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Reviewing
Reviewing is one of the key ingredients to a Suzuki students success! It’s one of the key components or pillars in the Suzuki method, and the benefits of reviewing are deep, and long lasting, even life long. Review the Fundamentals First, when a student daily reviews pieces they already know it refreshes all the muscle memory for the techniques they learned in those pieces. I have heard the Suzuki repertoire compared to a pyramid. The techniques we learn/teach in Twinkle are used in every following piece. So by reviewing we revisit each of those learning steps. Review Pieces As Technique Etudes Secondly, as Suzuki teachers we often use review pieces…
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The Happy Farmer Fill in the Blank
When a student starts learning The Happy Farmer in Suzuki Book 1, I assign them The Happy Farmer Fill in the Blank exercise. This exercise helps them learn the form of the piece and the endings for the A theme. We discuss how there are 2 sections or themes in Happy Farmer, the A theme and the B theme. The B theme is always the same, and rather short. But the first two times we play the A theme we step down from F# on the D string – “F#, E, D” or “three blind mice.” Then when the A theme comes back after we play the B theme, the 3…
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A Twinkle Etude – Twinklepated
I’m teaching the Boccherini Minuet from Suzuki Book 2 to several students. I give my students preview “spots” before we jump in to the whole piece. And one of the spots is the rhythm in measure 26 and measure 42. This syncopated rhythm is the first time this rhythm is found in the Suzuki literature. So for this reason I want to expose them to the rhythm before they get to it in the piece. Voila! A Twinkle Etude – Twinklepated was born. Twinklepated is a syncopated variation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. What’s a Twinkle Etude? The concept of twinkle etudes is that students learn a new skill on an old song. In…
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Violin Fingerboard Flashcards
Are you looking for a floor activity for a young student’s lesson? Or maybe mom needs an in the car activity on the way to violin lesson to get them thinking about violin. These violin fingerboard flashcards might be just what you need. Each card has a picture of the violin fingerboard. A small house is on each place on the fingerboard marking a pitch. The back of the card shows the letter name for that fingerboard house. Whether the student is reading on the staff or not, these cards help them identify and review fingerboard pitches. Choose the notes your students, and as they add new notes, add in…
