Song of the Wind, part 3: Downbow Circles Preview

Song of the Wind teaches an important right hand skill: down bow circles. Down bow circles are the foundation for all sorts of other skills, from setting the bow on the string to begin a good articulation, to playing double stops and chords in more advanced repertoire. Along the way, down bow circles can test whether a student is still maintaining the bow hold (it tends to fall out of the hand if the bow hold is incorrect) or if the student is holding too much tension in the shoulder (the student can use the circles to learn how to set the bow and release the shoulder tension).

If you have not already done this when teaching the Twinkle variations, place a tape mark on the student's bow at the point where the student's arm forms a "square" (right arm bends 90 degrees at the elbow, and the forearm is parallel to the violin strings) when the student has placed the bow on the strings to play. It is a good idea to check the placement of this tape mark periodically as the student grows, to be sure that the mark still "fits" the student's arm length.

Airplanes and Helicopters

Here is how I introduce the down bow circle:

• I ask the student to play a down bow on the E string to produce a nice ringing tone.

• I then ask the student to lift the bow in a circular motion in front of the student's face and land the bow at the marked tape spot. The circle should be done counter-clockwise, similar to the hand gesture that one makes when saying "come here" with the hands.

• I then ask the student to make several down bow circles. I bring to the student's attention how the bow bounces on the landing, and I ask the student to experiment with eliminating the bounces.

• I then introduce the concept of airplane versus helicopter landings.

• Airplanes bounce on landing (at least once, no matter how good the pilot is).

• Helicopters are capable of landing without a bounce.

• Airplanes land while still in forward motion, hence the bounce.

• Helicopters can drop straight down without forward motion.

• I then have the student practice landing the bow on the E string after a down bow circle while completely stopped in forward motion, as in "helicopter" style. The student is usually able to eliminate the bounce.

• We play 10 down bow circles on the E string and strive for a good ringing tone.

• We then progress to down bow circles on the A string just for variety.

Railroad Car Wheels

I also discuss with my student how the "arm" of a railroad car wheel works. If you recall, the railroad wheel has an arm that connects the wheels with each other. That arm moves the same way between the wheels. In such a manner, the frog and tip of our bows should imitate the circular motion of the railroad car wheels. The circle we make at the frog of the bow should be the same size circle as that made by the tip of our bow.

Group Classes

In group class, we use Song of the Wind to practice the down bow circles in several ways:

• We sing the song using the "Goosey Gander" words, and we practice making circles:

• On the first verse, we turn in a circle at the places where we would be making down bow circles with our bow. This prepares the student and helps them to remember where the circles actually occur in the song.

Fox has stolen Goosey Gander.

Bring him back to me. (circle)

Bring him back to me. (circle)

If you don't I'll sic my dog

And chase you up a tree-hee-hee. (teeny circle)

If you don't I'll sic my dog

And chase you up a tree.
(circle when making the repeat; no circle after the second verse)

This a loose English translation of the original German lyrics,
"Fuchs, Du Hast die Ganz Gestohlen."

• On the second verse, we make circles with our bows in the air, using a "come here" gesture to mimic the actual down bow circle motion.

• We practice making down bow circles using fruit as a measurement for the circle's size. For example:

• We make circles as large as a watermelon ("What is the largest fruit you can think of?")

• We make medium-sized circles ("What is a medium-sized fruit?")

• We make tiny circles ("What is the smallest fruit you can think of? A grape?")

• We talk about what size circles we might make throughout the song. My goal here is to help the students recognize the need for a grape-sized circle between measures 10 and 11.

Advanced Students

I have used this song or at least the down bow circle skill to help an advanced student learn how to play double stop chords and to check for shoulder tension:

• We practice making a circle bow and setting the bow, stopped, on the string before drawing out the notes of a double stop chord.

• We practice making circle bows, and checking for tension by saying:

• "Set" (is the bow set on the string and stopped?)

• "Sink" (has the student released the tension/energy/air from the shoulder?)

• Song of the Wind is also useful for checking the state of a student's bow hold. If the student has let his or her bow hold posture slip or get sloppy, this song will reveal it.

Dr. Suzuki

Someone once told me a story about Dr. Suzuki and his teacher training classes in Japan (the story may have come from Pat D'Ercole. After Dr. Suzuki explained how to make proper down bow circles, he then told his teacher trainee students to practice the circles 10,000 times. Apparently the American teachers responded with the idea that Dr. Suzuki really wanted them to practice the circles a lot! The Japanese teachers responded by buying special notebooks so that they could begin keeping track of the number of circles they practiced until they added up to 10,000. I do not know if the story is true, but if it is, the story does illustrate a difference in response between the American and the Japanese.

This pretty much wraps up the discussion about Song of the Wind. As you can see from the numerous blog entries I have posted, this song is full of useful teaching points. I frequently refer to this song in master classes, as it contains so many valuable uses for both the left and right hands.

