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Children Learn to Smile
Who teaches a child how to smile? Shinichi Suzuki, creator of the Suzuki Violin Method, made many observations as to how and what children learn. He noticed that “children learn to smile from their parents.” He observed that they learn naturally the mother-tongue language of their parents. He also noticed that children learn mannerisms from those they are around and their personalities are shaped by their parents and family members. Who is the teacher? When Dr. Suzuki said that “children learn to smile from their parents,” it implies that smiling isn’t the only thing they are learning. Dictionary.com defines smile as to “form one’s features into a pleased, kind or…
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Be A Composer Worksheet
Give your beginning students a chance to be a composer with this worksheet! To strengthen reading notes for the kinesthetic learner without the instrument we can have them write. Even if it’s not the student’s primary learning style, I have found that having them write music solidifies their understanding of what is on the page. We all have a learning style, whether it is visual, kinesthetic or aural. One of these ways that we absorb information more quickly than other methods. When teaching note reading, we rely heavily on the visual aspect. And rightly so, we are learning to read notes. The other learning styles are present especially as we play (kinesthetic, aural)…
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Violin Teaching Podcasts
Looking for some teaching tips or ideas as the school year kicks off? These podcasts are filled with conversations that get your creative juices flowing.
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Learning the Staff
Through the years, I’ve sort of pieced together worksheets or drawing worksheets on blank staff paper for little violin students learning the staff. I’ve found some worksheets online that aren’t keyboard specific and used those. Since moving, I’ve had some extra time the past few months and I’ve just started a beginning student. The perfect circumstances to create some worksheets staff worksheets for violin students who aren’t reading yet. I’ve made the mistake of starting to teach note reading from the note reading book and I find myself explaining in one lesson, staff, line-notes, space-notes, treble clef, quarter-notes, measures… What was I thinking!!!! No awards for that lesson. It makes me…
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Learn the Music Alphabet
Learn the music alphabet this summer using ice cream. Who doesn’t love a dripping ice cream cone on a hot summer day? Summer arrived with a bang here in Louisiana and our temperatures are in the 90’s with the humidity level about as high, I’m using ice cream cones in my lesson today to teach the music alphabet. Today we are going to talk about skips and steps through the music alphabet. There are several activities you can do with or without the instrument. And we can celebrate summer with ice cream scoops. Stepping Activities to Learn the Music Alphabet 1. Music Alphabet Mix-Up – mix up the scoops on…
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Fingerboard Scales for Beginners
Help your students visualize their fingerboard and know where notes are on their instruments. Here are worksheet fingerboard scales for beginners. Teaching and reviewing where the notes are on the fingerboard is something we do in every lesson. Mary Kay Neal taught in the Suzuki Book 3 teacher training class to have our students say the letters out loud while they are learning to read notes on the staff. As I have incorporated that in my teaching I am discovering how helpful it is to say the letters out loud from the very beginning. Saying it out loud forces the student to associate a letter with the placement of the…
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Teaching Skips
Steps and skips! Sometimes a visual aide helps students understand skipping and stepping with string crossings. I’ve been drawing this diagram over and over for a couple months now and thought I would create a worksheet. Some exercises in skipping up and down through the scale helps students understand how to skip across strings. Skipping from D to F# can be confusing or hard to grasp when we are skipping from 3rd finger to 1st finger, or skipping from C# to E. Skipping down can even be more confusing. So after students feel comfortable with the A scale and saying the letters up and down the scale, we play a…
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Turkey Dance – Rhythm Worksheet
It’s a great time of year to do a Turkey Dance – Rhythm Worksheet. Here is a new seasonal rhythm worksheet to send home with your students to review. Many students travel during this time of year. So if your students are traveling over the holiday, here is a worksheet that they can take with them even if they can’t take their instrument. It will be a simple and quick review away from the instrument. They will connect the dancing turkey to the turkey on the platter. Match the note with the note value. I haven’t specified what time signature. I am assuming we are in 4/4 time with the…
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The Galaxy Race
Reviewing away from the instrument reinforces fingerboard knowledge, and a game is a great way to review, add variety into practice time, and help visual learners understand the fingerboard.
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No Shortcuts
My husband Matt and I recently hiked to Quandary Peak in Colorado. The sign at the trailhead warned us that this would be difficult, there were unknowns, to be prepared and we should stay on the path. As we hiked up the 6.2 miles to the top, I began to think about how much this sign applied to many aspects of life. I probably would have no students if I put a sign like this up in my studio. Shortcuts? Be warned – There is no easy way to learn an instrument. Be determined – Keep practicing – there are no shortcuts. Be aware – of how you spend your time. Lots of good…
