Hover Balls, Coloring Books, and String Skin

In recent articles, I have discussed the challenge of teaching and practicing with speed demons. When I first encounter a speed demon, I also encounter other typical playing difficulties, such as the inarticulate articulation and the wispy bow. In these other articles, I discussed ways of handling speed demons, and I will provide links to these previous articles at the end of this article.

I first seem to notice these articulation issues somewhere around Long, Long Ago in Suzuki Violin Volume 1, although these issues can occur at any time. I monitor my own playing closely for this issue as well. Just about the time that students start to develop some ability to play easily and with longer bows, the problem seems to arise. Although I teach staccato since the first lessons, I have to watch closely that the student does not discontinue staccato playing where indicated in the music. Songs that are to be played with staccato articulation wind up being legato, as students try to play faster to emulate the performance recordings. The students have not yet developed the ability to hear the staccato when it is played quickly by a professional. There are so many levels of staccato, or different consonants as I call it, and beginning students have not yet developed the skill to hear these different levels at this stage. So in early book 1, I often have to deal with the issue of non staccato playing when it should be staccato.

Along with the techniques and suggestions I wrote in the previous articles, other teaching methods I use with speed demons to tackle the inarticulate articulation and wispy bow are the hover ball, coloring book, and string skin analogies. Here is how I describe the phenomenon of the hover ball.

Hover Ball

When we throw a baseball straight up into the sky, we know that it will return to earth. When I ask students why this happens, they understand that gravity is the force that pulls the ball's return down to earth. We know too that the ball does not just hit a ceiling in the sky and then scud back down to the ground. There is a moment in time when the ball "hovers" in the air before it begins its descent. If we were to recall our last ride on a roller coaster in an amusement park, we would generally agree that there is a suspension in time after the ride's ascent and just before the ride begins to descend when we feel as if we are floating in air for a brief second. I call this suspension in time the "hover ball," because it resembles the way that a ball hovers momentarily before beginning the gravity free fall.

Coloring Book

Similarly, most students will readily identify with the coloring book scenario. My students understand what it means to color "within" the lines. If I were to tell a student that the student was coloring "outside" the lines of the note, the student would understand what I meant by that description.

I tell my students that notes have a "personal space" between them, almost like a thin skin that separates them. Similar to the hover ball and the coloring book line, the notes have a slight "space" between each other. The bow creates this space when it pushes the string back and forth between down bows and up bows.

When I ask my students to listen and notice the end of one note and the beginning of another note, the students begin to coordinate the right and left hands together better. The students begin to clean up the messy articulation that I previously heard. By asking my students to listen closely to the sound they make and try to discern whether the bow is coloring outside the note “lines,” my students tend to naturally slow down their playing speed so that they can really listen and make the necessary adjustments with the bow and fingers.

String Skin

Once I have a student really listening to this aspect of his or her playing, I then discuss how strings are made, that they have a core that is wrapped with another metal “skin.” Then I ask my student to consider whether he or she is brushing the bow over the string “skin” similarly to a person’s brushing his fingertips over the skin of the arm, or whether the bow is really grabbing onto and moving the string “skin,” as when a person grabs hold of his arm and actually moves the skin back and forth.

When I ask for this method of playing, my student’s tone immediately deepens and increases in volume. Thereafter, all I have to do is remind my student to make sure his or her bow is moving the string skin.

Here are the links to the previous articles about speed demons and the "rushing" issue:

Speed Demons
Speed Busters
The Power of the Stopped Bow

Please leave a comment if you have another teaching or practicing idea to address this issue that you would like to share.

Why Twinkle?

Recently a reader (thanks, Ann!) commented with this question:

"Why does the Suzuki method teach Twinkle with the various rhythms? Instead of just the Twinkle theme?

This is a great question, and I am sure we have all thought about this a time or two. Why did Dr. Suzuki write all those Twinkle Variations, and why did he put the variations before the theme? Here are some possible answers:

• To awaken the student's rhythmic awareness
• To awaken the student's visual, aural, and kinesthetic senses
• To allow the student to play quickly and use faster movement of the muscles (student's love to play fast; this is so far distant from my first violin days of long, slow, tedious bows on the A string)
• To stimulate the student's large muscle groups before later refining the use of small muscle groups (move from large to small muscle groups, beginning with the larger muscles required for the Twinkle variations)
• To teach the student some of the most popular rhythmic and bowing combinations in the repertoire

All of the above reasons are important. It is my understanding that the first variation rhythm, "Mississippi Hot dog" (also  known as "Pepperoni Pizza" or "taka taka stop stop"),  stems from the opening of Bach's famous two violin concerto in d minor:

Bach's "double" violin concerto

The Vivaldi A minor violin concerto movements are examples of how many of these rhythmic units are found in the classical repertoire. Pretty much all of the rhythmic variations are found in this concerto.

