Slow Down Turbo!

I have some students that love to play as fast as they can. Although it's fun to see those little fingers fly and see the smoke from the bow, it doesn't get them to the end any faster. It actually slows them down. When learning a new piece, it is important to play the rest of the piece at the tempo you can play the hardest part the piece correctly. I tell my students this, but it's hard for them to play the piece "slow"so they can get the tricky passage correct and play them in the same tempo as the rest of the piece.

I know how fun it is to listen to the recordings of the Suzuki pieces, but the hard part comes when students try to play with the recording and they can't keep up. These tempos are a little too fast for most players, but with this app, you can slow down the entire piece so the student can play with the recording! This gives the student's fingers enough time to get where they need to so the bow can play them when it's time.

Music Trainer

This app is $3.99 and worth every penny of your investment!  It allows you to access your entire music library and it will save all the pieces that you slow down at the tempos that you choose. One of the great features of this app, is that you can "cut" the music in any way you like. Let's say your teacher assigns measure 21 as a preview spot. You can cut the music and it will play only measure 21. If you need to do that measure 10x a day, then you just push the "loop" button and you're well on your way to getting your 10x spot done lickity-split! If there is a spot like this in a lesson and I want the student to practice it at home, all I have to do is push the "share" button and it sends an email with the attachment. 

Slow Down Music Player 

This app will do the same thing as the Music Trainer app, but it will only allow you keep 3 pieces at the tempos you want. I had to do a lot of erasing and re-entering the piece I wanted and at the tempo I wanted. Although this app is FREE (and I am a BIG advocate of FREE-99), it has been definitely worth it to me to pay the money to upgrade to the Music Trainer app. No questions asked! 

I have seen great success with my students with these apps! They can play the pieces all the way through and not get tripped up by the tricky spots. 

Spring Bouquet

I am spoiled by my husband! He frequently surprises me with fresh flowers. While these flowers don't have as much life as the ones my husband brings me, they can still hold a lot if meaning.

You can get artificial flowers like these at any craft store or at my personal favorite-the dollar store For each day your child practices, he/she will earn a flower and pretty soon you'll have a beautiful spring bouquet to put on your kitchen table!

March Madness!!!!

It's a little late for March Madness, but the game will still work!

I have found this game to be the most popular for boys 8-10. This basketball game last for the entire practice session. You keep track of what your points are each day after you practice and you see if you can beat your score from the day before. I usually have a practice spot for each piece or a practice point (a skill I want the student to focus on while playing a review piece). So this is how the game works. For each repetition/for each review piece that is played with the correct skill (ex: straight wrist), the student has the opportunity to shoot a basket for 1 point OR the child can save up his points and go for a 3-point shot or even a 5-point shot. I set the basket up a wall and then put masking tape at the 1-point line, 3-point line, and 5-point line. 

For example, if the child does 5 correct repetitions, then he can choose to.... 

• Take one 5-point shot. 
• Take one 3-point shot and two 1-point shots. 
• Take five 1-point shots. 

The child could also do a couple practice spots and save all of those repetitions so he has multiple opportunities to shoot from the 5-point line in a row.

This game works for a gem for those who need a little break and some time to move and wiggle before getting back to work!

The Wipeout Game

Let me tell you about the best night of the week - 

Thursday!!! 

First and foremost, it's donut day at my husband's work (p.s. if you need a bulk commodity grain trailer, click here). There are always extra donuts Friday morning when he gets to work - and who wants a day old donut that's been sitting out and is hard? No one does! So these donuts stay in the break room all day Friday and the get put in the trash that night. So there they are - just sitting there in the break room waiting to get eaten. Now, you have to understand that donuts are some of my favorite treats in this world! I would get really sad when I would talk to Ben on Thursdays and he would be eating a donut while we were chatting or he would tell me about the donut that he ate that day. One day he came home from work and he had a surprise for me in his lunch bag - it was my very own donut that he had smuggled out of the break room! 

Now, for the other great thing about Thursdays - WIPEOUT is on!!! 
Jill Wagner, John Henson, and John Anderson are comedians hosting a show were 24 contestants complete a course consisting of 3 levels of obstacles. This will make you laugh! Good times to be had by all! 
So there you go - the Thursday Tradition was born - Watch an episode of Wipeout while eating a donut. YUM. 

WipeOut while Practicing!

So there is a little game I have in my studio called WIPEOUT where all the student has to do is play the practice spot 3 times correctly and then they are done with that spot. 

...Did I mention that those 3x are... in a row?!!

So that means that even if the student plays the first two beautifully, and on the third try misses the last note - they go back to zero. No questions asked. Sorry. 

I really like this game because it gets concentration focused and in turn, gets the job done.  

Although, I've used this game for a long time in my studio, I haven't had a name for it - we just do the "challenge." Thanks to Heather Watson Hardie , I got the cute name from a video she made for the SAA's Parents as Partners 2013. 

Celebrate Abe!

Happy Birthday Abe

February 12 is Abe Lincoln's Birthday

A few fun facts about Abraham Lincoln...

• 16th president of the United States
• Born in Kentucky
• Died in Washington DC
• His head is on the Penny 
• 4 children with his wife Mary Todd
• Author of the famous Gettysburg Address (Four score and seven years ago...)

To celebrate this great man, use pennies to count all of those 10x spots your teacher assigns. Maybe if you're feeling extra generous, your child can keep the 10 pennies that he/she has been using to count repetitions today as a little party gift from the little celebration you just had to honor this great man!

DON'T TOUCH THE HORSE HAIR!!!!!

*How many hairs are needed for a bow?

*How come some cello and bass players have black horse hair?

*Why do the hairs on my bow break?

*How much does horse hair cost?

*Is the horse that my bow hair came from a boy or a girl? 

As I was looking at the SAA website today, I found this great article filled with fun horse hair facts by Susan Baer. 

How many hours a day should 

I be practicing? 

This article talks about the difference between mindless practicing and deliberate practicing. It is hard to make the switch over and trust that it is the better way, but in the long run it is well worth it! This mindset is something that I'm working really hard on in my studio right now. More often than not,I'll get a sigh or eyes rolled if I tell the student he/she gets to do one of the repetition games I have. After we do a few repetitions of deliberate practice, they hear the difference and are satisfied with the work they have done.