G Major Twinkle Workout

Give Your Students a Pinkie, Vibrato, and 3rd Position Challenge!

Most teachers and Suzuki students are quite familiar with the theme of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Suzuki Teachers are even familiar with teaching the Twinkle theme in the key of Bb to prepare students for the Bb scale and finger pattern in violin book 2.

I also regularly use Twinkle Theme in the last third of violin book 1 during Etude and the Minuets. When I teach students how to play the theme in G major, students improve the necessary skills found in the last songs of book 1.

I teach my students the two-octave G major scale and the new close 1-2 finger pattern on the A and E strings to prepare for learning how to play Etude. As the students progress on this scale, I add the pinkie fingering on the scale's descent. 

When the student is comfortable with this new finger pattern and the long G major scale (one of my students calls this the "super duper G scale"), I introduce a new way to play Twinkle theme. Because this is "new," I find that it is easier to get students to play Twinkle again if they have slacked off on their review program.

Twinkle Theme in G Major

The students get a little extra practice with the new G major finger pattern, and the pinkie and third finger combination gets a little extra attention as well, which helps the part of the first Minuet that has the difficult stretch from third finger to the pinkie that spans across from the D string to the A string, as shown below.

Minuet 1 Pinkie Stretch

In book 2, I introduce students to third position. I usually do this when students are working on their vibrato skill. As students are able to play notes with vibrato, we translate the vibrato exercises into the Suzuki repertoire. At first, the students add vibrato on longer third finger notes, such as the dotted half notes at the ends of the Minuets' phrases. Then we add vibrato to the long third finger notes in Chorus from Judas Maccabeus and at the end of Musette. Later we will be able to add vibrato to Long, Long Ago from book 2.

Somewhere during all of this, I might have introduced third position with a G major scale:

G Major Scale in 3rd Position

Now students can practice vibrato on this scale. The next step might be to introduce Twinkle Theme in third position, using the same Twinkle in G major that we had learned at the end of book 1 and now playing it in third position.

I have found that a new Twinkle helps me to stay focused as well as my students. G major adds an element of fun to our review.

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

Pinkie Practice

Yesterday, I had a fun lesson with one of my young students. We came up with a little pinkie practice exercise to get her using the pinkie more in preparation for Perpetual Motion coming soon. Her father brought her to the lesson, so I made a quick video to send home for mom, so that mom would understand my lesson notes about home practices. My student was cute in the video, so I thought I would share our fun. Here is the video:

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?

Preparing for Etude

I wrote an earlier article about teaching Etude, but in my current timeline of discussing Suzuki Violin Volume One, this is the place where I would introduce an article about Etude. In the previous article I did not discuss those things that I would introduce to a student in order to prepare for Etude, so I will discuss these items now.

First of all, I discuss the meaning of Etude with my students. "Etude" is a French word meaning "exercise" or "study." I discuss with my student that there are many "etudes" in the violin repertoire, and that these pieces are generally shorter in length and designed to teach particular skills. These skills may include a rhythmic unit, a new finger pattern, or a particular bowing variation. Generally etudes focus on one bowing variation or rhythmic pattern, which makes etudes useful for learning a particular skill because they direct the student's focus to a smaller area of technique or skill set. In this case, Dr. Suzuki's Etude will teach a new finger pattern, focus on strengthening the student's ability to make string crossings, and teach the student how to articulate notes well on an up bow (beginnings of notes). Most of the string crossings occur on an up bow to a lower string.

In addition to the student's regular listening program, I urge parents to play the Etude recording an extra number of times. Etude can confuse both parent and student aurally, so more listening helps. I also have a copy of the song laid out phrase by phrase. I made the copy by cutting and pasting the song into its four phrase components and lining up the phrases underneath each other. In this manner the parent can view the song phrases in comparison and easily see the different endings or contrasting parts of the song.

Here are a few things I might introduce to a student as preparation for learning Etude:

• G major scale, 1 octave: this scale is played with the G string as the starting note and uses the Twinkle Variations finger pattern on both the D and G strings. Sometimes we play the scale using one of the various Twinkle variations.

• G & D String Songs: We transpose as many of the songs that the student has learned onto the lower strings, if possible. Most of the book 1 songs can be transposed down a string. There are some that do not work. For example, Allegretto is impossible to transpose to the G string since it already contains a note on the G string, although Allegretto is a good song to work on because it requires the student to play on both the G and D strings. The other earlier songs in book 1 usually work well for transposition to a lower string. If we join forces with viola or cello students, our ability to play on a lower string will mean that we can play together with these other instruments.

