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.

The Wiggle Game

I often wonder where kids get all of their energy and I wish that I could have some of it!

 Wiggle Time isn't just for when these folks are on! You can make wiggle time during practice time to help release some energy so your student isn't bouncing all over the place while you're trying to do the 10x spot your teacher assigned. It's pretty easy - put some music on and let your kid wiggle while he/she is standing in play position. When you pause the music, they have to stop wiggling. Play the music at different intervals of time. You'll be able to see when your child starts getting tired, because they will stop wiggling before you stop the music - encourage them to keep moving so they get all of their sillies out (but shh!!! don't tell them that!).
Now you can get to work. Happy Practicing!

You can read more about the Wiggle Game in Ed Sprungers Book Building Violin Skills on page 170.

12.12.12

You may or may not know, but I am slightly obsessed with numbers. When a special day like today comes around, I have to do something fun or exciting or something worth remembering. Today was no different. When each student came in, I asked if they knew what day it was - some of them said "Wednesday" some said "the 12th" but most just looked at me like I was crazy. I told them that it was 12.12.12. and that's when I started to get A LOT of eyes rolling at me. I did have some students that were cute and played along - and even thought it was pretty cool themselves! I told them we were going to celebrate by playing their practice spots 12x!!! How fun is that?!!

My husband and I went out to eat to chinese food today to celebrate this special day and the fortune he got was "everyday has something special worth celebrating." I thought this ended our $12.00 dinner perfectly!

The Task is Complete!

Are you aware that the "dollar" isle at Target is now the "under $3.00" isle?! I should have taken a picture of the big sign that was above my favorite corner, but I'm a little upset if you want to know the truth! Nevertheless, I found some really cute practice ideas there today while I was in the "big city."

I found these 4 wood cookies that came on a wood cookie sheet - they were adorable.  

They also had cupcakes that came in a pack of 6, but for the idea I had, I would need to get 2 packs and I didn't want to spend $6.00 in the DOLLAR ISLE for 2 items!!! For those of you feeling less frugal than I am, I'll tell you what I was thinking... I was thinking that you could get 2 packs and then fill up a muffin sheet from your kitchen! How fun would that be?!!! 

Since I tend to spend the most money from the DOLLAR ISLE and there were some other items I really wanted to get today, I narrowed it down to this cute $3.00 item so I could have the best of both worlds. 

This little cake is perfect for repetitions for so many reasons! 

My husband was actually the one that helped me narrow it down to the cake. 

These are his reasons... 

• It's just so stinkin' cute! 
• Imagine me saying that, now imagine my husband imitating me saying that - of course he does it to make me laugh and to assure me that it is as cute as I think it is ;)
• It's unique - it's totally different than any other repetition counter I have
• The students would be able to complete something.

I really liked all of these reasons, but he sold me on "the student gets to complete something." It's true that they get to get complete many things - like putting all of the pennies in the jar. The differnce

 for this game is that they can see a complete circle - they can see that all of the pieces need to fit together to make a whole.  They can see that the task is complete. I can't wait to give this new game a try in lessons on Monday! 

Walk the Line

Alright folks!
It's time to...
 Walk the Line 

This is game has worked so well for my students.

These are the rules for the game
( I spread out the numbers so they actually take a step)

• Choose a practice spot (measure 12) or a technique (making bow holds)
• The student starts on zero
• If the practice spot is done correctly, the student takes a step towards the positive numbers. If it is wrong, he has to take a step towards the negative numbers. 

The student knows the goal. He knows what he has to do to get there.  In my experience, it takes some kids a while to process the idea that if they just buckle down and do it, then they can be more efficient and productive in a shorter amount of time.

I have 2 success stories with this game that I want to share...

• A girl that I teach that is very emotional. I'm always nervous I'm going to say "let's do this spot 5x in a row" at just the wrong time and then the rest of the lesson we have tiers. Yesterday was a new story. I told her she was going to get on the number line and her goal was to get to #3 ( I started with a small number so that I wouldn't overwhelm her). She started out just fine and did the spot correctly 2 times, then... it went down hill. The lowest number she got was to was -1 and then started her come back to the positive numbers, but she got stuck going back and forth from zero to 1. I braced myself for what was to come next - those big alligator tiers. To my surprise, she didn't have any tiers. Only laughter! Crisis averted! 

• Teenagers are hard to read, but I have one that is so unpredictable. She will come to the classroom I'm in and talk to me one day like we're best friends, and the next day when she comes for her lesson I'll be her worst enemy. It's rough. I never know what to expect or how to plan for her lessons. This was the 2nd week in a row I had her do the number line. Last week it didn't go over to well - it was too elementary. This week I was going to give it another shot because I KNOW this activity will help her see HOW she needs to practice. She is one of those who needs to be held accountable and needs a "babysitter" to do things. It's not that she isn't capable, it's just that she's a teenager and knows how to do everything and is always "right." Her lesson this week was THE BEST. I didn't have to be the big, bad, mean teacher that has the student practice the spot once they get it right. 

 The reason I LOVE this game is because I'm not the one that is saying that the task needs to be done again. The students can see for themselves that when they do it correct, they are improving and when they stop thinking about the task at hand, they have a lot more work ahead of them to get to where they want to be.

Most Important

Take a moment to think about what is of most value in helping your child this learn to play an instrument...

"I need to remember that the number of songs Carrie learns, or the speed at which she learns them, isn't the most important part of what we are trying to accomplish together. The process itself is the most important: the day-to-day discipline, the day-to-day attention to detail, the day-to-day awareness of beauty in the world."

A Suzuki Parent's Diary or How I survived my first 10,000 Twinkles - By Carroll Morris