Students enjoy coming up with new variations. We might make up a new pattern based on the rhythm of our names. For example, "Paula Bird" and "strawberry ice cream" would translate to:

"Paula Bird" and "Strawberry Ice Cream" rhythms

I make up my own Twinkle variations as I need them to practice difficult bowing passages in the orchestral repertoire. For example, the last movement of Beethoven's 8th symphony has a fast paced set of rhythms that can be awkward to bow quickly. So I turn the bowing pattern into a Twinkle variation. My colleagues are amused to hear me practice this way, but I do not have any difficulty playing the last movement of the symphony.

Just the other day I practiced several of the Twinkle variations with spiccato bowing (bouncing off the string and airborne). I am currently in Central Oregon playing in the Sunriver Music Festival, and the air is quite dry here. My bow bounces much differently here than it does in my humid home state of Texas. So I needed some extra practice to learn how my bow felt in this new climate. Again, I caught some amused looks from festival colleagues as they realized what melody I used to make bowing variations.

What are some reasons you believe that Dr. Suzuki taught the Twinkle variations? What are some different ways that you use them with your students or in your own practice?

Perpetual Motion: How I Teach It

In a previous post, I discussed the two pinkie finger pattern previews that I introduce when I begin to teach Perpetual Motion. To read more about these previews, click here.

Usually the student will figure out the first few notes of the song, but in some cases, I may need to introduce these first few notes: A – B – C# - C#

The song is full of patterns and provides ample opportunities for discussion about patterns in the context of ear training. For example, the first four notes of the song are then repeated in the same pattern, but the notes start one note higher in pitch.

After the student has figured out the first eight notes, then we add the first of the pinkie previews (C#-D-E with pinkie-C# or 2-3-4-2 finger pattern on the A string).

Then we add the last four notes of the phrase, which end with the open E string:

So now the student can play the first two measures:

All that is left to learn is to repeat the same phrase again with the same notes but change the last two notes to the open A string:

At this point, I tell the student that they know half of the song, because the first phrase and the last phrase are the same. I send the student home with the assignment of playing the first phrase of the song along with a continuation of the previous assignment of the pinkie previews.

Often the student will return to the next lesson and present me with the second phrase of the song already figured out, especially if the practice parent has diligently played a recording of the song every day since the previous lesson. If not, then I work with the student to figure out the second phrase. I use the same teaching technique of talking about patterns. Note that the first three groups of four notes in the second phrase are the same pattern but each successive group starts a note lower than the previous group:

We talk about the two different endings, with the first ending on the E string and the second finishing on the A string.

The student may go home with the assignment of two phrases of the song now. This depends on the student. I make a judgment call as to whether the student is ready to move on or whether the student needs to solidify things over the coming week before adding even more new stuff.

Sometimes students figure out some of the notes of the third part on their own, but if not and the student is ready to learn the third part, I begin by introducing the first four notes.

We talk about how these four notes are different from the first four notes. For example, the first notes of the song proceed in stepwise fashion. The first four notes of part three proceed with a backwards skip first and then stepwise.

Then we talk about patterns again, and I show the student how the next four notes follow a similar pattern as the first four notes, but starting one note higher.

 Since my student has practiced the pinkie previews for a few lessons now, it takes just a minute to add the second pinkie preview part to the song, and the student adds the rest.

I usually need to remind my students that the two measures that begin part three need to be repeated a second time. I find that students consistently attempt a short cut and skip the repeated two measures. Students also forget to play the fourth part, which is just a repetition of the first part. I have to be vigilant to step in and prevent the student from jumping right into the variation without playing the fourth part.

At this point, the student can play the main part of the Perpetual Motion song. We continue to work on our staccato bows and check that our pinkie previews are still working properly. There are six pinkies in Perpetual Motion in the manner that I finger the song, so we play the penny game. I lay out six pennies and check to see if the student can earn a penny for each pinkie that the student finds correctly.

Later Problems (or just later)

This song provides opportunities to practice so many other skills to be introduced in the later Suzuki repertoire. Here are just a few examples:

• We transpose the song into Bb in book two to prepare for Gavotte from Mignon ((book 2, #9).

• We use the song in group classes to strengthen our ensemble skills:
• We form a line down the middle of the room with chairs, then we weave around the chairs from one side of the room to the other in “follow the leader” fashion. When on one side of the room, the students play the main song. When on the other side, the students play the variation.
• We play “start and stop” game. While playing, I stop periodically to see if I can “catch” anyone who is not paying attention.
• We play “radio” game. While playing, I will turn the imaginary radio button to the “off” position. The students stop playing but keep the song going in their heads. Then I turn the volume “on” again. If everyone kept the tempo in their heads, then we will all be playing again in the same place.
• We play “pass it along” game. I play a few notes, perhaps four, and then the next student plays the next four, and so on until we have gone around the room and played the song. We play variations on this game until the students are ultimately able to play just one note of the song at a time. I teach the students how to silently play along with their fingers so that they keep their place while other students are playing.
• We use the songs with more advanced students to work on more advanced technical skills.
• We use our Bb transposition fingering for Perpetual Motion and learn how to play in higher positions. For more information about how I use this idea to teach higher positions, click here:

• We insert an open E string in between the notes of the song and use our pinkie to finger the written E in the song. We use this new Perpetual Motion to practice our string crossing skills, especially for playing in early book 4, such as the Seitz Concerto no. 5, first movement (Seitz 2). We practice these string crossings with and without slurs.