• G Major Scale, 2 Octaves: This two-octave scale introduces a new finger pattern. The student builds on the one octave G major scale and adds another octave set of notes up to the E string with a different finger pattern.

• The teaching point here is that the student will learn a different finger pattern on the A and E strings.

• The two octave G major scale requires one set of finger patterns on the G and D strings and another set of finger patterns on the A and E string.

Additional Teaching Points: Once we learn the scale, we can add additional teaching points.

• 30 Second Scale: This is a game I play to encourage students to practice the two-octave G scale. I set the timer for 30 seconds, and then we count the number of times the student can play the scale  during the 30 seconds. The record is five for students of the Etude book 1 level (I do not show off my or any of my more advanced students' abilities to break that record). We only count the scale if a student plays it correctly -- the appropriate finger patterns and all of the scale notes.

• Fourth Finger Descending: Once a student has strengthened the ability to play the two-octave G scale, I introduce the pinkie fingering on the scale's descent. I stress the importance of leaving the index finger down in place while the student swings the left elbow under the finger board and sets the pinkie in place.

• Bowing Variations: Here are a few possible variations for the G scale. There are many other possibilities, and all of these ideas are excellent points in a group class lesson plan:
• slur two notes
• slur four notes
• 2 hooked staccato bows (up-up, down-down)
• 4 hooked staccato bows (up-up-up-up, down-down-down-down)
• combination of slurred and hooked bows (slur, up-up, slur, up-up)
• combination of slurred and separate bows (slur, up-down, slur, down-up) 
• Scale Patterns: We practice a little extra on the different combinations of scale patterns found within the G scale. This can be a fun thing to add to a group lesson plan. Here are a few examples:

• Broken Thirds Scale: I teach the G scale as a series of "broken thirds." I find that when a student learns how to play a scale in broken thirds that much of the battle of learning how to "feel a key" is won. I happened on this discovery one day while helping a student to learn the Bb finger pattern in the middle section of Gavotte from "Mignon," which is the 9th song in violin volume 2. Just on a lark, I taught the student how to play the Bb scale in broken thirds, and I found out that when the student finally learned this skill, that she also really, really learned how to feel the Bb key. Since that day, I have tried to remember to teach my students how to play all their scales in broken thirds. Here is the G scale in broken thirds:

• New Etude of Finger Patterns: We create our own "etude" by practicing a series of finger patterns that we developed based on note and finger patterns found within Etude. I use ideas that I learned from my personal study of Ševčik exercises to develop these exercises (here is the link to see my previous blog post about the Ševčik connection). We repeat these little fingering fragments several times:

And finally, the Suzuki violin revised volume one provides a full page of finger exercises just prior to the Etude song. These exercises are designed to strengthen the student's use of the pinkie.

Much of the Etude preparation work not only helps to pave the road for good teaching of Etude, but it also prepares the road for the songs that succeed Etude. As with all of the songs in the Suzuki repertoire, each song is connected and related to all the other songs in some way, whether great or small. The fun of teaching lies in the discovery of these connections and relations. With every student, I uncover new teaching points and therefore continue to grow as a teacher.

For my previous post about Etude, click here. Let me know of your ideas concerning how to teach Etude and how to prepare a student for Etude's teaching points.

Happy Etude-ing!

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.

Teaching Allegretto

Teaching this song is tricky if the student has not figured any of the notes on his or her own. I have not yet figured out what the secret is, although I strongly lean in favor of the need for more listening to the song’s recording. I have students who struggle to learn the notes and to recall the song’s structure, and then I have students who figure out all the notes and can even play the song beginning on a different string. As always when I encounter a learning struggle with a Suzuki repertoire song, I encourage the home practice partner to play the song’s recording many, many times at home so that the student’s environment is saturated with it.

Another teaching aid is to line up the song so that the song’s phrases begin together. For example, each one of Allegretto’s phrases begins with two eighth note pickups. I have a copy of the music where I pasted the four song phrases on a separate sheet of paper with the phrase pick up notes lined up. I made this study copy for the benefit of the parents, not the students. Most parents do not yet understand about phrases at this point, so I find that this special study copy is an easier visual representation of the music when it is in this form.

