Banana Peels, Jumping Horses, and Lint Picking

As a teacher I enjoy how there are different "seasons" for the skills that we learn and sharpen in our Suzuki repertoire. Today I wanted to write about three of my favorites: banana peels, jumping horses, and lint picking.

Banana Peels

I like the banana peel analogy for several reasons. First, most folks are familiar with what happens when someone steps on a banana peel. I think every child who has seen a cartoon or two has probably run across this phenomenon: step on a banana peel, and whoopsies! Slip and fall! Now I like to talk about Alfred Hitchcock, the master of cinematic suspense, and it is also fun because many of my little students have not yet watched any of Hitchcock's classic films. This will be an adventure for them at a later time, as it was for me when I was younger. For now though, students can understand the difference between a surprise and suspense.

Surprise is quick and sudden. Suspense is longer and involves a lot of anticipation. Surprise is when someone suddenly slips on a banana peel. Suspense, the way that Hitchcock would have shown it, is a man walking quickly down the street, a banana peel shown to the audience as lying in wait, back to the man striding quickly, cutaway to the banana peel, and so forth. The observers know what is going on but the actor does not. The audience leans forward trying to silently convey to the actor what lies ahead in his path, but of course, the actor is oblivious. That is suspense.

We use the banana peel suspense and surprise story to address the fermate in "Allegro" and "Andantino" in Suzuki violin book 1. We create stories and decide whether to portray suspense or surprise, and then we alter our playing accordingly to tell that part of the story. In the case of these two songs, my students usually opt to do a sudden stop ("surprise!") and then a short pause ("suspense!).

My favorite "banana peel" place is in the "Gavotte" from "Mignon" in Suzuki violin volume 2. There is a middle portion of the song that challenges our students to learn how to play correctly and in tune in the key of Bb (measures 35-46). Interspersed throughout these measures are some opportunities for students to imitate banana peel slips and surprises. Because the music continues without any stops or waits, these banana peels are surprises to imitate in the music.

During the rests in measures 35 and 39, the students lift up their bows in a follow through motion to imitate a "slip and fall" because of stepping on a banana peel. In measures 37-38 and 41-42, the bowing is articulated with dots and slurs, and here my students practice putting in lots of banana peel slips and falls:

Measures 35-43

Jumping Horses

The jumping horses place I refer to is in measures 25-26 and 29-30 in "Hunters' Chorus" by C. M. v Weber in Suzuki Violin book 2:

Jumping Horses

Here my students and I try to imitate horses jumping over a fence. We lift our bows after playing each staccato A string. This exercise and the way that my students and I practice it will help us later to execute lifts in the Seitz concertos and in Veracini's "Gigue" in book 5. For now, we have fun jumping our horses "over the fence."

Lint Picking

For the lint picking exercise, I am working to strengthen my students' abilities to play collé. This is a very useful bowing skill and adds a lot of character to the bowing articulation when we use it. We can use this bowing in many different songs, from the pickup notes of Martini's "Gavotte" in book 3 to Bach's unaccompanied Gavotte II and Veracini's "Gigue"  in book 5.

First we work to make sure that the fingers can properly execute "finger motion," which is a drawing into the hand of the pinkie and ring fingers. Many students think of finger motion as some sort of rolling of the bow stick within the thumb and fingers, but I prefer that the thumb be mostly inactive in this exercise (other than bending more). We often start with a pencil, which is lighter, and help to shape and guide the bow hand fingers to draw into the hand with the pencil. Here is a short video to illustrate the finger motion with a pencil:

Later as the student gets more comfortable with this exercise, we will graduate to trying it with the bow itself, holding the bow upright to lessen the pull of gravity and to lighten the feel of the bow within the bow hand. Here I am showing how to use the motion with the bow:

When we transfer this finger motion ability to use on the violin, we pretend that there is some lint stuck to the strings. We use our finger motion to draw the bow toward the lint as if we were trying to brush it off. Here I am showing how to brush lint off the violin with a flick of the finger motion:

I hope you enjoy the Banana Peels, Jumping Horses, and Lint Picking ideas that we use in our studio! Please leave me a comment and let me know your favorite games and ideas for these spots in the Suzuki songs or these bow skills.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

The Chip Game

Long ago, I bought a bag of plastic chip counters from a store that specialized in teacher supplies. The chips are of two colors: red on one side and yellow on the other. I have found so many uses for them over the years. Whenever we encounter a tricky spot in a lesson, we pull out the chips to play "the chip game." The chip game is not one game, but many, and I am sure that we will invent even more ways to use the chips in the future. Here are some of my favorites.

