Suzuki, Viola, Teaching, Learning, Loving
Does your instrument case tweet? Our String Player of the Week has a very active violin case that posts social media updates from around the world! Hilary Hahn is only 38 years old but as of this writing has played 1594 concerts. She has also won three Grammy awards and she regularly performs with major... Continue Reading →
In the beginning stages of playing the violin or viola, there are many things to consider: the posture, bow hold, and bowing motion for starters. But for beginners, simply placing the fingers in the correct shape on the fingerboard and using an appropriate amount of force vs. relaxation of the finger can be a challenge.... Continue Reading →
My "New Year's" Resolution For many teachers, September feels more the like the “new year” than January 1st. I love all the school supply sales and the sense of new beginnings. This time of the year, I like to also take time to reflect on how I can improve and streamline my teaching. My goal... Continue Reading →
It's back-to-school time here in St. Louis, and I'm busy getting ready for the new year, but before things get too crazy, I want to share my experience at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point Wisconsin. I spent the last two weeks of July this year in Stevens Point, taking some viola teacher training.... Continue Reading →
Summer is a great time to catch up on on some reading. I’m off to Wisconsin soon and will be gone for a few weeks, so I was excited to get a new book in the mail with just enough time to read it before I left town. The book is called “Beyond the Music... Continue Reading →
My Favorite Scale Books Last week, I talked about the importance of scale practice for young string students. This week, I thought I would go more into detail about how I introduce scales and some of the materials I use. There are suggested scales printed throughout the Suzuki Method Books, but for my own teaching,... Continue Reading →
One of the wonderful things about teaching from the same repertoire year after year is you tend to develop “favorites”. One of my favorite pieces in Book 1 is Song of the Wind. It's fun, energetic, and often a student favorite, and it's fun to vary the tempo in group class so it becomes Song... Continue Reading →
Private teachers know that things are, well, a bit different during the summer. I believe that summer lessons are crucial to continued student success and Christine Goodner recently wrote a great article about the importance of summer lessons over at the Suzuki Triangle Blog. While the majority of my students do continue lessons over... Continue Reading →
My Suzuki Journey Prior to taking teacher training courses, my impressions of the Suzuki Method were mostly based on vague statements from other people who may or may not have had any knowledge of Suzuki teaching. Like a game of telephone, misinformation tends to spread unless corrected by a reliable source. I would like to... Continue Reading →