Along with this altered representation of the song, I have written another version that includes just the finger numbers. I am not a big fan of this method at all, although I know that there are many books out there with this style of fingering included. If I were to give this fingering rendition to a parent, I would have them take a vow that they would not allow their child to use it. On occasion though, I have allowed a student who was really, really struggling with the song to use it on condition that the student uses it for only one week. I confess that sometimes this is the only way for some students to figure this out. Allegretto is just such a tricky song for some students.[1]

If I have to teach the student to help the student learn Allegretto, these are the general steps that I follow:

• I play the first few notes D-E-F# and have the student play the same notes back to me.

• I play the next three notes F#-A (pinkie)–G.

• I play G-B-A, A-G-F#.

• I send the student home to practice just these 12 notes this week. The student also does some review work on the home practice assignment sheet.

From that point on, I watch to see what happens. I help tweak the amount of listening to the song that the student does, and help to guide the student to figure out the remaining notes of the first part of the song.

The song has four phrases and follows the form: A-A1-B-A1. Because the song phrases are so similar, and also so confusing, I recommend that the student only practice the first phrase of the song until the student has mastered that part. Of course, students will move ahead at home, but I find that when they return to their lesson, they are still confused between the two A section parts. That is the reason that I recommend focusing on one part at a time. When I do have a student who is trying to differentiate the two A section parts, I suggest to the student and parent that the homework assignment be limited to the first two phrases of the song.

Finally, the student is able to play both the first and second phrases. Then we work on the third phrase, which starts out with a skip and a step backwards.

We hop our first finger into the mud puddle on the G string, and then the finger jumps back out of the puddle to land on the D string.

I have listed a lot of detail here about teaching the song, but in actuality, I try not to teach very much of the song because it is so confusing to students. Sometimes a teacher’s or parent’s well-meant help actually distracts or confuses the student. The best thing that we teachers and parents can do is to play the recordings A LOT, and to allow the student the necessary room to experiment and figure out the notes without our assistance, our words, or our interference. That, and keep the learning segments short, sweet, and to the point. Whenever a student comes to lesson and is confused, I send the student home with an assignment that is shorter by half. If the student struggles with differentiating between the first two phrases, then I assign only the first phrase. If the student struggles with the first phrase, then I send the student home with the first 12 notes (half of the phrase).

Most of all, I just do not sweat it. No pressure on the student or the parent. The song will happen when the student is ready for it to happen. I think the hardest aspect of teaching this song is for the teacher and parent to be patient and wait for the student. I find as many opportunities as I can to work on aspects of the song outside of lessons. In group classes, we might have other students play the song. I might play the song recording while the student is getting his or her violin ready to play. I might play through the song myself for the student at the end of the student’s lesson. In other words, I reinforce the listening and the visual presentation for the student. Usually the learning issues clear up with the extra listening assignment at home.

Next stop will be Andantino, another dessert song! (It’s a piece of cake!).

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[1] We also use this fingering style when trying to quickly learn songs for a Christmas performance. In the ideal situation, we would have plenty of time to learn how to play all of our songs by ear. However, in reality, often times we prepare for a show in a minimal amount of time, and some of the younger students really want to participate in more than one song, hence, the fingering shortcut idea to learn how to play Christmas songs. True to the Suzuki way, however, these same students quickly learn and then memorize the songs, so that these fingering study copies are rendered unnecessary after the students learn the songs.

Allegretto: The Dragon

One of my favorite songs in Suzuki Violin Volume One is Allegretto, written by Dr. Suzuki. Allegretto was not always my favorite; oh no, we had a difficult relationship together for quite awhile. Over time and as I became more and more familiar with the song and the various difficult skill bits for students, I came to understand and appreciate the song's complexity and how to teach the song to students.

Whenever students tell me that they do not like a song they are about to learn or have just started learning, I usually tell the students that their reactions to the song tell me that they will probably come to love the song, and that the song will become one of their favorites after a time. Students usually come back to me with similar reports after spending some time learning the song. Students may announce their dislike of Allegretto to me but later find that they enjoy playing the song quite a bit. Allegretto was one such song for me as well. The song may be a dragon to learn, but we can come to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the dragon as well, and when we spend time in close proximity to it, we will become accustomed to the heat as well.

Why is the song so difficult for students? There are several culprits:

• two new "fat" strings to play on
• a new note on the "fattest" string
• a pinkie on a lower string
• a new pinkie fingering combination
• fingers that skip in thirds rather than walk in steps
• an awkward bow accent.