Basic Behavior Rules

When a student first starts lessons, I might use a chip game to help me gain a bit of control over the physical situation with the student. I stack 10 chips in front of the student while I explain the rules of the game. Throughout the lesson, I will remove ("steal") a chip from the student's pile to begin my own chip pile every time the student violates one of the rules. At the end of the lesson, we will see who "wins" the game. We also discuss what it means if we have the same number of chips in the end; in my studio, a tie in the chip game means that no one won. In effect, this means that the student has four chances to stay the winner before the game advantage swings over to my favor. I also permit the parent to remove a chip from the student's pile if the parent thinks the student has violated the rule, because sometimes I get so involved while working with the student that I fail to notice that the student is violating a rule in some way.

Usually I limit myself to three behaviors, and I often use two and leave the third one open for later. For example, the first basic rule is that I want the student to stay in the teaching area. If they are using a Twinkle mat or foot chart, I can easily mark when the student leaves the area. One of the first things a student will do is test the situation. Even though I might have explained the rules thoroughly, I find that a student will almost immediately touch her toe off the mat to see what I will do. I calmly transfer a chip from the student's pile to start my own pile. Exceptions to this rule are if the student asks permission to step off the mat, I ask the student to step off the mat, or the student is very young and needs to touch base with the parent by exchanging a hug. Giving a hug to the parent is always an exception to any chip game rule to stay on the mat!

The second basic rule is for the student to follow instructions. Now this game is a gold mine! At first glance the basic rule to follow instructions seems to be a limited rule; the student just has to follow directions. However, we have expanded this rule to include other things like taking too long to get ready to play, having to ask the teacher to repeat an instruction, and the student's not performing the instruction at the instant the teacher gives the instruction. Just about any behavior that I might address can fit under the follow instructions rule.

The third rule can be more specific to the child. One parent wants her children to answer questions in a particular way, using "ma'am" in the response. If the child forgets, then the parent removes a chip. For another student, we remove a chip if the student begins to lean on the teacher's table. One student lays her violin down every chance she has, so we use the chip game to help her learn how to put her instrument in rest position (and at the ready) when she is not playing. One young boy had a habit of putting his hands in his pockets all the time, and we wanted to help him learn to feel comfortable without using his pockets. Another child interrupted the lesson frequently by chattering about things that were unrelated to the lesson. We used the chip game to help the child gain better control over herself.

Some students forget to get set up to play with the correct form. In these cases, I will wait until the student finishes playing before I remove a chip for forgetting to do the setup steps. A child who "noodles" while in rest or play position will lose a chip. Noodling is when the child fidgets with the instrument: plucking strings, making squeaky noises with the bow, or playing while the teacher or parent is giving instruction. My point is that the third rule, if we have one, will be something more specific and unique to the child. There are so many possibilities.

I do not use the chip game when students are having "one of those days." Sometimes students have trouble focusing because of other things happening at home, such as spotty practice sessions, exciting holiday preparations or birthday parties, or upset daily routines. I know my students and their families well enough to recognize when the student might be having one of those days. It is a balancing act, because sometimes the behavior rules chip game may be just the thing that the student needs to help the student pull himself together and focus. On other days though, the student will easily lose the game, so I avoid going there in the first place and try other things instead.

The prize for "winning" the behavior rules chip game is a tiny lollipop at the end of the lesson. I stock up on Dum Dums® or miniature Tootsie Roll® pops during Halloween season. When a student ends the lesson with more chips than I have, the student has had a good lesson and is entitled to the lollipop if the parent permits it. There are two more studio rules associated with retrieving the lollipop prize: the student must ask with the word "please," and the student must remember to say "thank you" within an acceptable amount of time after getting the lollipop. I got the idea for these two rules from Ron Clark's The Essential 55, which you can find in my resource store. Students are very careful to remember to say "please" and "thank you," because they understand that we will throw the lollipop away if the student forgets. I have never had to do that, but the possibility is rich for the student. I even had one mother call me on the way home, because the little student was afraid that I had not heard her say "thank you."