Song of the Wind (part 2): Jumping Finger Preview

Jumping Finger Preview

In this preview, I will introduce the jumping finger section of measure 3. First I play measures 3 and 4 for the student a few times first and ask some questions to help the student develop awareness through the eyes and ears:

• Which finger did I hold down?

• Which finger jumped?

• What strings did my bow play on?

I ask the student to place the first finger F# on the E string and "superglue" the finger throughout the exercise. I then ask the student to play "Mississippi Hot Dog" rhythm (4-16th notes and 2 staccato 8th notes) on the F#.

While the student holds down the super glued first finger F#, I then instruct the student to "cross over" the third finger (ring finger) to play Mississippi Hot Dog ("MHD") on the D on the A string. Sometimes I cross my right leg over my left as a reinforcement illustration of this finger crossing.

While still holding down the F#, I have the student "jump" the third finger (ring finger) over to the high A on the E string and play MHD on the high A.

While still holding the F# down, the student lifts off the third finger to reveal the F# still in place and plays MHD.

We remove the "superglue" finger (the student lifts off the F# finger) and the student plays MHD on the E string.

The student repeats this sequence of notes and finger execution several times until the student remembers what to do and the parent is comfortable with duplicating the lesson at home.

I build on this basic skill by gradually shortening the length of time on each note in the jumping finger pattern. I ask the student to play the sequence again and shorten the rhythm on each note using these rhythms:

Mississippi Hot Dog

Mississippi

Strawberry

Hot Dog

And finally, the student plays the jumping finger passage as originally written:

Original Passage

The student will need reinforcement to remember these important teaching points:

• Hold down the F# throughout the execution of the jumping finger segment. This superglue finger is important, because it aids the student in learning the spatial distance between the first and third fingers. This is an important skill in shaping the proper left hand set-up on the violin. As time goes on, the student gets a little sloppy about this requirement, so the parent and I are vigilant about watching this.

• "Jump" the third finger from the A to the E string rather than laying down the finger to cover both strings. Be sure the mom or other home practice partner understands the difference between a jumping third finger and a third finger that lays down across the two strings as a short cut!

• More advanced players will develop the skill of covering both strings with the same finger.

• This is not the time for introducing this concept, as allowing the student to lay down the third finger encourages the bad habit of allowing the left hand to fall down.

Students will exhibit the problem of the "falling" left hand as they progress through books 1 and 2, and Dr. Suzuki set this song up in the beginning of book 1 to provide a vehicle for keeping the left hand from falling. For this reason, Song of the Wind is an excellent song for review!

Song of the Wind, part 1

Song of the Wind is the third song in the Suzuki Violin Volume 1. The song is full of teaching gems, and I have found the song to be a useful teaching tool for younger students, a review song for more advanced students, and a great song for group class activities. Here is an overview of the skills contained in Song of the Wind.

Left Hand Skills

• Song of the Wind is in A major and uses the same finger pattern as the Twinkle Variations and Lightly Row (close 2-3 finger pattern).

• The song begins with ascending "walking fingers" as previously introduced in Lightly Row (exactly the same except for an additional E string).

Walking Fingers + E

• The song introduces a "jumping finger" section in measures 3 and 5 to teach the student the spatial relationship between the first and third fingers, which:

• is the basic foundation for the general shape or frame of the left hand.

• supports good intonation by strengthening the "feel" of the distance between the first and third fingers.

• teaches the student to hold down the first finger as a "corner fence post" to set up future finger patterns and combinations.

Jumping Finger

• The song generally moves stepwise throughout the song except for the jumping finger section.

• The song uses the descending scale pattern as learned in the Twinkle variations with the added complexity of changing pitches in a different rhythmic pattern in measures 7-9, 11-13).

Descending scale

Right Hand Skills

• I prefer that my students use the staccato bow stroke.

• Using staccato in the beginning of book 1 skill learning will set the student up for the creation of good tone production because staccato teaches good articulation (beginnings) of the notes.

• Staccato, which is a stopped bow stroke, helps the student to use the brief "thinking pauses" between notes to set the bow properly to make good clean string crossings.

• The song provides additional string crossing practice.

• The song introduces down bow circles (4 circles on the first pass through the song and 3 on the repeat).

• Down bow circles teach the student to stop and set the bow before proceeding, which will set the student up for later practice with double stops and chords.

• Down bow circles afford the teacher an opportunity to check whether the student is retaining tension in the right shoulder.

• Down bow circles teach the student about the importance of maintaining a good bow hold, since the student might lose control of the bow during the circle if the bow hold is not maintained well.

Other Skills

• The song builds up the student's ability to move the right and left hands and arms independently of each other.