• We learn how to increase the number of notes we can play in an up bow staccato. Here is an example where we have increased the number of up bows to 15 in one bow:

Perpetual Motion is full of gems for teaching many skills and for group class activities. In addition, I use the song to teach finger and bow coordination. I will save this discussion for another post.

Next stop: Perpetual Motion variation!

Quick Practice Tip: The Power of the Stopped Bow

Over the years of teaching the Suzuki method, I have come to appreciate the power of the stopped bow. The Twinkle Variations that Dr. Suzuki put together are brilliant in terms of what the pieces teach the student about impulse control and the proper use of kinesthetic energy. The more I teach, the more I discover or uncover all the gems that Dr. Suzuki has included in the Suzuki repertoire. Nothing is more powerful to me than the lessons learned concerning the stopped bow.

I teach many students who play other violin music, such as fiddling or mariachi. I frequently encounter students who literally cannot stop their bow. The bow dribbles from one note to the next without ever clearly defining the end of one note and the beginning of the next note. Wait! Who am I kidding? The bow is not dribbling, it is moving 100 m.p.h.! This constant movement issue results in several problems:

• Messy bows and unclear articulation
• Rushing tempo or a tempo that pushes the “toe-side” of the beat rather than the “heel-side” (the energy is forward directed rather than “sitting in the saddle”)
• Inability to play staccato well
• Tight joints, especially the right elbow
• Squeezed back muscle, especially below the right shoulder
• Poor tone production: either a pressed sound because the student is squeezing the notes or a wispy sound because the student is so tight in the right elbow and back muscles, that the bow can put little weight into the sound
• Poor practice habits: inappropriate practice tempos and a failure to consider the actual sound made

Sometimes it may take me a few years to teach a student with the stopped bow problem how to get a good stopped bow staccato. If only I could take these students back to square one and the Twinkle Variations! The Twinkles are the foundation of all the necessary stopped bow combinations that the student will encounter in the later Suzuki repertoire.

Here are some beneficial uses of the stopped bow:

• It gives the student an opportunity to consider whether the bow will make a good contact point with the string in order to produce the next note.
• It gives the student a chance to place the bow properly on the appropriate string level (or string levels in the case of a double stop chord).
• It allows the student to consider how his or her body should pivot the bow quietly from one string level to the next without lifting the bow off the string.
• It allows the student an opportunity to “check in” with muscles and joints to unlock any unnecessary tension.
• It allows the student to “ping” the beginning of the next note to start the vibration of the next note, which helps the student to generate good, strong tone.
• Most of all, it allows the student to actually consider what sound the student makes when playing.

I also work with the student to uncover any unnecessary tension in the bow arm, right shoulder, or back. If I am working with a high energy level student, then this issue alone will take a long time to address. I may have to spend a considerable amount of time addressing posture issues, including how the student directs his or her physical energy in a playing stance.

If I work with an advanced student, I might ask them to play Perpetual Motion so that we can work on these issues, but anything will do, even a basic scale. My goal will be to get the student to slow down and actually stop playing after one note so that the student can prepare the next note. In some cases, I need to actually address the student's playing stance in order to encourage a more successful outcome.

I used several terms above that might require further explanation. When I talked about the "toe-side" and "heel-side" of the beat, I referred to the front side versus the back side of the beat. If you lean forward on your toes, you will feel the inevitable pull forward. Did you know that we walk by falling forward and then catching ourselves? This is how the front-side of the beat works. We fall forward when we play, so that the tempo surges forward and speeds up. When we put our weight in our heels, we add the sensation of grounding to our playing.

For anyone who is familiar with horses, the concept of toe-side and heel-side energy dissemination makes sense. Horses are very sensitive creatures. If you want to start moving, all you have to do is think about it. You bring your energy level "up" and "forward" and the horse starts moving. How much energy you send forward will direct how fast the horse will comply. When you want to slow the creature down to a stop, you turn your energy "off," let your breath out, and settle back into the saddle. The horse stops.

Students can relate to "toe-side" and "heel-side" as descriptions of playing stances. We experiment with both so that students understand how each stance feels. Then we practice "sitting back in the saddle" so that students learn the physical sensations of relaxing and grounding. The students learn how to shift their weight to the heels of their feet and to tilt their pelvises under so that the torso weight shifts backwards (they tuck their "kitty cat tails" under and between their legs). For good measure, I might suggest that they also practice letting all the air out of their lungs. Being the high energy person that I am, I often practice breathing out my air in a slow whoosh. I find that I can calm my energy level down to a stop when I practice this technique.

