Recital Time

Our next studio recital is in two days.   My students from Book 1 will be performing their solo pieces at 2 pm at the Allen County Public Library downtown theater.   I am proud of all their achievements.  I think this might be the best semester my students have had.  

  

Recitals are such a great learning experience for all of us.  Recitals teach important skills, unique skills.  Such as:

1.  Public Presentation. 

2.  Personal Confidence. 

3.  Concentration under Pressure.

4.  Professional Preparation. 

5.  Memory.

6.  Collaboration.

One of the best things about my recitals is how young and inexperienced all the performers are.  Years from now, if they continue studying and performing, they are going to be highly experienced when they are performing difficult works, and when they are in judged competitions and auditions.   

By the way, while I am bragging here:  all of my students and former students who have auditioned for college, orchestras, or lessons with advanced teachers, have succeeded in those auditions.  One former student, and one current student are now concertmasters of their youth or school orchestras, and two of my younger beginners (age 7 now) are playing in middle school orchestras.  All students who have moved or "moved on" have gone straight into the studios of university-level teachers.   

Do you know what I think of when I consider these successes? Months of lessons on "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  

Brain Rules and Music Lessons

I've just finished reading a book by John Medina, Brain Rules for Baby.

I love reading good books.  In fact, if you are interested in learning with any age of child, you should read this.  My children are 2 and 4, but reading about their brains from infancy gives me the insight to see where they have been, and what I can do now based on that understanding.

My favorite insight in this book: "the brain seeks security above all." Medina offers an entire chapter about the importance of the parents' relationship to the developing child.  In another chapter, he makes an analogy to the victim of assault who can remember the weapon perfectly, but not the perpetrator's face.  "The brain is learning under these hostile conditions (stress can marvelously focus the mind); it is just concentrating on the source of the threat." 

Weapons focus also occurs during lessons:  Medina tells about a flight student who is struggling during a flight.  The teacher begins to yell at her, hoping to boost her concentraion.  Instead, she starts to cry, and the teacher has to land the plane.  "The teacher's anger could not direct the student to the instrument to be learned because the instrument was not the source of danger.  The teacher was the source of danger."

Here's the part of the book that is relevant to music lessons 

10 years of music lessons

"There's another powerful way to fine-tune a child's hearing for the emotional aspects of speech: musical training.  Researchers in the Chicago area showed that musically experienced kids--those who studied any instrument for at least 10 years, starting before age 7--responded with greased-lightning speed to subtle variations in emotion-laden cues, such as a baby's cry.  The scientists tracked changes in the timing, pitch, and timbre of the baby's cry, all the while eavesdropping on the musician's brainstem (the most ancient part of the brain) to see what happened.

Kids without rigorous musical training didn't show much discrimination at all. They didn't pick up on the fine-grained information embedded in the signal and were, so to speak, more emotionally tone deaf.  Dana Strait, first author of the study, wrote:  'That their brains respond more quickly and accurately than the brains of non-musicians is something we'd expect to translate into the perception of emotion in other settings.'

This finding is remarkably clear, beautifully practical, and a bit unexpected.  It suggests that if you want happy kids later in life, get them started on a musical journey early in life.  Then make sure they stick with it until they are old enough to start filling out their applications to Harvard, probably humming all the way."

That was silly

Part of being a violin teacher is the need to keep some sort of composure during whatever comes up in the lesson.   I am very self-conscious of my response to musical problems---I constantly anticipate, analyze, and adjust my tone to give the best feedback to the student.

But I don't feel too solemn when they do things like,  show up in a bikini asking for a bandaid for her owie knee,  reply to all directions in a squeaky voice,  topple over backwards at random, have gas, say, "my legs hurt," and "I have to go to the bathroom."   I usually laugh, and do my best to accommodate.

As I said,  I concentrate so hard on their technique, musicality, and practicing habits, that I really enjoy the comic relief!   As my 2-year-old likes to say, "That was silly!"

Summer Violin Lessons

This summer has been quite relaxed at my studio. Most of my students are traveling, at camp, etc. so that my schedule looks like swiss cheese. On the other hand, I find that when I do teach a lesson, everyone seems really happy to be here and ready to work. Having a break can really help with concentration and creativity!

Here are my suggestions for summer practice:

1. Organize. How is your practice environment? Summer is a great time to change things up, but make sure that you keep track of things like lesson times, and when/if practice is happening at home. You might have to be creative, but make sure you have a plan for your daily routine with a good time to practice included.

2. Journal. Write down questions, goals, your favorite pieces from CDs or performances that you want to work towards. Sometimes, having less stress from school-year commitments gives you the freedom to think about long-term dreams. If you have a younger child taking lessons, take them to the library to find a violin CD to listen to and write down the name of the violinist and any favorite pieces in the journal. Or, have the child make a list of 'famous violinists' that they see in local concerts, on TV or internet, and on CDs.

Also, in the journal write down the dates that you practice, and any other details that are important. It's good for a younger student just to have a visual record of how many days they practice, and they can put a sticker or picture in lieu of written notes.

3. Review, review, review. Get a good Suzuki review chart---for an advanced player, make a system to play all your scales and etudes regularly, one key per day, etc. AND you have to play old repertoire that is technically easy for you. It is the best way to beat performance nerves, build a relaxed technique and a rich, full, personalized tone.

Accidental Prodigies

Here's a new article from the Wall Street Journal exploring the development of extremely gifted children. Let me know what you think!

Welcome!

I am a Suzuki violin teacher, professional violinist, and mom of two young boys, both of whom play the violin at the very beginner, pre-Twinkle level. I am working on launching a website for my current and prospective students, as well as several other constituencies. In the process, I discovered that I desperately needed a blog outlet for my work, a place to put links, ideas, opinions, that might not be as well-edited and definitive enough for a professional website. I'm hoping this becomes a place where I can not only share information, but ask questions, explore current issues, and tell fun stories about what I do.

Please feel free to post comments and suggestions on this blog, whether you are another teacher, parent, musician or just an infatuated audience member. I need an outlet for my creativity, and if it sparks any creative thinking on your part, please share--or criticize. Of course, I'll preview comments to make sure that the blog stays family-friendly, civil, and doesn't ruin my career. But, otherwise, have at it.

I am currently reading a book by Amy Chua, the one she wrote about her daughters, dogs, and violin. Yeah, that one. I think that's going to be the subject of my next post.