• The right bow hand drops down to the E string level when performing the jumping finger section of measures 3 and 5, but the left hand must retain its position on the A string level. Students tend to lay down their left third fingers when making the "jump" because they are trying to mirror the motion of the right side of their bodies.

• The student has to fight the temptation to drop the left hand down a string level to match the right hand motion.

• The song introduces the concept of holding down pivotal fingers. In this particular song, the first finger F# on the E string becomes the "corner fence post" or "superglue finger" with which the third finger can use to stretch into position on the A and E strings. In later songs, Dr. Suzuki will introduce other such sustained finger placements.

• I live in a rural community, and most of my students are very familiar with the construction of fences.

• We dig a hole for the corner fence post and put it in cement. Once the corner post is secure in cement, we are able to add additional fence posts and to stretch the fencing wire in between the posts.

• I use the corner fence post analogy when discussing the sustained F# finger for my slightly older students, and I use the "superglue finger" idea with my younger students.

There are a lot of previews to the skills that a student will learn in Song of the Wind, and I will address those previews and my teaching methods in part 2 next week.

Happy Teaching!

Quick Practice Tip: Releasing Tension in the Shoulder

The shoulder is a magnet for tension, especially as the student matures in age. Just about all of my older students or adults exhibit shoulder tension. Shoulder tension must be an adult person's most favorite way to "hold it in." I know that this was the case for me. I still work at it, and I have developed a few tricks to help me set my playing posture in a relaxed way.

Try these three simulations or games away from the violin:

• When driving your car, rest your hands on the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 o'clock positions (please make sure that you are still paying attention to the road!). While you are driving, notice how light your hands feel on the wheel. Now, let your shoulders relax and your arms hang down. If you do this exercise correctly, you will notice that your hands begin to feel fairly heavy and hang from the steering wheel almost enough to pull the wheel down. Your shoulders are now completely relaxed.

• When you are standing in church, rest your hands on the pew back in front of you. Or if you grocery shop instead, rest your hands on the handle of the shopping cart. Notice how light your hands feel on the pew back or shopping cart handle. Now let your shoulders relax and your arms rest downward. If you do this exercise correctly, you will notice that your hands begin to feel fairly heavy and hang from the pew or shopping cart handle quite strongly. Your shoulders are now completely relaxed.

• Spaghetti Arms Game: You will need a partner for this game. Have your partner make fists in both hands and hold up the thumbs like joysticks. You grab onto the "joysticks." Your partner will then swing your arms around wildly, trying to take you for a wild amusement park ride and shake you off. Your goal is to stay connected to the joystick but to allow your partner to flail your arms around wherever your partner wants to go. If you are completely relaxed with "spaghetti arms" and still hanging onto the "joysticks," then your shoulders are completely relaxed. Note that this game is the most similar simulation to that of playing the violin. The joystick is your bow hold, which must be turned on. Your relaxed arms are how your shoulder should be: aware, relaxed, and going wherever it is led.

Try these two simulations with the violin:

• Submarine Air Lock Game: Pretend you are on a submarine, but you need to explore outside the vessel. Go into the air lock chamber. Turn on the mechanism that lets the air out of the chamber. Now you are ready to go outside the vessel. Relate this to the violin.

• Set your bow on the string at the frog. Now, release the air from your shoulder.

• "Set, Sink" are the two commands I use.

• Flat Tire Game: Set your bow on the string at the frog. Now release the air from your tire (shoulder) so that it goes flat.

Carry this to the next level in review work or group class activities:

• Play "Song of the Wind" (violin book 1) and stop after every down bow circle. Recite "Set, Sink" before playing the next note. Make sure your bow hold is impeccable.

• Play "Allegro" (violin book 1) and add  "Set, Sink" after every down bow circle.

• Play "Perpetual Motion" (violin book 1) with a down bow circle after every note. "Set, sink."

• Play "Etude" with a down bow circle after every note. "Set, sink."

• Play "Chorus" (violin book 2) and add "Set, Sink" after every down bow circle.

• Play "The Two Grenadiers" (violin book 2) and note the three down bow circle places. Are you setting and sinking at those places?

• In violin book 4 and the Seitz concertos, there are several opportunities to set and sink the shoulder when placing down bows at the start of new sections. Play these concertos and ask the student to find places where the "set, sink" idea will be effective.

When I first realized how much tension I had allowed to creep into my shoulder while playing my violin, I also found many opportunities to address the issue. I used my teaching in the studio to allow me to practice the exercises I have outlined above. I also found opportunities in symphony rehearsals and concerts to remind myself to "set, sink" before playing The only adjustment I had to make was to get ready to play in symphony a little earlier than usual to allow myself enough time to actually "set, sink." To this day, I still remind myself to "set, sink" after every down bow circle or after I have set my bow on the string.

I also practice this exercise while driving, singing hymns in church, or grocery shopping.