The most recent student that I worked with to learn how to play a stopped bow (it took us four semesters to master this skill at the university level), had to learn how to curb his energy level and his expression of energy while playing. In other words, he had to learn how to turn things "on" and "off." My long time readers know how much a fan I am of the "Dog Whisperer" show with Cesar Milan. I learned a lot about using energy properly from watching this show on the National Geographic channel. I have a dog pack of six adult dogs and one youngster. Currently I also have three puppies about 5 weeks old. Anyone who has that many dogs will know what I mean about how one uses one's physical energy. I can rile up or calm down my pack of sweethearts in two seconds just by how I turn my energy level "up" or "down." I have even taught this skill to several of my students in order to teach them how to improve their posture or to learn leadership skills. But this is another blog post for the future.

For now, look to yourself and your students. Observe how you and your students are doing with their stopped bows and staccatos. If you find problems, consider whether you or your students are too energetic in your playing and then work out a step-by-step program to "slow" things down.

This blog post began as a quick practice tip and quickly became a long discussion about the physical manifestation of energy while playing. No, I am not an alien. I really do think about these things -- a lot. I apologize that the "quick" practice tip was anything but quick. This week, think about the power of a stopped bow and check whether you are providing yourself and your students with the opportunities to create good stopped bows. If you or one of your students has difficulty in this area, consider whether the student is physically standing and playing in a way that would discourage or encourage a good stopped bow.

Happy practicing!

Allegro

Allegro is another dessert song and a popular favorite. Made memorable in the movie, "Music of the Heart," which starred Meryl Streep and Aidan Quinn (for more information about the movie, click here), the song was composed by Dr. Suzuki and is usually included on every student recital. Here is a brief summary of the skills and opportunities presented by this song:

The notes of Allegro

Left Hand Skills

• The song is in A major and uses the same close 2-3 finger pattern as the Twinkle Variations.

• The song provides additional exercise work between the first and third fingers.

• The song introduces the popping second finger in measures 2, 6, 11, and 14.

• The song teaches the student to keep the left hand upright in correct position while playing on the E string.

• The song challenges the student to coordinate between the left and right hands in measures 2, 6, and 14.

Right Hand Skills

• Each part of the song begins with a down bow. Since each phrase also ends on a down bow, the student must use the "circle bow" skill first introduced in Song of the Wind. Note that the student has worked hard until now on various bowing direction skills:

• The student learned how to start with a down bow in the Twinkle variations.

• The student learned how to do down bow circles in Song of the Wind.

• The student learned how to use an up bow to begin a new phrase after ending on an up bow in O Come Little Children.

• Now the student "relearns" how to do down bow circles.

• The song challenges the student to use the right and left hands together with an emphasis on "bow-driven" movement in measures 2, 6, and 14.

• The song uses staccato notes, which I gradually lengthen over time as the child progresses in technique until the student can execute a full bow martelé.

• The song contrasts the staccato/martelé bowing with legato bowing in the third phrase.

Other Teaching Points

• The song is in A-A-B-A form.

• The song introduces some music vocabulary in Italian:

• There is a fermata after the last note in phrase three.

• There is a ritard and an a tempo.

• The song title Allegro invites a discussion about tempos and how they are designated. For example, allegro is the Italian word for cheerful or happy. When I ask a student how fast or slow a person might walk when they were feeling cheerful or happy, the student usually tells me that the person would walk quickly. Then I explain that we use this word to indicate that we want a fast or brisk tempo, something lively and cheerful.

• The song provides a great opportunity for students to learn leadership skills in an ensemble setting. I use the song to teach how to start an ensemble, how to lead a ritard, and how to begin anew in tempo after a ritard and fermata.

How I Teach the Song

• I teach the popping finger in measure 2:

• The student sets the F# on the E string and super glues the finger in place for the next few notes.

• The student plays the second finger G#.

• The student plays the third finger high A while popping off the second finger at the same time.

•  The student plays F#.

• The student plays two E strings.

• We repeat the popping finger segment several times.

• This is a good "500 club" spot, so we start keeping trace on a special chart.

• Some practice partners will roll their eyes at the suggestion of doing another 500 club spot so close on the heels of the jumping fingers 500 club spot in Song of the Wind, but the students usually like this if I offer up a good prize as an incentive. Usually a certificate is enough. I offer to let the child take home the certificate or to allow me to hang it up on the studio wall for everyone to see. So far, all my 500 club students have opted to let me hang the certificate on the studio wall.

• Parents: please remember that your enthusiasm (or lack thereof) will set the tone for your practice sessions with your child. Why not head in the more positive direction?
• We work on coordinating the left and right hands together. The popping finger spot is actually driven by the bow movement, although most students slow the bow down to accommodate the finger speed, which is ponderous initially. I play a game here with students to help them to learn how to focus on the "bow-driven" aspect of the fingering place.

• I ask the student to play "hot dog, hot dog, Mississippi hot dog" on the E string.
• Then I ask the student to play the popping finger place.
• We repeat this alternation of open E string rhythm with the fingering until the student finally can play the Allegro fingering in the correct tempo.

