Free Book Giveaway Celebration!

Little Things for Little Strings
by Eva Belvelin

The Teach Suzuki Podcast has recently published its 200^th episode. To celebrate this 4-year milestone, Teach Suzuki wants to hold a giveaway of a fantastic book for teaching young beginners – Little Things for Little Strings by Eva Belvelin. Eva published the Swedish version years ago, and the book was so popular that Eva republished and rerecorded an English version.

To enter the giveaway event, here is what to do:

·      Go to iTunes and give the Teach Suzuki podcast a rating and a review.

·      Take a screenshot of the review you submitted and email it to me along with your contact information (name, mailing address, and email address) to paula@teachsuzuki.com.

·      You will then be entered into the pool to be randomly chosen to receive the book.

·      This opportunity is open to listeners in the United States (sorry I have to limit it this way).

·      I ask that you follow up with me later and offer a review of the book.

If you need further instructions about how to leave a review, click here.

Monday Morning Check In: Disappointments and Life Lessons

Written at the end of 2011, this article has been updated December 21, 2016.

Last week I focused on Jinny Ditzler's "Best Year Yet!" question number 1 concerning this past year: "what did I accomplish?" This week I want to consider Jinny's second and third questions:

• What were my biggest disappointments?
• What did I learn?

What were my biggest disappointments?

Disappointment to a noble soul is what cold water is to burning metal;

it strengthens, tempers, intensifies, but never destroys it. -- Eliza Tabor (author)

One of the reasons I like Jinny's program is the way she frames her questions. Jinny asks us to list our biggest disappointments. Notice that she did not ask us to list our failures. The word failure drips negativity and finality, whereas disappointment sounds, well, disappointing and transient. I would have trouble facing a failure. I would have to wade through a lot of psychological swamps in order to make sense of a failure, if I could even get myself to the point where I could consider the failure. So much negative stuff accompanies a failure: the impact on one's self esteem, the sense of rejection, and our perceived self worth or value. To me the word failure looks remarkably like a closed door that says, "Stop! Don't go in here! Your worst self is in here, and it isn't pretty!" I do not want to deal with failure. I cannot take a failure in stride.

I can, however, face a disappointment. I can consider all sides of a disappointment. I can learn from a disappointment. To me the word disappointment resembles a door left ajar. I can close it, walk through it, or even poke my head around the open edge without ever taking a step beyond the door sill.

Sometimes what holds us back from achieving our full potential is our refusal or inability to let go of our disappointments and open the door all the way. By asking us to examine our disappointments in the full light of day, Ms. Ditzler asks us to "[s]top trying to drive with your hands on the rear-view mirror!" We cannot change the past. The past is done, finished, unchanged. If we look back at it and refuse to let go of it, we will keep ourselves tied to the past. We cannot live in the present or look to the future when we spend our time looking backwards.

Rather than look in the rear view mirror, Jinny asks us to consider our disappointments in order to change the effect our disappointments have on us. Jinny's question two is the next step to deal with the negative aspects of our past and to refocus on living in the present. Jinny gives us three possibilities to deal positively with negatives from our past:

• Forgive
• Forget
• Learn

To forgive is a difficult task for many people, whether it is to forgive others or to forgive oneself. To forget may be difficult too, although the act of acknowledging or naming a particular disappointment may be enough to release the disappointment's hold over us. Jinny suggests that the best way to deal with disappointments of the past is to learn from them, and this is Jinny's third question.

What did I learn?

Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the oracle process all begins. 

 -- Jim Rohn (entrepreneur, author, motivational speaker)

Now the fun begins. Look over your list of accomplishments and disappointments and reframe them as lessons you have learned or a lesson you could learn. In order to keep my focus on this task, I maintain a "Life Lesson" journal. My journal is merely a simple composition book with the title "Life Lessons." I see it every day but I do not always write in the book on a daily basis. Still, because I see the book every day, I am reminded to think about my life and my activities with this perception: what life lessons can I learn from my daily life experiences?