Over time, perhaps in just a few weeks, the student and I forget to "play" the chip game. We still do the lollipop thing at the end of the lesson, but I seldom need to pull out the chips for the behavior rules game. If the student's behavior becomes a problem later, the parent and I know that we can always dust off our chips and perform the game again.

Intonation

I use a variation of my behavior chip game to help students play better in tune. If a student is not carefully placing her fingers on the finger tapes, then I will pick the most offensive finger and turn that into the reason for the special chip game.

For example, let’s say that my student is not placing her left index finger in the correct place on the fingerboard. The student probably has a tape mark on the correct spot but is not paying attention to where her finger lands. I will stack up chips on the table next to the student and explain that one of us will get a chip every time the student plays her first finger. If the finger lands on the correct place on the fingerboard (plays in tune) then the student will get the chip. If the finger does not land on the correct place, then I get the chip. “I wonder who will get the most chips and win the game?” I ask my student.

I help my student to remember by foreshadowing her use of the first finger in the beginning. I might lean forward in anticipation. I might reach for the chip a few seconds before my student is to play the first finger. My actions alert my student that there is something she is supposed to remember to do correctly. As my student gets better at this, I eliminate any foreshadowing.

Parents have reported success using this game at home as well. I have even had students come to their lesson and announce that they won all the chip games at home (“mom didn’t get a single point!”). After the student gets better at placing the index finger correctly, we sometimes add the ring or third finger placement as a chip game objective. Perhaps the student needs reminding about the other fingers, such as the pinkie or the middle finger. The chip game can be used for all of these reasons. I start out small in the beginning with a single finger and then build on the skill by playing the games for other fingers later.

Evaluation

The chip game is a great way to engage the student’s focus and concentration. I lay out 10 chips. I explain to the student what the activity will be. I will perform the skill or activity first while the student holds the instrument. Then the student will imitate what I did without my help. The student then tells me whether the student’s attempt sounded identical to mine. I permit a “do over” if the student asks for it before giving his own evaluation.

Here is a specific use of the chip game. I am working with my student on how to play with a good tone. I set up the chips and announce to my student that we will play the chip game. While my student holds the violin and bow, I make the bow move to create the sound I want. For example, I might play “Mississippi Hot Dog” on the E string. Then the student will play the same thing without my assistance and then tell me whether the student's effort sounded exactly the same as the way my effort did.

In the beginning of the game, I might be a little more lenient about some of the sounds I hear, but as the game progresses and the student gets more chips, I will become more exacting in my standards and will insist that there be no scratches, squeaks, or fuzzy dirt in the sound. This game is also useful to help a student to work back to a good staccato bow stroke if the student has gotten lax in articulation. The game also helps students to make a better legato sound. The chip game can be used in this fashion for just about anything. The beauty of the game is that it helps the student to listen better, to pay attention better, and to stay engaged in the activity. The students also learn how to evaluate their playing.

Habit Building (Pinkie Hunt)

I use the chip game when we are trying to make good habits. For example, I begin teaching my students how to use the pinkie in certain situations beginning with Perpetual Motion. I use a pinkie fingering in measures 2 and 4 to maintain the same string color. I assign the pinkie fingering in Allegretto and Andantino for the same reason — to maintain the same string color. My student learns how to use the pinkie finger on the descending two-octave G major scale, in order to help the student learn how to bring the left elbow under the violin to facilitate playing on the lower string levels.

Over time, students forget the pinkie fingerings, and parents do not always remember to look for the pinkie fingerings when the students play. This is when I use the chip game during a lesson to help the student and parent to remember. I will count out the number of pinkies that will occur in the song, and then I instruct the student to “see how many pinkies you can find.” As the student plays each pinkie, I will award a chip. If there are any chips left at the end of the song, then the student will try again to see if he can find all of the pinkies.