How is that for starters? Here are a few of my goals at this point in order to ease the student's learning pathway.

Play on Lower Strings

I start the Allegretto learning process while we are still a few songs away from beginning Allegretto. By this point I have encouraged the student to play previous repertoire on lower strings. For example, instead of playing Twinkle theme on the E and A strings, now the student will play Twinkle theme on the A and D strings, or the D and G strings. We continue in this manner, adding songs on different strings until the student can play any song on a different string.

We learned the A major one octave scale earlier in volume one, so now we add the D scale. The finger patterns are the same. For fun, we often add the lower octave of the G scale as well. This prepares the student for the longer two octave G scale that will introduce the finger patterns of Etude.

Both of these activities are great items for group classes as well as individual lessons and home practice.

Awaken the Pinkie

I have introduced the left pinkie several times by now. When I teach a pre-twinkle student, I introduce a left hand plucking exercise that involves the pinkie (to read more about the left hand plucking exercise, click here). So my youngest beginner has experienced the use of the pinkie since the early days. We may need to revisit this exercise at this point. I also have the student play six pinkie places in Perpetual Motion. In the revised volume one, there are additional pinkie fingering suggestions in the early songs of the book, although I prefer to wait to teach these additional fingerings until later because I want my students to learn about string crossings and building tone through the use of the resonant open strings for a time.

Train the Ears

Since Lightly Row, I have worked to strengthen the student's ability to recognize several basic ear training skills, not only in lessons, but also in group classes. I often make up new songs on the spot in group classes so that we can practice our ear training skills:

• Walking Fingers: These are scale-like passages where the notes ascend or descend by step. Students have a great deal of difficulty with the concept of ascending and descending pitch when it involves a string crossing. Some students "get it" but many do not without extra guidance from me.

• Skipping Fingers (aka "doorbells" or "cuckoos"): These are passages that contain interval skips of a third, such as the opening notes of Lightly Row or O Come Little Children.

• Patterns: These can be passages of rhythmic or melodic patterns. For example, the opening notes of the first two measures of Lightly Row are melodic and rhythmic patterns. Measures 7, 8, and 9 of Song of the Wind are melodic patterns.

Allegretto will involve all of the above, which is why students are sometimes so confused when they first learn it. For example, the first three notes are walking fingers, but then there is an ascending skip and a step backwards, and it involves a pinkie too! Then the rhythmic and melodic pattern is repeated but a step higher, and then we reverse the walking fingers down. Why, it is no small wonder to me that many teachers and parents come up with nonsensical words to make the process easier to remember. Sometimes I just want to tear my hair out! I cannot imagine what a parent must go through at home as they watch the child struggle to puzzle out what they hear on the recording with what the child can match on the instrument.

The best advice I can give parents is to make sure to play the recording a lot at home. I mean a lot! When a parent saturates the child's environment with Allegretto, the child will learn the song much quicker.

Stimulate the Rhythmic Pulse

Allegretto has a great rhythmic pulse: tah-tah-DUM, tah-tah-DUM, etc., which propels forward melodically, similar to our natural physical rhythm. At first, the student has to focus attention most on the melodic elements of the song, and so the rhythm may suffer while the student masters the finger patterns and notes. For more information about useful ways to teach rhythmic chunks, click here. For another practice tip idea that focuses on the work of Ševčík and how it can be applied to Allegretto, click here.

While a student learns Allegretto, I may focus on karate punching practice in group class. My students seem to enjoy my mixture of martial arts with music (we have a martial arts studio next door, and I have studied Kim Soo Karate). We stand in "horse stance" or ready stance and practice throwing karate punches, first with the right hand and then the left in time to the accents of Allegretto (on the quarter notes). Not only do we get a physical workout, we get a rhythmic lesson as well!

Stay tuned for an in-depth look at how I analyze and approach Allegretto specifically.

Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen

Now what does that title have to do with anything? Well, I read over my blog stats on a daily basis, including which blog posts are popular, where my readers come from, how many readers have visited the site, and what search terms bring readers to my little blog community.

Recently several people have been searching for information about Becker Gavotte, Gossec Gavotte, Gavotte from “Mignon,” and some other songs that I recognized instantly as the ones that typically cause teachers trouble. Hence my title today.

