I’m always thrilled when a parent asks me for advice about how to practice better at home! I try to make it clear in parent education that this is something I like to help with & that parents need not struggle through alone. It’s always great when someone takes me up on the offer to problem solve together. Often I have ideas that I’ve come up with, that I’ve heard from wonderful colleagues or we try out new ideas together.
How is practice going at your house? Does your child start their practice without any nagging or reminding from you? Does your child come to every practice eager to learn and work on their lesson assignments? Does your child stay focused through every practice session so you don't have to remind them to keep going? Does your child work through new material with ease, happy to repeat practice spots in order to master them? You may be able to answer…
I am in the midst of parent - teacher conferences in my studio, and the issue of fitting in practice when there is too much homework has come up a few times already. I have some thoughts to share with my students and thought others may benefit from hearing them as well. A number of my middle school students go to a very high caliber private school where 3 hours of homework a night is the norm (we could have…
One thing I always say in my studio is that although practicing individually for lessons each week is very important (and the only way we can really improve our playing skills) it is not really what music is all about. I believe it's when we get together with other people to make music that the magic really happens. The Oregon Suzuki Association recently had an annual meeting and teachers were asked something along the lines of "What made you…
I currently have a whole crew of young violin students in the middle of Book One. I can see that I need to better communicate what will help these students succeed as they move ahead to the more complicated pieces coming up. Below are some of my thoughts about what I want parents (home coaches) to know about how to keep the momentum going & what's ahead. There is wonderful music coming that will not feel wonderful to learn without…
Many of us know Suzuki's quote : "Knowledge is not skill. Knowledge plus 10,000 times is skill." Such a great reminder that it is not enough to know something - we have to practice over and over to really master it. I recently came across this quote and had to share . . . who knew that Suzuki and Bruce Lee would have such similar things to say :) "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks…
In my studio almost all of my middle & high school students participate in performance groups in addition to regular lessons & group classes. Some students are members of community orchestras, youth symphonies or their school orchestra. Others play as a soloist in their church or with their school's choir . . . As their teacher, I try to make sure I am preparing students to play in these groups by integrating sight reading and rhythmic studies into their lessons…
In my studio, I teach many preschool & kindergarten students. My degree is in Early Childhood Education, and this is an age that I LOVE to work with. Working with these young students is never boring . . . you never know what will happen from week to week. What I can usually count on though, is fun stories from their week, lots of imagination ("Today I'm a Robot!" . . . complete with motions no less!) and I…
One of the foundations of the Suzuki Method is its focus on reviewing pieces a student has already learned. Most teachers have a systematic way to have students go through their review pieces and it often varies from teacher to teacher. Reviewing pieces on a daily and weekly basis not only keeps students ready to participate in group classes, play throughs, and at institutes in the summer - it also helps students to master their pieces in a way…
When you are working on learning a new piece do some research on the composer who wrote it. Getting some insight into the person who created the music can make the process of learning more interesting. Great books for younger Suzuki students (about the composers in the Suzuki repertoire) are Stories of Composers for Young Musicians and More Stories of Composers for Young Musicians both written by Catherine Kendall. The stories she tells about composers such as Beethoven, Gossec, and…