• The student usually figures out much of the song on their own once I give them a starting note. In most cases, the student has figured out the starting note for him- or herself.

• The song includes the finger tangle spot from Aunt Rhody. For more information about the finger tangle, read the post here.

• The song is rather repetitious, with the first, second, and fourth phrases being the same in general.

• The third phrase includes the popping finger section but in an augmented form (for the nonmusician, augmented form means that the passage is slowed down in rhythm; in this case the rhythm is slowed down by half).

• I introduce the fermata and ritard once the student has figured out the third phrase notes.

Group Class Ideas

• I use the song to teach ensemble skills. The down bow circles at the beginning of each phrase are great places to wait and see if students are paying attention to the leader.

• At the fermata, I ask my students to freeze and not "move a muscle." Then as the leader slowly prepares the next down bow, the students copy that slow motion and get ready for the final phrase.

• I used to threaten to charge someone $500 if they moved at the "freeze point." I had one parent who was playing guitar forget to wait, but that was an easy exemption, since the "freeze" command only applied to students.

• Then one recital, a mom came forward to take a picture of her son as he played. He was on the end of the front row, and she closed in for a great close-up shot. Unfortunately, she snapped the flash at the "freeze point," and the flash startled the poor little kid into jumping right ahead into the last phrase. I could not charge the child for the parent's silly error.

• And now, folks, perhaps you understand why your local symphony and ballet announce that there are to be NO PICTURES during a performance. It can be dangerous if you flash at a dancer, and it is very distracting to a musician to have a blinding light shone into the eyes while playing. Turn off the flash!

Problems Later (or just later)

• The popping finger stops popping off.

• The student forgets the down bow circles.

• The superglue finger needs more glue to keep it in place.

• Students forget the ritard or the fermata.

• The bowing gets pretty messy as the student works to increase the bow length.

• Sometimes the student forgets the staccato or martelé bowing and plays everything legato.

• The student forgets to set up the a tempo after the fermata in a way that will lead other students to join in the ensemble.

We love to play Allegro. Students are very eager to learn this catchy tune. I use the song to end group recitals.

Happy Teaching!

Suzuki Violin Book 2 Musings

Recently a teacher friend of mine mentioned that she was venturing farther into book 2 with her students than she had previously gone, and she asked me for teaching advice. This conversation sparked me to think about the gifts we discover in book 2.

In general book 2 is designed to “unfurl” the student’s left hand. Whereas book 1 remained within the confines of the perfect fourth interval and ventured to widen the reach between the fingers within that perfect fourth interval, book two challenges the student to stretch the reach between all of the fingers and widen the overall interval to an augmented fourth (or diminished fifth) and a perfect fifth. The book introduces four or five new finger pattern combinations and some stretches between the fingers that span across the strings rather than on the same string (e.g., Chorus and Minuet in G). The last third of the book introduces the trill (preparation in Gavotte from Mignon), and the student learns to widen the space between the trill (half step trill in Lully’s Gavotte and whole step trill in Boccherini’s Minuet).

The right hand skills include longer bows and whole bow distribution concepts in legato (Long, Long Ago) and staccato (Hunter’s Chorus). The up-up hooked staccato bowing from the book 1 “Happy Farmer” is quickened in the Long, Long Ago book 2 variation and then lengthened to four up bow staccato notes in the trio to Minuet in G. There is increased complexity of bowing and rhythm combinations: hooked and dotted rhythms (Witches Dance), slurred dotted rhythms (Minuet in G), bow speed variances, louré or portato bowing (Handel Bourreé and Minuet in G), and the beginnings of the “circle back” collé bowing (The Two Grenadiers).

I separate book 2 into two separate books in my head, because the first and second halves seem to belong to different skill perspectives. The first half of book 2 casts an eye back at book 1 in terms of finger patterns and bowing skill sets. The latter half of book 2 looks ahead to the skills needed to advance into books three and four.

Perhaps the trickiest part about teaching book 2 is to figure out how to introduce a new book 2 skill or teaching point. To prepare for early book 2, what I call book 2A, I focus on cementing the skills that book 1 introduced. I find this easy because simultaneously we are going over what we have learned in book 1 in great detail as we polish the book 1 repertoire to prepare a book 1 graduation recital.

To prepare to teach book 2B, the last half of book 2, I introduce new concepts and skill exercises. The first really new skill will be the wider stretch required between the index and second or third fingers in The Two Grenadiers and in Lully Gavotte. Most teachers introduce this stretch by altering Go Tell Aunt Rhody to resemble a more Middle Eastern sound. We play Bb instead of B natural and F natural rather than F# throughout the song:

Aunt Rhody Goes to Saudi Arabia

The parents are usually interested to hear how this change in fingering alters the sound of the song so completely, and the students want to learn this skill because their parents are so interested. This is also a great group class activity, as Aunt Rhody makes a stop in Saudi Arabia when she takes a trip around the world. See my previous post about this: Around the World with Aunt Rhody.