I remember when I first realized that I had teaching problems in my studio. I had been teaching for many years, but at the time I had recently opened up my studio full time. Since I was working long hours every day to accommodate a full studio, I was tired at the end of my teaching day. I did not have the reservoir of patience and creativity that I might have had if I only taught ten to fifteen students. I began to consider what areas of my studio did not produce an energizing return for me, and that is when I discovered how to fix the troubles I saw in my studio. Below are some basic lessons I learned and how I began to figure out how to address the problems.

Listening Deficiency

I noticed that some students had a difficult time learning a new piece. I would have to practically stand on my head or write down the notes with some sort of fingering code in order for the student to remember (or even learn!) the piece. Allegretto stands out in my mind as one of these pieces. Etude, Minuet 3, and Minuet in G were others. When I puzzled over why this might be an issue, I considered what tools I could suggest that would improve the learning process. Why, listening to the recordings frequently, of course! So I asked the parent to play the recording of the piece a few extra times every day, and that is when I really noticed the look on the parent’s face. Oh, they were not doing the listening in the first place, I realized.

I stopped being afraid to talk to parents directly a long time ago. Parents naturally want what is best for their child, and if they do not, then they should. So, I stopped hesitating about bringing up these sorts of issues with parents. I believe that parents should do everything they can do to the best that they can to be sure that their child is able to learn to the best of the child's capability. I cannot expect to place the responsibility of playing the recordings daily on the shoulders of a five year old. Gosh, children need to be prodded to brush their teeth before bed, take baths, and eat their vegetables! And that is when they are still in high school! No, a parent’s touch is required here, and if a parent has trouble remembering to turn on the recordings, then I suggest steps that the parent could take to help his or her memory. Sticky notes are good, alarms on the smart phone work well, and text and email reminders from the teacher are really successful!

Now I frequently ask parents if they are doing the listening every day. Do they have the CD playing in the car? Can they find the CD? If the parent has put the recordings on the child’s electronic device, how has the parent made sure that the child is actually listening to the recording?

If the parent is playing the recordings and the child still has trouble with the new song, then I recommend doing additional “extra” listening every day for a week or two. Usually the problem clears right up in a week once the parent steps up the listening work.

Daily Practice

This issue would seem to be a no-brainer, but yes, there are still parents out there who think that their child can learn a new skill and develop a high level of ability without actually having to practice the instrument every day. There are also parents who may understand the value of daily practice but who seem to think that a minimal amount of effort is all that is needed to accomplish what needs to be done. I even had one parent who was doing the 100 days club requirements but doing a minimal amount of practice for it (5 minutes per child). I let it slide for a while because the daily practice habit was the purpose of the 100 days club, but after awhile I started urging the mom to step it up and increase the amount the children practiced. I knew they could accomplish more than they were. The parent might establish the daily habit of practicing, but by limiting the practice to five minutes, the parent was not enjoying the experience of finding out how good a parent she could be. As any good Suzuki parent will tell you, the practice issues happen after the first five minutes, when the going gets tough and the parent has to draw on good parenting skills and exercise maximum creativity.

Again, I do not hesitate to ask parents and the student how much practice is being done at home. I find that if I phrase the question in certain ways, that I am sure to encourage the parent to do more in the practice department. This is not the time for my open-ended question technique. Here is when I turn on my lawyer charm: Did you practice every day this week? I like to start out by asking whether the parent has practiced with the child the optimum amount, which is every day. The parent may whittle the answer down into a lower amount, but at least they know where the “top” is.

Intonation Problems

Boy was this a tough one to figure out! There were some spots in the Suzuki repertoire that eluded me for a long time in terms of intonation. The teachers all know what songs I mean: Gavotte from “Mignon,” Gavotte in G Minor, and Becker Gavotte to name just a few. Also, as part of the intonation problem, I had to deal with left hands that fell down under the fingerboard or left index fingers that would not stand up, or pinkies that did not play on their tiptoes. I have written several previous blog posts about addressing intonation, so I will not address the issues again in this post. If you would like to revisit those articles, here are the links:

Orange Peel Tone

Ringing Notes and Super Ears

Can You Spell Ševčík

Learning How to Fish

I am sure you have heard of the paraphrased expression: Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. Well, here is how I learned how to fish, I mean teach, through the problems I saw. Let me use the Gavotte Three as examples (Gavotte from "Mignon," Gavotte in G Minor, and Becker Gavotte). Here are the discovery steps I used to teach myself how to fish:

• Identify the problem
• Specifically identify the problem
• Discover where the technique was first introduced
• Develop a strategy to shore up the technique or prevent the problem in the future
• Figure out how to present my strategy to the student in a palatable way

And here is my further discussion of each of these discovery steps.

