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.

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!

Popcorn Day!

Today is Popcorn Day! Last week we focused on our long bows, but this week we can focus on our "short" bows.

A note has three parts to it: the beginning, the middle, and the end. By a short bow I am referring to a bow stroke that focuses on the crisp beginning and end of a note, especially the beginning. We have difficulty understanding someone who speaks and mumbles his or her words; we need to hear enunciated consonants in order to clearly understand verbal communication. As musicians and audience members, we need to hear the bow's articulation of the notes in order to hear crisp beginnings to the notes and to understand the rhythm and musical style of the musical presentation or performance. I ask my students to create and listen for the "pops" and "bites" at the beginning of the notes, hence my nickname "popcorn bows."

Sometimes the ending of the note is important too. If the bow keeps dribbling on the note and colors "outside the lines" into the next note, then the articulation suffers. Also, how we end a short note may influence the quality of our rhythmic presentation as well. If we end with a "snap" to the rhythm (not an accent), we may reinforce the rhythmic pulse we feel and play.

So how do we do a Popcorn Day practice? First, identify five to ten places in our repertoire or practice assignments where we have short bow opportunities. These could be songs or phrases that require staccato bows, such as Song of the Wind, Allegro, Variation B and C of Twinkle, Perpetual Motion, or Etude. For more advanced students, these places may require the more advanced martelé stroke, such as in the Vivaldi or Bach concertos.

Work through those places and listen for the quality of the initial articulation. Sometimes the up bows sound weaker than the down bows and need a little more "oomph" in the up bow to even up the volume and articulation. Is the bow placement correct? Is the bow straight and making a good contact point?

Next, work on how the endings of the notes sound. Are the notes bleeding into one another? Does the ending of the note clearly indicate or fit in with the overall rhythm of the song or phrase. When I practice on a Popcorn Day, I often stop after playing a staccato or martelé to give my body a moment to bleed out the energy and reset my bow for the next note. I practice in this careful way to reinforce the physical sensation of how the bow stroke is properly played in slow motion.

Finally, and maybe this would be an even better place to start on some Popcorn Days, consider how your posture habits may be adversely affecting your short bow execution. I use the Dr. Suzuki "panda thumb" as the starting point for my crisp staccato bow sound. (For more information about my "fish bowl staccato" technique, click here to read the post). I check whether there is unnecessary tension in my shoulder  (for more about releasing shoulder tension, click here). Sometimes a back muscle is triggered too much on the right side below my shoulder, which could be causing me to "jump" ahead a bit in my bow's articulation.

Have fun with Popcorn Day, and be sure to break out the real popcorn afterwards!

Happy Practicing!

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.

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.

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

Jumping Finger Preview

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

• Which finger did I hold down?

• Which finger jumped?

• What strings did my bow play on?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mississippi Hot Dog

Mississippi

Strawberry

Hot Dog

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

Original Passage

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

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

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

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

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

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

Song of the Wind, part 1

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

Left Hand Skills

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

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

Walking Fingers + E

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

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

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

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

Jumping Finger

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

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

Descending scale

Right Hand Skills

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

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

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

• The song provides additional string crossing practice.

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

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

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

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

Other Skills

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Teaching!

I Love Etude!

I feel like writing about Etude today. Etude is the twelfth song in Suzuki Violin book 1. It is in G major and it is a never-ending series of eighth notes from the beginning until the end with a variation in 16th notes.

When preparing to teach any piece, I remember that Dr. Suzuki's mantra was: "Finger, Bow, Go!" To me this translates into left hand skills, right hand skills, and then creating ways to pull it all together. Here is my breakdown of the skills introduced by this Suzuki song.

Left Hand Skills:

• Close 1-2 finger pattern on the A and E strings while continuing the close 2-3 finger pattern on the D and G strings.
• G major 2-octave scale.
• Reinforcement of the 1-3 spatial finger pattern learned in Song of the Wind (#2, book 1) (fig.1 below).
• Expansion of the 1-3 spatial finger pattern across the strings; for example, in measure 8 (at the end of the 2nd phrase) (fig. 2), similar to the "jumping finger pattern" from Song of the Wind (#3, book 1):

fig.1

fig.2

Right Hand Skills:

• Clean string crossings with no dirty sound between the notes.
• Playing a lower string with a good "catched" upbow; notice that most string crossings in Etude involve going to the D string on an up bow; except for the last D string of the song, every other D string is on an up bow.
• Playing on four (of the 7 basic) string levels: G-D-A-E strings.
• Good crisp beginnings to staccato notes.
• Solid forearm motion in the square of the arm for the détaché bowing on the variation; in the variation, the "catched" bows on the lower string level will be on down bows throughout the piece.