Another new skill in book 2 is the Bb finger pattern, so I introduce the one-octave Bb scale on the A and E strings. We often work with a tuner.

Bb scale, one octave

I find that the best teacher of the Bb finger pattern shows up when the student learns to play the Bb scale in broken thirds:

Bb scale, broken thirds

We definitely use a tuner for the broken thirds exercise to make sure that the third fingers are in tune. This exercise also affords me the opportunity to talk about ringing third fingers in octaves with a lower string:

tuning the 3rd finger

One other useful tool to prepare for the second half of book two is to teach the student how to play Perpetual Motion from book 1 in the key of Bb. Twinkle Theme in Bb is also useful. Once the student has mastered the Bb fingering for Perpetual Motion in Bb, the student will be able to later use this fingering to learn how it feels in various positions:

• Teaching Positions with Bb Perpetual Motion

• Teaching Positions (Filling up the Back Car Seat)

Each song in book 2 requires a different set of previews of skills for both the left and right hands. My purpose here was to give a brief summary overview of some of the major skills that book 2 will introduce and to lay out a few of the basic preparation tools I use to pave the way for teaching the last half of Suzuki violin book two.

Teaching Tip: Be Observant!

One of the best tips that I can offer a teacher or parent about how to be more effective as a teacher or parent is to be observant and pay attention to your student or child. When you watch carefully, you will figure out a great deal about what is going on in the head of that student or child. You will also gain valuable clues as to issues that negatively impact the student’s or child’s learning.

I was always fascinated with the stories of Dr. Suzuki’s listening to graduation recordings sent in by students. How, I wondered, could he be able to offer comments about the student’s posture or character issues just by listening to a recording? Now that I have taught for so many years myself, I can now understand how Dr. Suzuki accomplished this feat. I discern many things about a student, not only by watching the student, but also by listening, and using my sense of touch.

Most of the people in the world are visual learners, which means that they take in what happens around them through visual stimuli using their eyes. Try the following experiment: activate your “super ears” by closing your eyes and really listening hard without simultaneous visual stimulation.

How does your student or child sound when they walk into the room? A high school student of mine loves to wear a particular pair of cowboy boots. I can tell how she feels about herself and the upcoming lesson just by the way she clicks her feet when she walks into the room.

Can you hear that the student’s right elbow is too high or that there is tension in the student’s shoulder? The wispy tone is a dead giveaway. A high elbow usually means an over-pronated bow hold too. The index finger may be drooped over the stick and the pinkie may be straight and stiff, and the thumb may be showing signs of pushing through the underside of the frog and turning into a banana rather than being bent and strong and resting against the frog.

Can you hear the clunky bow change at the frog or the crunchy bow changes in general no matter what part of the bow? Check the bow hold again. Is the student relaxed? Is the student hanging out in the lower half of the bow most of the time?

Hear that slippery bow sound at the beginnings of notes? You can bet that the student’s bow is crooked or off the contact point in general. Or maybe the student is getting that squishy, soft sul tasto sound, where the bow is slipping over the fingerboard. Again, check the bow hold and see whether the student is completely opening up the right elbow when traveling the bow to the tip. Many students get a little bit sloppy and floppy once they develop “finger motion” with the right hand fingers, and the bow hold tends to suffer. Also, once students start reading music, they tend to focus on the music more and listen to the sound they produce less overall. I encourage my reading students to memorize their music repertoire as quickly as they can so that we can refocus on good posture, good articulation, and good sound. 

Now open your eyes and really observe your student or child. Are they looking at the music, if reading music is your purpose? I can tell by watching whether a student is really reading the music or whether they are playing by ear (or memory) and “appearing” to look at the music. Watch the student’s eyes. Are they focused or glazing over? Do they follow along with the music or does the student lose his or her place occasionally?

I have a really intelligent parent who has this disconcerting habit of slipping into a fixated stare at me in the middle of an instruction or conversation. I cannot tell if she is really listening to me or pretending to. The next time I experience this stare, I plan to stop talking or doing anything even if I am in mid-sentence. I cannot think of any other way to test my theory out. If she is really paying attention and just has that funny “look” in general when she is concentrating on a conversation or activity, then she will respond instantly to my stopping in the middle of my sentence or activity and ask me why I stopped. If she does not respond to my interrupted speech, my suspicion will be confirmed (at least at that moment in time), and I will need to think of a way to address this issue.

Students are a bit trickier to discover when they are not paying attention. I see it as a lack of focus in the eyes. I also stop talking in these cases and consider whether talking is feeding the child’s tendency to “wander off” mentally. I usually draw the child’s focus back onto the activity or conversation by engaging them in conversation with a question about the activity. My questions begin with “what” or “how” in order to solicit actual responses of more than one or two words. (Note: I am not discussing specialized cases of learning issues here, such as ADD or ADHD).