Problem: Student plays woefully out of tune. Specifically the student’s left third finger does not stretch high enough, the first finger does not reach low enough, and the pinkie is confused about whether to stretch out to a perfect fourth from the first finger (it is a flat pinkie in the music, after all).

Specific Problem: Usually I will follow the Julie Andrews’ technique of isolating the two notes where the problem occurs. Just as a basketball hoop is missed because of an improper layup or a baseball pitch is missed due to an inadequate swing, so most musical technique problems occur between the note where the mistake is and the note that precedes it. However, in my current problem, I could not identify two notes. Specifically, the problem was that the student did not adequately understand and could not properly execute the appropriate finger pattern. The same problem occurred in both pieces. So the fingering pattern was the problem.

Discover Where the Technique was First Introduced

I identified the technique’s first appearance as somewhere around the Two Grenadiers. To be completely accurate, I could identify the issue as a little exercise that Dr. Suzuki put in the beginning of the previous version of Violin Volume 2, where he had the student hold down the third finger and then silently move the first finger from the regular squared knuckle position to the lowered first finger position of Bb. Once I figured that out, I was able to trace the development of the skill throughout book 2. I found the lowered first finger first in Two Grenadiers. Then I found the finger pattern needed for Book 3 within the middle section of Gavotte from “Mignon.” Ah ha! Now I was onto something.

Develop a Strategy to Shore up the Technique or Prevent the Problem in the Future

From that point of discovery onward, I increased my teaching efforts in book 2 to prepare my student better for the skills required by book 3. I made sure that my student was solid on the lowered first finger in Two Grenadiers, including the little exercise at the beginning of book 2 and using the finger in our Aunt Rhody Goes to Saudi Arabia game (substitute Bb for every B natural in the song). Then I made sure that the middle section of Mignon was absolutely perfect before moving out of book 2. I will explain in the next section how I accomplished that. These small steps paved the way for a much more enjoyable teaching experience for me, and my students were much better equipped to handle the lessons found in book 3.

• • 
    
  Figure out how to Present my Strategy to the Student in a Palatable Way

I have already mentioned the Aunt Rhody Goes to Saudi Arabia game. Other ways I presented the new finger pattern was to teach the student about transposition. Students are already transposing when they play Twinkle or other songs on different strings. They may not have enough theory background at this point to understand what they are actually doing, so I bring up the issue now, although Long, Long Ago in Book 2 is a good place as well (since it is transposed from the original A major version of book 1).

Next we transpose Perpetual Motion into the key of Bb. I do this because it teaches the finger pattern that Mignon and book 3 require. I also teach my students to play a Bb scale, 1 octave (on the A and E strings), and also play the scale in thirds. We have been known to work with a tuner too. Even my little ones find the tuner useful as well as fascinating, and working with a tuner also helps my students to learn how to maintain an even tone with the sustained bow.

Armed with these Bb tools, my students are ready to tackle the middle section of Gavotte from “Mignon.” However, before they do, I staple a $1 bill to the bottom of the song in their book 2. I tell my students that this is a dollar spot. In order to earn the dollar, the student must play it perfectly in tune. Whenever that happens, the student can then remove the staples and we paper clip the dollar to the book. The student must then come in the next week and still be able to play the dollar spot perfectly in order to remove the dollar bill and put it in his or her pocket.

I do not let my students collect the dollar unless they absolutely play the passage correctly and in tune. I am very particular about this. The student may take a long time to earn the dollar. We just keep moving along in the book while the student keeps trying. I do not allow the student to move past book 2 until the dollar is won. Usually the student earns the dollar within a few weeks. [And do not worry about going broke stapling dollar bills to students' music books. Usually the parent produces the dollar bill when I ask if they have a dollar for change. They kind of scurry to produce the dollar bill for me so that I do not have to use mine. Very sweet!]

Since I required these small steps in book 2 (and we focus on them in group classes as well), my later book 3 problems disappeared! Similarly, when I used my discovery steps to analyze problems in book 1, I discovered my answers and my solutions earlier in the book.

I have been teaching many years now, so I have had many opportunities to discover problems and solutions throughout the entire Suzuki repertoire, and I have been offering many of my discoveries to you through this blog and its articles. Try using these same questions and make some of your own teaching discoveries, and let me know about it by posting a comment below.