tutu to get it on her at all. Whatever, it was worth it:
Here's Benny's end of the stage:
Sadie got to play Twinkle as a solo:
And Benny got to play the Bach Double with Mrs. Morton, Pilar, and Monty:
A great experience for them. We loved all of it. Eventually I will get the videos up to YouTube from this show and the recital.
Of course there was also the butterfly face paint and the watermelon ice:
Everything counts in large amounts!
Sadie wore her special Tuka-Tuka-Stop-Stop t-shirt which I had made specially for her. She loathed it so totally that I had to allow her to wear it over a tutu to get it on her at all. Whatever, it was worth it:
Here's Benny's end of the stage:
Sadie got to play Twinkle as a solo:
And Benny got to play the Bach Double with Mrs. Morton, Pilar, and Monty:
A great experience for them. We loved all of it. Eventually I will get the videos up to YouTube from this show and the recital.
Of course there was also the butterfly face paint and the watermelon ice:
Everything counts in large amounts!
Labels: suzuki violin, violin
This morning Benny spilled a bowl of milk right onto his CPU. He carried on playing Roller Coaster Tycoon, and when I entered the room and immediately exploded into space, he said, "It's okay, it's okay! None got into the keyboard!" Uh, right. And of course we are out of paper towels. So Dan and I leaped into action, pulling out all the plugs, wiping it down, swabbing it with dishtowels, etc. The 409. The little bits of cereal. The soppy disks.
So now Benny is in the living room with us watching CNBC. I'm answering emails. Dan is setting up his trades for the day. I asked if I could switch CNBC to something more Benny-friendly, and Dan said, "Benny, you know your computer is back up running. You can play it if you want." Benny said, "Oh, can I just wait until the Jobless Claims comes out at 8:30?"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! BABY DAN!!!!!
But the real point of my post is to report that the 50 day challenge has been transformative and wonderful for Sadie. When we started, she was not able to get through tuka-tuka-stop-stop without some help. Now, she is moving on to Lightly Row!!! In all the excitement of the science fair, I didn't even blog about her first recital. She played the new triplet variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and she was AMAZING AND WONDERFUL! Now she's learning A-steps-up-to-E-E-E. I think I can say now that we are over the twinkle hump, and we are on our way to playing real songs and making real music. She moved up to a 1/10th size violin, she practiced every day for 45 days, and here we are. Good old fifty-day challenge. Dan has increased his average speed, Benny has finished book four, and I have... been very proud of the accomplishments of my family members. ;D
So now Benny is in the living room with us watching CNBC. I'm answering emails. Dan is setting up his trades for the day. I asked if I could switch CNBC to something more Benny-friendly, and Dan said, "Benny, you know your computer is back up running. You can play it if you want." Benny said, "Oh, can I just wait until the Jobless Claims comes out at 8:30?"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! BABY DAN!!!!!
But the real point of my post is to report that the 50 day challenge has been transformative and wonderful for Sadie. When we started, she was not able to get through tuka-tuka-stop-stop without some help. Now, she is moving on to Lightly Row!!! In all the excitement of the science fair, I didn't even blog about her first recital. She played the new triplet variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and she was AMAZING AND WONDERFUL! Now she's learning A-steps-up-to-E-E-E. I think I can say now that we are over the twinkle hump, and we are on our way to playing real songs and making real music. She moved up to a 1/10th size violin, she practiced every day for 45 days, and here we are. Good old fifty-day challenge. Dan has increased his average speed, Benny has finished book four, and I have... been very proud of the accomplishments of my family members. ;D
Labels: suzuki, suzuki violin
The Suzuki method is about learning to deal with distractions.
Labels: benny, suzuki violin, videos, violin
The End of the October Violin Practice Challenge!
0 CommentsBy Lostcheerio on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 7:52 PM.
Tomorrow is the last day to practice your violin and color in pumpkins! Because tomorrow is....
HALLOWEEN.
Here's a picture of Sadie before her violin lesson today, to go along with the picture of Sadie's pumpkin plan, above. Drawn by Sadie, faithfully and dutifully carved by me.
So -- did you color in all your pumpkins? I have to admit that we here at our house did not! I don't know whether it was the Boston trip or Halloween fever, but we did not faithfully keep track of our practices, even though the chart was right on the fridge, so I'm not really sure whether we practiced enough times to get them all colored in, and I'm not going to guess. My feeling is that Benny has more than enough, and Sadie has about half. So, instead of counting, on November 1, I'm going to give them each a certificate that says "MANY MANY" in the space for the number of practices, and call it a month. Honest, oh that's me. Lame, but honest.
I hope that you have been more virtuous at keeping track than I have! I want to give away this medallion to some marvelous child who has spent October sawing madly away on the violin! If you finished the challenge, please send me a message with a link to your blog, and a picture of your child (not necessary, but I'd like to post it!) My address is jackets at rpsd.com.
A little video from Sadie's lesson! Mrs. Ford was having the girls answer back and forth with their violins:
HALLOWEEN.
Here's a picture of Sadie before her violin lesson today, to go along with the picture of Sadie's pumpkin plan, above. Drawn by Sadie, faithfully and dutifully carved by me.