With eyes closed again, feel the energy in the air as your student enters the studio. I can tell when a parent or child have had a fight in the car on the way to a lesson or when a student has had a hard day at school just by the quality of energy (or lack of it) when they enter the room. I sometimes hear that there was a fight because the student’s “hello” is glum and fuming, while the parent’s voice is overly cheerful and upbeat. I have even been able to tell which child is the parent’s favorite or easiest to raise in a family of more than one child just by listening to the parent’s tone of voice when they address each child. Parents beware of this! If I can hear a difference in the tone of voice, you can be sure that the children can too.

This week, be observant about your student or child. You may learn something new.

Quick Practice Tip: Mind Your T's and P's!

Here is a quick practice tip to strengthen your ability to articulate the beginnings of notes and to increase your palette of articulation choices at the same time.

Take a simple song with a series of continuing eighth notes. An example would be "Perpetual Motion" from Suzuki violin book 1 (song #9). Practice the song and strive to perform different sounding articulations.

I liken articulation to pronouncing consonants in speech. The English language has 21 various consonant sounds. There are several rather unique sounds: T, C or K (as in "kah"), P, or M, etc. I practice Perpetual Motion and work to get my bow to articulate and imitate one of the consonants.

The "T" sound is the usual sound we equate with the basic staccato stroke: all attack up front and nothing else. I think of the "C" or "K" sound as the sound of the martelé or hammered stroke: a hard attack sound with a whoosh of air that follows. The "P" ("puh") sound is a softer beginning to the note with some whispering air afterwards. I think of the "M" sound as a gentle détaché stroke.

I entice students to imitate various consonant sounds on Perpetual Motion and then to find places in the repertoire to use these various sounds. For example, the first movement of the Vivaldi A Minor Concerto in Suzuki violin book 4 provides opportunities for many different "consonant" bow strokes. In the opening passage the student could use the advanced "P" bow stroke, which sounds like a gentler martelé without the strong hammered attack. Later the student might employ staccato notes or the "T" sound.

Figuring out how to execute a bow stroke that imitates various consonant sounds helps to build up focus and concentration. It is not an easy task, but it is an engaging one.

Give it a try this week.

How to Improve Your Teaching

Teaching is not a mystery. Teaching is something that we can all do. Before we had the ability to print books, we learned by emulation and imitation. We apprenticed ourselves to others who were more expert than we, and we followed the advice of mentors. If you are a teacher, or a parent, this blog post is for you. Yes, if you are a parent, then you are a teacher. You teach your child many things before the child even reaches school age:

• How to dress

• How to eat with utensils

• How to show manners ("please" and "thank you")

• How to pray

• How to pick up toys

• Any number of other things depending on your situation. My mother taught us to swim at a young age. I have read of other parents who teach their toddlers how to ski.

In a previous blog post (http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com/2011/06/quick-teacher-tip-how-to-digest-song.html), I discussed how to analyze a song for the purpose of revealing the song's teaching points and generally considered four areas:

• Left hand skills ("Finger, bow, go!" Dr. Suzuki said, so left hand skills ranked first in priority)

• Right hand skills

• Preview (how to teach or introduce the song)

• Later problems (the deterioration of skills that happen over time and how to identify them and correct them, or better yet, how to prevent them)

However, there is another step that would improve a person's learning in order to be a better teacher: the ability to see the big picture. Here is how I suggest we do that. After going through the above exercise to determine the teaching points in each song in the Suzuki volume, I suggest we make these additional summary lists:

• What left hand skills are learned in this book or could be learned in this book?

• What right hand skills are learned in this book or could be learned in this book?

• How can we use this current material to prepare for the next book or next set of skills?

• How can we use this material to cement the foundation of things we have learned already (review program or group class activities)?

When we study a particular volume of teaching material, we tend to think about individual pieces as presented in the volume.  When we consider the volume as a whole and how it fits within a larger picture, and we make a list of the general skills learned in totality in the volume and how these skills relate to future learning, we see a different progression of skill development. I suggest that these summary lists be revisited frequently, because as teaching experience grows, so will the discoveries, and the lists will need to be revised to reflect these new discoveries.

So, in addition to the four quadrant dissection that I advocated in my earlier blog post, I suggest making a summary list of the quadrant of skills developed in the volume of material. With each step backward or "zoom out" step we take to consider a bigger picture, we will uncover a broader list of skills to develop and focus on. The more "big" pictures we discover, the bigger our arsenal of teaching ideas. This ability development -- the skill of seeing the big picture -- is what will improve our teaching ability.

Quick Practice Tip: Nose and Front Teeth Bows

One of the hardest things to teach a beginning student is refinement, perhaps because refinement requires a strong ability to concentrate and focus. Couple this requirement with the younger student's desire to play quickly, and pretty soon the songs the student plays are a mess.

In the beginning, I place a colorful yellow tape mark at the point of the bow where the student's arm forms a "square": the bow is parallel to the bridge and the forearm is perpendicular to the violin strings. I refer to this tape mark as the "sunshine spot" and liken it to the student's backyard and ask the student to stay in the backyard. I am not  dictatorial about how well the student stays in the area, because I do not want to encourage undue tension. I have found that if I am too insistent and focused about whether the student stays in the "yard," then the student tightens up arm muscles.