Along with pinkies, this particular use of the chip game could include searching for anything. For example, perhaps the student has trouble remembering the three down bow circles in "The Two Grenadiers" or the seven down bow circles in "Song of the Wind." The chip game could be used to help the student remember.

A container full of plastic counting or poker chips is a valuable tool that every teacher should have in the studio and every parent should have in the home practice area.

What other uses for the chip game do you use or can you think of?

Andantino Warning: Elephants Sneeze and Frogs Ribbit

Andantino is one of my favorite songs and a cinch to teach. I foreshadow the song by telling my students how quickly they will learn the song, and I hint at the stories to come that will accompany the song. I have two stories: one story stems from the words to the song from the Suzuki Pre-twinkle Book, and the other story is simply one that I made up to provide drama for the fermata in the last phrase of the song.

I do not have to teach much of the song, perhaps giving the starting note and a little guidance here and there when the student gets confused. About this point in a student’s learning, the parents begin to take a back seat – not because the child is able to take more responsibility for learning the song or because I have asked the parent to relax, but because the parent begins to feel overwhelmed by all that the child learns and how quickly the child progresses (if the parent has set up the learning environment well).

I begin to monitor closely how involved the parent is at this point. The child still needs the parent’s help and guidance at home, and especially the parent’s encouragement and enthusiasm. The learning may seem more complicated now from the parent’s perspective, and often the parent’s tendency is to abdicate more and more responsibility to the child, which in turn lays more and more work at the feet of the teacher during lessons as a result.

The child, however, is not ready for the parent to disappear. So, I make an effort to keep the parent involved here, even if it is to keep an eye on the student’s physical form. This is also a good time in the child's learning and development to check in with the parent's habits concerning daily practice, the listening program, and taking notes at lessons. I make a point of checking in with the parent to see that everything is running smoothly at this point and that we address any problems the parent has during home practices.

I do not have a formal system for doing this. I try to be subtle about it. I check in with casual questions here and there, and I pay attention to the parent's and student's behavior and attitude during lessons. If there are any problems in home practice sessions, there will be a negative spillover at lessons too or in public generally.

Andantino is the last song in what I refer to as the “intermediate” section of Suzuki Violin Volume 1. Next to follow will be the new finger pattern of G major, which will continue throughout volumes 2 and 3 in various forms.

Left Hand Skills

• The song is in D major and uses the same finger pattern as the Twinkle Variations.
• The song’s format is A-A1-B-A1 (with fermata and ritard in the last phrase).
• There is an opportunity here to teach the student a fingering habit:
• In the first measure, the notes are mainly on the D string. If the student uses the pinkie in the first measure, then all of the notes will remain on the D string and therefore maintain an even string tone “color.” 

Pinkie Fingering

• Then the student will use the open A string in the third measure, as the notes continue onto the A string.

Open String Fingering

• The song uses similar finger patterns at the ends of the first, second, and fourth phrases, but on different strings.

Phrase 1

Phrases 2 and 4

Right Hand Skills

• The rhythmic bowing pattern is the opposite of Twinkle Variation C (“Cat Kitty, Cat Kitty” or “Pull Pony, Push Pony”). The rhythm is “Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat.” No, I do not use this illustration in order to advocate that we sing words to songs. I realize that there are folks who disapprove of this method, and I understand Dr. Suzuki did not support words to the songs. However, using a shorthand rhythmic designation is helpful to get everyone on the same page immediately. Parents quickly understand "Kitty Cat" versus "Cat Kitty."
• The bowing accents in Andantino are the opposite of those learned in the previous song Allegretto. Rather than an accent on the third note of the three-note grouping, as Allegretto requires, Andantino has the rhythmic accent weight on the first note of the three-note grouping.

Allegretto

Andantino

• The song brings back the fermata that the student learned in Allegro, 3 songs earlier. This provides another opportunity to reinforce what a fermata is and how to play a ritard, which follows the fermata. I have one young student who added an additional flair to the last four notes to make the ending even cuter to his listeners.