Challenges:

• Helping the student and parent to learn and memorize the piece.
• Helping the student and parent to understand the form of the piece (A-A1-B-A2).
• Coordinating the fingers and the bow on the string crossings.
• Coordinating the fingers and the bow so that the bow does not "slurp" the fingers as they change pitches.

My Silly Words:

These words are a combination of things that I have heard over the years. There is a set of words out there that tells the story of a little girl named Henrietta Poppeletta, and that is where I heard the name. However, the words below are not the same as that other song. I did not have those words at the time I began teaching my first student how to play Etude, so I made something else up. At another time, a parent mentioned drawing a huge lake on a plastic picnic tablecloth, and that gave me the idea of coming up with a set of flashcards that guided the student in a large circle around an imaginary lake. The game seemed to interest enough students that it became my teaching method for Etude for those students for whom I actually have to teach the song.

Henrietta Poppeletta goes around the lake

1 time she goes, 2 times she goes, 3 times she goes around the lake

3 step stones

Henrietta Poppeletta goes around the lake

1 time she goes, 2 times she goes, 3 times she goes around the lake

the "3" bridge

Little waterfall she walks beside

the D bridge

Bigger waterfall she walks beside

3 step stones

Henrietta Poppeletta goes around the lake

but then she's tired and she goes home!

How to Teach -- Previews:

• I start with the 1-octave G scale beginning on the G string and build from there to the 2nd octave (figures 3 and 4):

fig.3

fig.4

• I build facility on the G scale until the student is ultimately able to play four or five 2-octave G scales in a 30-second period of time. Boy do we have fun setting the timer for 30 seconds and then counting the number of times the student can play the entire G scale! I only count those G scales where the student plays the correct finger pattern on the A and E strings (close 1-2 finger pattern).
• I ask that the parent play the recording of the piece extra times for listening.

How I Teach Etude:

• I teach the song in little units or chunks of material and match each chunk to a set of words I made up years ago.
• I usually present the first four notes repeated one time as "Henrietta Poppeletta":

Henrietta Poppeletta

• "Goes around the lake": here I introduce the concept that I refer to as a "turnaround." This is a useful concept for the student to understand, especially when the student starts learning Handel's Bourree in book 2, which has a lot of "turnarounds" at the cadence points. This is an example of what I call a "reverse turnaround" because it immediately reverses direction. The turnarounds in Handel's Bourree in book 2 are what I refer to as basic turnarounds, where the notes go up a scale and then suddenly return to the starting note. Here is the Etude reverse turnaround:

turnaround

• "1 time she goes" and so on matches the sequence of notes in the next chunk. I matched my words to the number of times we go (3 times):

1 time she goes, 2 times she goes, etc.

• "Around the lake" is a pinkie scale down:

pinkie scale down

• "3 step stones" are the 3 notes that transition from part 1 to part 2 (and from part 3 to part 4) of the song:

• I resisted trying other words that related to repeating the words used in the first part of the song, because the students tended to get confused about the number of times they were to play that 4-note phrase in between parts 1 and 2 (and 3 and 4).
• The confusion problem I think stems from the fact that just counting the 4-note group three times does not fit the structure of the music, and intuitively the students understand that and become confused.
• Part 2 is the same as part 1 with a "3 bridge" at the end (note how the 3rd finger "bridges" the first finger):

3 bridge

• I teach the waterfalls:
• Little waterfall starts with 2nd finger on the E string and travels down the G scale until the 2nd finger on the D string.

little waterfall

• Big waterfall starts with 3rd finger on the E string and travels down the G scale until the 3rd finger on the D string:

big waterfall

• Part 4 starts similarly to parts 1 and 2 but finishes up with a descending scale in G major:

Etude ending

• We draw a series of flashcards that represent the various chunks of the song, and we lay the cards in a circle. The student walks around the circle and performs the various units of Etude at each station in the circle.
• The hardest part of learning this song is the transition between the first and second parts. I labeled these parts "3 step stones" and "the 3 bridge." My student and I play a game where I throw a dice for even or odd numbers, and the student plays "3 step stones" for odd numbers or "3 bridge" for even numbers.
• As the student improves, we add a new dimension to the circle walk. At each point where a new section begins, the student will switch to the variation for the next section and will continue alternating between the regular Etude and the variation until completing the song.
• I find the suggestions on www.thepracticeshoppe.com to be helpful regarding new words to learn this song. I might use this practice tool to teach the various units of the song similarly to the way I teach my present song units. I am eager to try this new set of words with my next Etude student!

Review for Advanced Students:

• We find opportunities to use third position.
• We find places to shift to higher positions throughout the piece.
• We practice spiccato.
• We practice up bow or down bow staccato for 4 notes, then later 8 notes or the entire phrase.
• We practice sautillé on the variation.

Useful Advice (I hope):

• I do not always have to teach a student how to play Etude. Sometimes the student figures the piece out without my help, and I do not have to use the "circle walk" exercise. Ask the student's parent to play the song many, many times extra during the week between lessons, because I think that this is key for students to have an easier time learning Etude.
• I find it helpful to set the student up for success before even beginning the learning process steps. I drop hints during earlier songs about "how excited I am that you will be getting to learn Etude soon, since it is one of my favorite pieces and one that is so fun to play! And I just KNOW it is going to be your favorite too. I even think it will be your very best piece that you can play. Ooooh, I can't wait, can you?" Sometimes the parent helps this along by agreeing with me that it is their favorite song to listen to on the CD.
• I xerox the song and cut it up into strips that match the actual parts of the song. Then I lay the strips in the appropriate order and xerox the finished product. Now the different parts of the song are very clear to see, and my parents understand what the song's format is.

Group Class Ideas:

• Set up a line of chairs or traffic cones or some other delineation on the floor across the center of the room (masking tape also works). As you walk around the room playing "Follow the Leader" and weave across and back over the line, change from the regular Etude into the variation depending on which side of the line you find yourself after crossing over the line.
• Break the song up into chunks and take turns playing it down the line of students. When the students get really good at this game, make the chunks even smaller until ultimately the students can play the entire song by each playing one note apiece.
• Stop playing suddenly and try to catch students who may not be watching.
• Slow down (or speed up) while playing to see if the students can follow you.
• Penguin game: this is a game I made up to help my students refrain from "rushing" or speeding up. We get down on our knees, and we "knee-walk" to each of the notes of the song. To an observer, the class looks very much like a rookery of penguins. This is actually hilarious to watch! FYI, adults do not enjoy participating in this game; it is too hard on our bony knees.
• Play the hide-n-seek dynamics game: while one student is out of the room, hide a toy in the room; then when the student returns, direct the student to the hidden toy by using louder or softer dynamics to tell the searching student whether he or she is "hot" or "cold" in the direction the student is looking.
• Advanced students may review the piece in group class by adding the advanced techniques suggested above.
• Intermediate students might attempt making up an appropriate duet part. There is a Suzuki duet part that corresponds to Etude, but I have several students who have come up with their own accompaniment that matches better the rhythm of the original music.
• A great review activity is to play the song with a down bow circle for every note. Adjust the tempo accordingly. This is a great activity for students as they progress in maturity because it allows you to note whether students are starting to put too much tension in their shoulders. [see my blog post about releasing tension in the shoulder].

I think Etude is a wonderful piece, and I review it regularly with my students and for my own personal practice. There are many more advanced skill possibilities to talk about than I have taken the time to discuss here. I enjoy reviewing Etude for my own personal reasons, and I hope that you will enjoy learning and reviewing this song as much as I do.

Quick Practice Tip: Fish Bowl Staccato

Here is a way to "feel" the staccato bow stroke in your right thumb. You will need a partner for this. Have your partner hold out cupped hands so that you can turn your bow upside down and place the tip of your "fishing pole" in your partner's "fishing bowl." Then have your partner flick down on the tip of your bow. Feel the pinching pressure of the "fish bite" against your thumb. Do this several times until you become familiar with your thumb's feeling the flicking of your partner's "fish bite."

Now when you place your bow on the string to play, try to recreate that same sensation in your thumb. Be sure that everything else about your bow arm or hand is completely relaxed and that your thumb is the only part of your right side that is "turned on." Some students describe the feeling as a pinching of the thumb upward. Some students experience the sensation as a pressure between the upper fingers on the bow against the thumb underneath.

All you have to do is move your bow back and forth on a level plane (not up or down). If you have a firm, strong thumb and you stop your bow correctly at the end of each note, you should experience a slight "ping" to the beginning of each note. This is a lovely, ringing staccato sound. You will not need to press down on your right index finger to produce the pinched staccato.

When a student has difficulty with staccato, I find that the most likely reason is that the student is not stopping the bow adequately on the note previous to the staccato note. Even professionals tend to "dribble" a little from one note to the next, sort of like coloring outside the lines of a picture in a coloring book. Work on cleaning up the ends of notes, and with the fish bowl technique of a strong, firm thumb, you will have a beautiful pinging note start. The note's middle is another topic for another day.