I find it better to allow the student some room to make some of these discoveries about what constitutes a good tone and good playing under my watchful eye. In this way I look forward to the time when the student becomes his or her own teacher. My goal at all times is to instill in the student those skills necessary to experiment, observe, and evaluate. After all, the student sees me once a week in most cases and needs to be able to understand how to practice and improve on his or her own, even if the student works with a home practice partner or supervisor.

So I let the issue of refinement slide a little at times. If the student plays too far afield, I just point to the yellow spot without having to say anything, and the student automatically starts playing in the taped area. For a very young or new beginner, I find it easier to just pick the bow up and help the student to place it in the correct spot every time. We work together as partners.

My practice tip today is for those students who are really getting loose in their bowing style. An example might a young boy who is excited about playing and in particular about playing fast with a lot of (unnecessary) energy. Just pointing to the yellow spot is not going to be enough to draw his focus away from the fun of moving fast and furious with his bow. So I use my practice tip about Nose and Front Teeth Bows.

I tell my student that we are going to play with bows about the size of his nose and with bows the size of his front teeth, and then my student will tell me what was different about the two techniques. I measure the length of my student's nose with my thumb and index finger (probably about two inches). I hold my thumb and index finger above the yellow spot and help my student to measure off the length of the area that matches the length of my student's nose. The length generally resembles the length of the yellow tape patch (what a coincidence!). Then we measure the length of the student's front teeth. I might place a little sticker on the yellow tape as a mark of the front teeth length (about 1/4" to 1/3").

When asked to try both of these bow lengths, two things generally happen:

• The student focuses on the bowing and uses more refined bowing technique.

• The student discovers that using a tinier bow length results in faster playing (and conversely, that longer bows result in slower playing).

Usually the student is delighted to work on the front teeth bows, and that is fine with me because it accomplishes three things for me:

• The student concentrates more on the bow usage, especially the bow's contact point.

• The faster speed encourages the student to solidly acquire certain skills: appropriate fingers (independent versus "stacked" fingerings) and good bow and left hand coordination.

• The student pays attention to what he or she is doing!

The next time you want to help a student to refine a particular technique, try the nose and front teeth bow model. Take what the student is currently doing and find ways to shrink down the challenge area.

Quick Practice Tip: Magic Patterns

This practice tip is about building up speed in difficult passages but in a manner more advanced and complex than the earlier practice tip I posted about building up speed through the use of thoughtful chunks. I call this technique "magic patterns" and use it mostly with my advanced students. Currently here in Texas there are several auditions for students coming up that require the performance of several fast etudes, and my advanced students are struggling to build up speed.

Here are the 11 magic patterns in a nutshell:

Magic Patterns (11)

Each pattern in a measure is a separate pattern to be applied to the passage being worked on. The above patterns apply to passages that involve a multiple of four notes (16th notes, 8th notes). There are three requirements:

• Keep the same fingering.

• Keep the same bowing.

• Play correctly, no mistakes. If there are mistakes, then the speed must be adjusted or the length of the "thinking pause" in the pattern execution must be lengthened.

I think of the above Magic Patterns as a floor, and each particular pattern will reveal a weakness in the floor that may need an extra nail hammered into it. A weak finger or a slippery shift may be causing a problem the student was not aware of. Maybe a bowing does not quite catch the string at a good contact point. The magic patterns will uncover all the problems one at a time. Some patterns may seem trickier than others, and this sensation may vary from passage to passage.

When a student has struggled through the entire exercise of applying the magic patterns, I ask them to play the passage as originally written. The students always acknowledge how much easier the passage feels after being massaged by the magic patterns: "It's magical," they say. And it is.

I then take two brand new rubber bands and show them to the student. We compare the color and the length of both bands; they are the same. I set one band aside and take the other. I stretch out the second rubber band eleven times, which is the number of magic patterns the student completed. After completing my stretching exercise, we compare the two rubber bands again. The stretched rubber band has a different color and is much longer than the first rubber band.

"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." -- Oliver Wendall Holmes

I explain to the student that when we made the passage harder by applying varied rhythms and increasing the complexity, we stretched the student's mind. When the student returned to the passage as originally written, the student found it to be much simpler and easier to play.

I seldom have to repeat my magic pattern exercise. Once through a difficult passage and the passage then becomes "mine." Occasionally in extremely difficult repertoire, I may have to apply other patterns. If the passage is separate bows, I add slurs and mix up separate and slurred bowing. If the passage is slurred, I play without slurs or spiccato. The goal is to find ways to play the passage differently and to make it even more difficult.

To increase speed, I practice with the patterns, include larger thinking pauses, and speed up the moving notes as quickly as I can.

I use similar patterns for passages in 6/8 or other multiples of threes.

Happy practicing!