I actually enjoy sitting down for a minute while I wait for my morning coffee to finish brewing or dripping. I cast my mind over the previous day and look for a nugget to transform into a life lesson. Some people advocate writing a life lesson or a list of things to be grateful for at the end of the day when the activities are freshest in our minds. I have trouble remembering to do that at the end of the day when my energy level seems to be at its lowest. Instead, I enjoy contemplating a new day with the activity of transforming the previous day into a life lesson sound bite. The positive aspect of this activity sets the tone for the beginning of my day.

As we think about our accomplishments and the lessons we learned, we can be objective about the skills, attitudes, and behaviors we already have and what we might lack to achieve or improve ourselves in more ways. Jinny then provides us with some steps to help us turn our life lessons into personal guidelines and ultimately into instructions to follow in the coming year.

If you are interested in exploring more of Jinny Ditzler's program for the best year yet, click on the book link below (affiliate link):

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

Practice Tip: Building Tone with Open Strings

I think Dr. Suzuki hit on a brilliant idea when he suggested that we practice tonalizing on our open strings. I would like to share my experience with you on this matter.

For those readers who are unfamiliar with the term "tonalization," and apparently my spell checker is unfamiliar with the word, Dr. Suzuki coined this word to describe what we instrumentalists do in comparison to the vocalization that vocalists do. Just as singers work to produce good quality tone and volume, so too can we instrumentalists.

Tone is a broad topic, but we do not need to discuss what tone is in order to understand how best to produce it. Dr. Suzuki suggested plucking the open strings and listening to the resonance of the pitch and then recreating the "ringing" sound with the bow playing the same pitch. There is something special about the resonance of our open strings. There is a brightness, a clarity, and a lingering and shimmering vibration in the air. The open strings sparkle and emit an extra "umph" in their sound.

When I am working with a student to build a stronger tone, I ask the student to play open strings as much as possible. For example, when playing notes on the D string, I might ask a student to play the open D string as strongly as possible about 6-8 times before playing the D string passage. Similarly, I will ask for repeated A strings or E strings. I notice that once a student has played an open string numerous times with the aim of making the string vibrate back and forth as widely as possible with as slow a bow as possible, the student then works to make the passage live up to the tone level set by the resonating open strings. I also think there is a kinesthetic value to this exercise, as students learn how to "feel" the pitch as well as hear the pitch with all its resonant overtones. I find that playing this open string exercise on the G string is quite lovely; the vibrations I produce resemble the same variations used in meditation chants, which help to stimulate the internal organs.

I have a simple tune that I like to use for this purpose, called "Lullaby." Originally I found this little song in David Tasgal's "Family Violin Method" and used it as an open string song in my PreTwinkler classes. My students loved it so much, the song has become a regular feature in my classes. One young student even went so far as to secure Mr. Tasgal's permission to record the song onto his mother's folk song CD.

Mr. Tasgal has graciously given me permission to print the music for this cute little tune. I myself use this tune to get focused for a practice session or to test out the resonance in a new performance hall. I can feel my back muscles relax as I play the song and concentrate on getting the most resonance from each open string. I play the song through two times; the first time I start the piece with a down bow, and the second time I reverse the bowing by starting with an up bow. My young students like it so much, they spend a great deal of time and effort to learn to play the song. I notice that my students have to expend a lot of concentration and focus energy to change the strings correctly and to use longer, slower bows. For a young PreTwinkler student to spend the time and effort to achieve this ability is a tribute to Mr. Tasgal's composition. My students enjoy this tune.

I have printed out a copy done on Finale, because it was easier for me to put it on my blog in this manner.

&<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">lt</span>;<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">bgsound</span> <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">src</span>="NAME OF FILE">
The only way I could figure out how to add an audio recording to the blog was to make a "video" of the song while playing it on my computer. If anyone knows how to embed an audio player on blogger, please contact me. Meanwhile, here is the recording I made:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UrQ8u34laQo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mr. Tasgal has gone on to publish a new series, "Strings Fun and Easy." I have not yet had a chance to look through those books, but I will write out my experience once I have looked through them. You can learn more about Mr. Tasgal and his new series at: http://www.stringsfunandeasy.com/. The previous series, "Family Violin Method" can be found at: http://www.familystringmethod.com/, although Mr. Tasgal is encouraging newcomers to try out the new series.

