5/7/2013 Lesson

Long Long Ago
Parts 1, 2, Circle, D, D, 2
Keep the bow out of the mud!

May Song review
Sounded the best when you slowed down and made sure the bow was out of the mud.

Allegro
Dr. Suzuki hid a little bit of "Tucka Tucka Stop Stop" and "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" in this song.
First time through practice fingering without the bow.

First Part--Staccato with the bowing short and crisp. E1, E2, E3, E1, E, E.  It starts at the bottom of the yard (or down bow). Did you hear the tucka tucka stop stop?

Second Part A3, A3, A2, A2 "old grey mare is dead" (part of "Go Tell Aunt Rhody").  Remember to play Legato--long and smooth in this part.

Third Part--CIRCLE

First Part again.

Elbow Position and Holding the Violin Correctly Review
When holding your violin keep the elbow forward so you can play on the inside corners of the fingers.  Make sure your elbow is about an inch in front of your tummy.  Remember keeping the nose, string, elbow, toe all in a straight line.

Incorrect--elbow is back--very uncomfortable.

Correct--elbow is forward allowing fingers to rest easily.

When mom moves the elbow forward take hold of the scroll with one hand and the elbow with the other so that the whole arm holding the violin does not move forward--just the elbow.

To Try to Help Remember Keeping Elbow Forward: tie a piece of yarn loosely around your elbow so and measure it to the ground and clip. Then, add a washer at the bottom. The washer should be touching your toe at all times when playing.

Aww the cute boys!  We love you! Thank you!!!

4/30/2013 Lesson

May Song Review

O Come Little Children

A major scale (strengthens 3rd finger so it does not collapse).

Really Watch Form!

Long Long Ago make papers and remember to mark tallies.  Should be at least 20 in 2 and D.

Another question. Is this photo a good example of a straight wrist?

Source

4/17/2013 Lesson

May Song--keep the wrist straight and the tone will improve.

Long, Long Ago-- "long, long ago; long, ago" 10 times a day.

Practice the hops from A1 to D1 and the movement into it.

Remember that the song in sections 1st ending (A); 2nd ending (B); Jumps (C); 2nd Ending (B). 

For warm-ups/exercises.

Each past song 1 time. Must be played well or it needs to be repeated.

Current piece--or the piece just finished--three times. Play May Song 3 times. 

10 bow circles--tip control is prime!

Stop rolls--short down up on each string. Stop/Roll. Down up on next string. Stop/roll. Repeat to G string and back to the E string.  Should sound short and not flowing or connected.

Violin Taps--hand goes all the way up the shoulders or beach of the violin. Thumb rests in the curve under the neck/shoulders connection.  Wrist reaches straight up and over and tap the beach on the furthest side of the violin. So the opposite of this photo on the violin.  Remember, this will keep the wrist straight and pointed away from like the photo below.

T--I was thinking it is really helpful to see you do some of the moves that are hard to explain, maybe the next time we get together I can Print Screen a few more shots to help us remember the right way to do things and we can post the photos here. :)

"Oh Come Little Children"

It's not perfect, yet. We're still working on getting it there.  We've started practicing "May Song."

3/26/13 Lesson

Warm-ups--Twinkles; Song of the Wind; Go Tell Aunt Rhody
Keep your eyes on your violin to focus.
Make sure the violin arm stays up.

A Major Scale--One Octave
Open A, A1, A2, A3, Open E, E1, E2, E3
Keep curly fingers--no squigglers

Oh Come Little Children
Do all practicing of this song with Mom so you can get all the bowing correct; using the words from the previous post.  When completely correct send video to Ms. Tiffany and move on to May Song.

May Song
A, A, E, E in the long, quick, long, long pattern.  Shoot the proverbial alien at the end of your bow into outer space.  Learn whole song.

In Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian they have several Stradivarius instruments.  Do you remember seeing this when we were there in college? :)--M

3/12/13 Lesson

Review all songs.

Song of the Wind
Keep fingers curly after circle--and the wrist straight.

Oh Come Little Children
Play whole song on E string while mom sings.
Double ups need to be distributed equally on bow.
Finger 3 on E string, clear as a bell on the last line of the song.

2/26/13 Lesson

Violin Lesson

Song of the Wind--circles. First 2 rhythms is slow; last one is fast during the 2 count breaks. All circles come off the E string.  Circles go slow like a snail.   Practice freedom (strumming) circles.  Remember the grasshopper jumping finger 3.  Play it slowly.

