The Context Gives the Content 00:00:07:21 So let me kind of set the stage around all of this, which is to share an idea that I got from my training in Landmark Education. Background — brief background: Landmark Education is a training and development program which has nothing to do with violin. It is the most outstanding series of courses that I’ve ever taken in my life. It has everything to do with my effectiveness as a teacher, as a leader, as a human being. So run, don’t walk, go take it. But one of the one of the tenets of Landmark is the context gives the content. The context gives the ..read more

At my most recent student recital, one of the moms (who happened to be a piano teacher) noticed I had my recital checklist sitting on my chair. She picked it up, began reading it, and a minute later asked, “Could I have this? These are all the things that I do, but I’ve never actually written them down!” I like to think of myself as a disorganized person who is barely saved from disaster by my ability to use lists. So here are my checklists, with some additional planning notes for teachers doing recitals for the first time. I hope you find these useful as you plan your studio recitals ..read more

Staccato seems like a very basic skill. As Suzuki teachers, it is one of the first strokes we like to teach. Yet, why is it that most versions of “beginner staccato” consist of a well-intentioned legato with jerks in between the notes? I’ve witnessed this stroke over and over … even in the studios of many otherwise excellent teachers. This jerky legato bowstroke is surprisingly persistent. Long after the student graduates Twinkle, the stroke makes an encore appearance in Andantino, Allegretto, and Etude — unless the teacher gives up outright and teaches these songs legato. It can often still ..read more

Inspired by Sally O’Reilly, I have been introducing more advanced bowing patterns while my students are still in Book 1 (rather than waiting until these patterns show up in the repertoire). After a few years of doing this, it has made a dramatic difference in my students’ bowing comfort and facility. It would be easy to assume that bowing patterns are just more of what we all grew up with: Pepperoni Pizza, Run Pony, etc. But as long as bowing patterns are tied to rhythm, the constraints of melody and meter tend to prevent students from fully experiencing the gesture Each bowing pattern il ..read more

I recently helped a colleague of mine who moved from out of state and is beginning to build her studio from scratch. I had forgotten how nerve-wracking this process can be! She was entering an area with many excellent violin teachers already, so conveying her skills effectively in the first lesson became especially important. In the article below I share the tips she found most valuable in crafting a compelling trial lesson for prospective families. It helps to go into trial lessons remembering that looking for a teacher is like looking for a best friend. There ..read more

I recently helped a colleague of mine who moved from out of state and is beginning to build her studio from scratch. I had forgotten how nerve-wracking this process can be! She was entering an area with many excellent violin teachers already, so conveying her skills effectively in the first lesson became especially important. In the article below I share the tips she found most valuable in crafting a compelling trial lesson for prospective families. It helps to go into trial lessons remembering that looking for a teacher is like looking for a best friend. There ..read more

I recently helped a colleague of mine who moved from out of state and is beginning to build her studio from scratch. I had forgotten how nerve-wracking this process can be! We have had many conversations about how to do this more effectively, and I thought I would share some of the things she found most valuable. It helps to go into these lessons remembering that looking for a teacher is like looking for a best friend. There are lots of personalities, and what’s important is finding the right fit. Of course whenever you look for a teacher for yourself, you will consider and rule out many we ..read more

How does tapping maintain the bowhold? I took a training years ago whose primary focus was two dozen quick, seemingly simple activities with the just bow. There were many exercises whose purpose was not obvious to me. Okay, honestly, most of them. Like … what function could it possibly serve to tap each finger of the bow hand? And what does bouncing the bow sideways have to do with tone production? It was obvious the trainer had found a system of gears and knobs I’d never seen before. But there were no explanations. Just a cute little code book with drawings in it. I had to sit in the b ..read more

Vibrato Tips & Insights (4 of 4): Getting the Full View (and Full Sequence) There are a dozen tips I still want to share with you. I’ve been wrestling all week with which one to choose for this last email! The first finger that just won’t loosen up? The students whose vibrato never quite gets faster? The perfect-looking vibrato with an inaudible oscillation? How about the vibrato that starts gorgeous and loose but has mysteriously tightened up a year later? Vibrato Articles Part 1: Introduction Part 2: Upgrading the Shaker Egg Part 3: Thumb Swings Part 4: Getting the Full View (this a ..read more

Vibrato Tips & Insights (3 of 4): Thumb Swings My last tip went into the secret recipe for using the shaker egg (here). Today we’ll move onto the next step. Let’s assume our vibrato novice has now gotten a good oscillation with just the hand and egg. Our next challenge is getting the hand to oscillate while the thumb doesn’t. A simple hand oscillation is fairly natural. It’s basically learning how to use your hand like a seesaw. But it turns out when the thumb is immobilized, the hand immediately freaks out (so to speak) and assumes it can’t move either. Vibrato Articles Part 1: Introdu ..read more