Previews (How I Teach it)

There really is not much to teach. I might have to suggest the starting note for the song if a student has not figured it out by now. Maybe I will suggest a few notes to begin the phrase. At some point I guide the student into choosing the pinkie or open A string fingering, and we will discuss why we choose one fingering over the other.

I talk about string tone color to illustrate fingering choices. This may seem like a complex subject for a little child to understand. but I assure you that we will revisit the subject in the second song of Suzuki Violin Volume 5 (the Vivaldi A minor Concerto, 2^nd movement). For now, I introduce the fingering concept and ask the student to execute the finger pattern as I instruct. My purpose is to build a fingering habit. We talk about the fingering choice, but I realize that I will have to discuss this several times more in future lessons and in repertoire to come before the fingering concept will formally stick.

We talk about the string tone sound in terms of color. Although I do not hear colors of notes or tone (I have absolute pitch), I have discovered that most of my students claim that an E string sounds “green” or “yellow.” The A string has a warmer color sound, such as “orange.” Since my students seem to recognize tonal colors, I use that language in my discussion of fingering choices.

We talk about how we paint the walls of our homes or businesses with one color. Seldom would we blotch a different color in the middle. So it is with string tonal colors. If we are playing on the D string color, we would avoid blotching our sound with a one-note open A string in the middle of our phrase if we could keep the same tone color by using the pinkie instead.

Believe it or not, many students fail to recognize that the open A string and the pinkie on the D string represent the same note A in music. Sometimes students do not recognize this until book 3.

I mentioned two stories that I refer to in my teaching of the song. The first story contains the lovely words found in the Pre-twinkle Book about elephants sneezing. If you do not own this book, I highly recommend it. Yes, I know all about the controversy concerning whether students should recite words when learning new songs, but sometimes it is just plain fun to sing a song when we learn it. I have been singing since I was a wee child and grew my love of music in this way. I say, why not encourage a love of music and singing by introducing song words? You can find a link to the song book here in my Teaching Suzuki Resource Store: click here.

The frog story is just a story about a lazy frog who is sunning himself in the middle of a pond on a lily pad. A pesky fly repeatedly circles the frog's head and interrupts the frog's pleasant nap in the sunshine on the lily pad in the middle of the lily pond. Somewhere around phrase three, the frog sparks an idea of how to get rid of the pesky fly, which follows the slowing, introspective meanderings of the third phrase of the song. Finally at the time the student reaches the fermata in the fourth phrase, the frog lashes out with a quick dart of its tongue ("ribbit, ribbit"), and the pesky fly is no more. The last ritarded notes of the song represent the frog's self-satisfaction. Silly, I know, but young children are fascinated by such stories, and we teachers love to perform all the characters!

Later Problems (or Just Later)

Later problems seem to include memory of form. Students may remember the finger patterns but forget which string to play the pattern. Students may forget to use the pinkies where I have instructed to use them. Sometimes students forget the fermata or the ritard.

I enjoy using Andantino at group classes for teaching musical phrasing. We practice asking questions (the antecedent part of the phrase) and giving answers (the consequent part of the phrase). This translates to two- and four-measure phrases and teaches students “spillover” phrasing (sustaining the musical line to extend the phrasing from two to four notes). To read my article about spillover phrasing (and Frank Sinatra), click here.

Other problems include incorrect rhythmic weighting in the phrase. If we combine this song with Allegretto, the student can practice the different styles in both songs. When I discussed Allegretto, I gave the illustration of karate punches in horse (“ready”) stance to give emphasis to the rhythmic weighting. That same exercise would work here with Andantino's special rhythmic weighting. Students can also practice the different rhythmic weighting in the songs Allegretto and Andantino by playing a special Twinkle Allegretto Variation or Andantino Variation in place of Twinkle Variation C.

Allegretto Twinkle Variation Rhythm 

Andantino Twinkle Variation Rhythm

The Suzuki duet for Andantino is lovely, and the part adds so much harmony to the melodic line.

I hope that you fall in love with Andantino and teaching the song as much as I have. I think it is a terrific song and fun to play! I look forward to teaching it when it occurs in a student's musical journey.

(Ribbit, ribbit!)

Next Stop: Preparing for Etude.