Oh Come Little Children--memorize all the words.  Practice sitting on the floor.  Only allow about 1/2 a foot above/below the bow so that the bow does not move all over.

Up down, up down, up is the way we begin.
Up down, up down, up helps our mo-ther to grin.
Up down, up down, up's how we start every line.
Up down, up down, up means you're doing just fine!

The key is to make sure she has a "double up" from the end of one line, to the beginning of the next. To do so, she stops her bow after one up motion, then simply does another up motion.

I am a Child of God--sing the counts. Play slowly. You get to play it in Sacrament Meeting.

2/12/13

No playing when teacher is talking!

Always keep twinkles in the yard otherwise they will sound like sloppy spaghetti.
Bow circles 9 a day on E string.

"Song of the Wind" find the 3 circles at the pauses.

"I am a Child of God"
Hold "God" and "Here" for 3 counts.  "Dear" and "Way" for 4 counts.  Practice the song in halves.  Five or less mistakes.

"Oh Come Little Children"--no violin this week.

Learn the words, but work totally on the bowing.   Practice bowing in the air and then on the tp whisper tube.  It starts with an up bow.

Thanks Tiff!

Lesson from Today

Hi T:

I realized that I wrote down meticulously all the directions from last week and then I lost the paper. This week I wrote it in my notebook and I'm posting it now so we don't lose them.

Grasshopper fingers 9 times daily.  Finger three jumping from A string to E string.
Bow Circles 9 times daily.

"I am a Child of God." phrase ending on an upbow, roll to "And he."

Thanks!  I'm setting an alarm on my phone for next week!

1/8/2013 Lesson

Thank you for the lesson today! S was so excited to play "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" and "Song of the Wind" for you today. She was really sad when her E string suddenly decided it had had enough.  I'm on the look out for a place to purchase strings (the places are  surprisingly few and far between--an hour drive/subway ride and no parking).   It is one of my main goals for the week.  

New Rule for the New Year

If someone is talking the other person does not play.  Student talking = teaching not playing. Teacher talking = student not playing.

Goals of the week:

1. Straight wrist!

2. Hover fingers. Helicopter right above string so you can play faster in the future. 10 "old grey mare is dead" phrases, specifically practicing hover fingers. Flying fingers take more time to move and look sloppy.

3.  10 no-muddy-tips per day, bow circles on A string.  Start at the bottom of the sticker on the bow and make sure the tip of the bow does not end up "in the mud."

Thanks!

Warm Ups

Down bow, stop drop, and up bow practice. Ten of those
Bread song to see if all the bowing is correct.

Twinkles, each one once.
Lightly Row, twice.

Jingle Bells--do each part 10 times.

1. E-E-3-1-A (Jingle all the way) the last bit of the song.  Sing it first with violin rest position.

2. Try singing the song with the regular words and finish with E-E-3-1-A.

3. Break it up into small bits.  2-E Down-up; 2-E-A.  Down-up-down.

Try tightening the sting if you've added a lot of rosin to the bow--it will clarify the tone.

Put a new sticker for finger 1.  Make sure not to take the bow off the string during the song.

Lightly Row, Week 3, 9/19

Popcorn/Ice Cream--Review More this week emphasizing the need for the stop drop part.

Divide Lightly Row into different segments.  Segment 1 (ladybug) keep the bow going up for a note and down for a note. Make sure the second part is played with a down bow (starting on the A string).

Make a garden of flowers with all the times that she plays each portion of lightly row so that there are different colored flowers on the paper that represent the different sections of lightly row.


Focus of the Week
Straight wrist.  Keep the slippery slide.
Try using a ruler and a rubber band for a few minutes to keep her wrist straight.
Stand in front of a mirror with perfect posture.
Make sure the thumb is in the sweet spot.
Thumbelina is shy and does not holler over the side of the violin.
Thimble on thumb draw awareness.
Draw a happy face on the side of the hand so when it is facing her her hand is properly posed, when it is facing away the hand is crooked.
Try it with no bow just focusing on the violin hand and sing as though she were playing.

Left hand contact points

Whenever Sara plays, her left hand needs to be set in place before she begins moving her bow at all...there are two contact points;
1-on the left hand index finger between the first and second joints
2-on the left hand thumb, not on the tip but above the third joint
In between these two contact points, there should be a space, or as shown in this picture, a "worm hole."

It might be fun to have Sara paint a pencil green or put googly eyes on the pencil to make a worm or a snake.  Then, any time she is playing, Mom can let the worm/snake crawl up and check on the hole.  It should always be present, otherwise the left hand is collapsing and playing in tune will be very difficult.

Practice Pets

Play the bread song in the whisper tube with every rhythm variation you know.  Left elbow must be above left toe. Bow hold must be correct. stickers on bow must be hidden in the whisper tube (don't play in the tip of frog area of the bow) every day for 10 days and you earn me!

Play down-iddy-up-iddy rhythm on A string.  Stop and drop, the on E string. Make sure the "stop and drop" is quiet and clean. Ten times a day for four days and earn me.

Play "I'm A Little Monkey" with table top fingers, in tune for five times a day then you can have me! Oh, I love Sarah!

Do the "The Wheels on the Bus" song with a perfect bow hold: bent thumb, round fingers, pinky on tip, gentle grip, not tight. Must be done S L O W L Y. Be sure to do the wipers, the people, the doors, the wheels, the windows. If done SLOWLY every day for ten days, you earn me!  Practice Pet says, "Wow, Sarah is sure getting better at violin! :D

Put your violin up in perfect posture and hold it there for an entire Twinkle (turn on the CD). Feet must be in play position; eyes looking at the strings, bow resting on E string on the bottom sticker. Left hand in first position without Thumbelina screaming, left hand is a slippery slide wrist, left elbow is over left toe.  Do this every day for five days and you earn me! :)

I'm a Little Monkey

Do I need to correct her when she doesn't get the note just right?


I'll make sure she puts her left hand more toward the scrolls in the way you told me.  This was pre-lesson.

2/21/2012

Review
"I'm a Little Monkey"-- make sure the fingers are on the tapes.
I'm a little monkey
Climbing up the ladder.
Climbing way up high to
Get a pink banana.

New addition
I'm a little monkey
Climbing down the ladder.
Climbing to the ground to
Eat my pink banana.

First time through just hold up proper fingers.
Second time through pluck the strings.
Third time play with bow.

Fred Song
1. Open E-string.
2. Put down the first finger.
3. Open E-string.

Process of Putting the Violin Up to Your Face
Remove steps one and two. Start at step 3.

Lesson 7 & 8

Lesson 7 Notes

"Wheels on the Bus."

very tiny very tiny

Five steps to the proper bow hold (as seen in the video you posted).

Make sure a pen can fit between the thumb and index finger while holding neck of violin.

Keep the wrist straight.

Tap on the tapes with fingers bent like table tops.

Lesson 8 Notes

Since S has been having a  little trouble with her bow hold, we put a heart sticker on her bow the top facing the way she should hold her thumb.  We also put one on her thumb facing the direction she should hold her bow, but it came off right away.  It has made a great difference in the way she holds her bow and she now holds it correctly most of the time. :)

"I'm a Little Monkey" (the video below--thanks--really helpful--I do the plucking)

I'm a little monkey. [A string no finger]

Climbing up a ladder." [finger closest to the scrolls--finger 1--B natural]

Climbing way up high to [finger 2--C Sharp]

Pick a pink banana [finger 3--D natural]

Fingers are table top, Thumbelina peeks shyly over the side, wrist is straight.

Thumbelina

We drew a face on her thumb.  She doesn't want any one to see her mouth or she'll scream. So the thumb only stays a little above the neck of the violin.

Ice Cream and Popcorn

Ice Cream . . . and Popcorn. . . and Ice Cream. . . and Popcorn . . . and Ice Cream . . . and Popcorn . . . and Ice Cream . . . and Popcorn . . . and

Scrubbing Game

(like in the videos you posted-thank you again).

down itty up itty

tuckatucka stop stop

pop corn and ice cream

Get a red permanent marker and mark the E string about an inch diameter line 1/2 inch on the string above the bridge. The rules are:

1. Take your time to say "Ready? Play." Make sure she is really ready to play.

2. Only play between the stickers on your bow.

3. Only play on the marked spot on the E string the "highway"--no other strings should be heard.

4. Feet in play position

5. Start on bottom sticker of the bow.

6. Straight wrist holding the neck of the violin.

7. Play only one of the rhythms--three times perfectly means a goody.

I'm a Little Monkey

Practice Help: Ice Cream and Popcorn