So -- did you color in all your pumpkins? I have to admit that we here at our house did not! I don't know whether it was the Boston trip or Halloween fever, but we did not faithfully keep track of our practices, even though the chart was right on the fridge, so I'm not really sure whether we practiced enough times to get them all colored in, and I'm not going to guess. My feeling is that Benny has more than enough, and Sadie has about half. So, instead of counting, on November 1, I'm going to give them each a certificate that says "MANY MANY" in the space for the number of practices, and call it a month. Honest, oh that's me. Lame, but honest.
I hope that you have been more virtuous at keeping track than I have! I want to give away this medallion to some marvelous child who has spent October sawing madly away on the violin! If you finished the challenge, please send me a message with a link to your blog, and a picture of your child (not necessary, but I'd like to post it!) My address is jackets at rpsd.com.
A little video from Sadie's lesson! Mrs. Ford was having the girls answer back and forth with their violins:
Labels: suzuki violin, violin
How to Get Your Three-Year-Old to Practice the Violin with Joy
9 CommentsBy Lostcheerio on Monday, October 22, 2007 at 12:11 PM.
With JOY? Yes, and joy without sugar! Now usually, I just use candy to produce joy. One tiny M&M per accomplishment yields enough joy to get us through an average day's practice. BUT! Let's say you have a moral opposition to M&Ms.
Or your child has just eaten the frosting off three cupcakes and you think the addition of one more chocolate molecule would turn her into a giant squid. Here's a game to play with a violin practice that will make it fun and sugar-free.
1. Make your programs!
How many times do you want your child to repeat her assignment? In Sadie's case, we are working on the very first part of variation A, and I want her to go through it six times per practice. So we made six programs. The programs were each 1/3 of a sheet of paper, and they said TUKA TUKA STOP STOP in big letters. Of course, this is a good time to practice letters. You will also need a sheet of stickers, any size, for later.
2. Collect your audience!
Walk through the house, with a megaphone if you have one, calling, "Who wants to come to a violin show?" Collect whichever dolls/toys/animals are interested in the performance. Arrange them like an audience, and distribute the programs. Of course, your violin student will want to participate in all this, as is right and proper and educational.
3. Start the show!
Give the child a big introduction and let him/her take over. You be the audience. Maybe the dolls will heckle, and have to be subdued. Maybe the animals will have many questions about the parts of the violin. Maybe the action figures will shriek for more, more, more Twinkle Little Star.
4. Bring on the stickers!
Every time the child plays the song (in Sadie's case the first phrase of Twinkle, all the way through, with violin hand and bow hand working together) she gets a sticker to put on the program of one of toys. Beware -- all the toys will clamor for a sticker and demand a certain one, or a certain color, and be difficult. When every program has a sticker, the practice is over, EVEN IF THE CHILD WANTS TO DO MORE. Next time, you can pass out the programs again, and everyone can get another sticker. Until then, Buzz Lightyear and Barbie will just have to hum Twinkle to themselves.
There you have it! Today's method. Is it worth it, for forty-eight tuka-tuka-stop-stops? Absolutely. Dr. Suzuki recommended five minutes with JOY. How we bring about the joy is up to us. Watch this space for more diabolical violin practice manipulations!
Edit: Hey, I just found a very cool post on awesome gadgety violin tricks from my friend Karen.
Or your child has just eaten the frosting off three cupcakes and you think the addition of one more chocolate molecule would turn her into a giant squid. Here's a game to play with a violin practice that will make it fun and sugar-free.
1. Make your programs!
How many times do you want your child to repeat her assignment? In Sadie's case, we are working on the very first part of variation A, and I want her to go through it six times per practice. So we made six programs. The programs were each 1/3 of a sheet of paper, and they said TUKA TUKA STOP STOP in big letters. Of course, this is a good time to practice letters. You will also need a sheet of stickers, any size, for later.
2. Collect your audience!
Walk through the house, with a megaphone if you have one, calling, "Who wants to come to a violin show?" Collect whichever dolls/toys/animals are interested in the performance. Arrange them like an audience, and distribute the programs. Of course, your violin student will want to participate in all this, as is right and proper and educational.
3. Start the show!
Give the child a big introduction and let him/her take over. You be the audience. Maybe the dolls will heckle, and have to be subdued. Maybe the animals will have many questions about the parts of the violin. Maybe the action figures will shriek for more, more, more Twinkle Little Star.
4. Bring on the stickers!
Every time the child plays the song (in Sadie's case the first phrase of Twinkle, all the way through, with violin hand and bow hand working together) she gets a sticker to put on the program of one of toys. Beware -- all the toys will clamor for a sticker and demand a certain one, or a certain color, and be difficult. When every program has a sticker, the practice is over, EVEN IF THE CHILD WANTS TO DO MORE. Next time, you can pass out the programs again, and everyone can get another sticker. Until then, Buzz Lightyear and Barbie will just have to hum Twinkle to themselves.
There you have it! Today's method. Is it worth it, for forty-eight tuka-tuka-stop-stops? Absolutely. Dr. Suzuki recommended five minutes with JOY. How we bring about the joy is up to us. Watch this space for more diabolical violin practice manipulations!
Edit: Hey, I just found a very cool post on awesome gadgety violin tricks from my friend Karen.
***
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Labels: how to, practice, sadie, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin
