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.

Labels: how to, practice, sadie, suzuki, suzuki violin, violin

Last weekend, Benny and Sadie attended a workshop with Judy Blank, a fabulous Suzuki expert from Ann Arbor, MI. The workshop included group classes, violin-related art classes, play-ins, and a master class with Mrs. Blank. It was a great experience for them, and also very interesting for me.

Watching the master classes was pretty incredible -- Mrs. Blank was like a doctor -- listening to each child play one song, diagnosing some certain issue, and giving the child a small, specific change that they could make in just a few minutes to improve their playing. Of course, all of this had to happen while using the most positive language, never making the child feel criticized or like there was something wrong. It was amazing how she accomplished this in such a short time with each child -- every one of them made a noticeable improvement. Truly a gift.

Here are some videos and pictures from the weekend:

Sadie was the smallest in her group and also the only girl! Sadie's group class with Mrs. Morton:



Mrs. Morton's early book one class doing Perpetual Motion:



At the first Play-in, playing Allegro like mosquitoes and elephants:



Benny and Mrs. Blank playing the first Seitz in Suzuki Book 4. Mrs. Blank had lots of silly stories to go along with the music, to help the kids understand the phrasing. We particularly enjoyed the one for Gavotte in G Minor which was all about the death of multiple goldfish.



More videos on my YouTube Channel.

Here's Sadie in her art class:



Benny and Sean hanging out between classes:



Sadie's group class:



Benny standing up for Seitz at the final play-in:



Benny and Mrs. Blank:



More photos on my Flickr.

We were very grateful for the experience. It made for a very interesting weekend. I think all the kids had a great time and will be looking forward to next year.

Labels: judy blank, music, suzuki, violin, workshop

It's October! The glow of the new semester has dulled somewhat, the crunch for holiday recitals has not yet begun, and everyone would rather think about cider and Halloween. The violins are still coming out, but they're coming out with a tiny bit less joy than they came out in September, and a tiny bit less urgency than they will come out in November, I predict. Still, Dr. Suzuki says we should only practice on the days that we eat!

Time for the first and only, spookeriffic, autumnimous Little Blue School Violin Practice Challenge!

First, print out the practice chart:

PDF Version Large JPG Version
Remember to choose "Landscape"
Choose "Shrink to Fit" when printing the JPG

Color in a pumpkin for every time you practice your instrument. If you've already played it fifteen times in October, then you're already ahead! Color fifteen pumpkins immediately and go to the front of the line!

At the end of the month, you can print out this certificate, get the appropriate name, number of practices, and signatures in place, and award it to the stellar violinist(s) in your family.

PDF Version Large JPG Version
Remember to choose "Landscape"
Choose "Shrink to Fit" when printing the JPG

Now for the exciting part (for me). If you're doing the challenge, please comment or email me to let me know that you will be completing it. I'll choose one name out of a hat, and send that child this special October edition of my violin practice award medallions:

I have several other medallions available in my Etsy Shop, but this is one is different! It's orange and black, thus making it Octobermatic and extra-desirable. Plus, to the winner, it is free and I will ship it anywhere in the entire world.

Here's a side note: I am working on putting together a page linking to as many YouTube videos of Suzuki violin students as I can find. Sort of a virtual concert. Do you have one? Let me know! My email address is jackets at rpsd.com. Spread the word!

Labels: challenge, halloween, music, october, practice, printables, suzuki, violin