Have fun playing those open strings this week. And if you have not changed your strings in a while, or your students are playing with dull, lifeless strings, buy new ones! You will enjoy playing this song with bright, shiny, new resonating strings!

Monday Morning Check In: Look in the Mirror

Napoleon Hill tells a story of a homeless, destitute man who visits Hill's office one day. The man tells an interesting story of how he had once been a successful businessman, but then had fallen on hard times and been divorced from his wife. The man approached Napoleon Hill to ask him for help to save his life. Mr. Hill bought the man breakfast and listened to the man's story.

"Not once did he blame anyone for his condition but himself. That was a sign in his favor and one that gave me my cue as to how I could help him," Mr. Hill later recounts in his book, A Year of Growing Rich. Mr. Hill noted that the man never blamed others for his predicament and spoke of his former wife in a respectful manner.

Mr. Hill then went on to tell the man, "I'm sorry to tell you that after hearing your story, there is not one thing I can do to help you! But, I know a man who can help you if he will do it. He is in this building right now, and I will introduce you to him if you wish me to do so."

At that point Mr. Hill led the man into another room and stood the man before a full-length mirror.

"There is the man who can help you," Mr. Hill pointed at the man's reflection. "He is the only man who can do it, and until you become better acquainted with him and learn to depend upon him, you will not find your way out of your present unfortunate condition."

The story has a happy ending, of course. The man goes on to turn his life around, get a job, and then work his way up in his former profession until he reaches a position similar to that of his former life. But, the story outcome is not the point I wanted to make. I wanted to illustrate how important it is that we take that "look in the mirror" from time to time, and preferably on a frequent basis. We have everything we need for our growth already inside of ourselves if we are willing to take the look we need and to trust the answers we give. Toward that end, I would like to suggest two tools that I recommend as being highly useful to give you that "look in the mirror."

Morning Pages

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way and several other books and projects about creativity and writing, advocates the use of morning pages. These pages consist of three pages written in longhand and completed preferably first thing in the morning. The pages can be about anything we want them to be. They can be stream of consciousness, prayers, meditations, poetry, prose, or whatever calls to us at the moment. I often make lists of my thoughts or things that I need to accomplish. Ms. Cameron also refers to morning pages as "brain drain," which more effectively describes the effect morning pages have on me.

The beauty of morning pages and brain drain is that we can make them our opportunity to "look in the mirror." We can freely admit what is working in our lives and what we need to eliminate. We can express anger and longing and work out our problems on the page. Morning pages help us to order our thoughts by allowing us to look at where we are at the moment we write our thoughts and, at the same time, where we want to be. The gap we create on the morning pages between where we are and where we want to be is brought into the light, and we can address our attention to closing the gap.

Themes emerge as we become more aware of our thoughts and our thought patterns. The same problems or complaints crop up, and morning pages will nudge us to begin coming up with solutions. I have come up with some of my greatest ideas and best advice to myself during my morning pages time. I have even written a sticky note about a topic or problem that I wanted to "think about" later. I stuck the sticky note inside my morning pages book so that I would come across it the next day during my morning pages time of reflection.

Lessons Learned Journal

I heard this idea recently from the Quick and Dirty Tips Get-it-Done Guy Stever Robbins of the podcast of the same name. In Stever's new book, Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More, he suggests that we maintain a "lessons learned" journal. Every day, preferably at the end of the day, Stever advises us to look back on the day and note what lessons we have learned. In Stever's case, he even goes so far as to maintain a spreadsheet of his learned lessons so that he can quickly find the information again if he needs it.

These life lessons can be about anyone and any topic. Topics will lend themselves to categories over time, and categories can be indexed easily. Life lessons are more than just diary entries. They are quick summaries of more universal statements of lessons gleaned from the day's experiences.

I use plain old composition books for my morning pages. At this time of year, I can buy a box of composition books at a very low price, so I stock up for the year.

So, my Morning Morning Check In suggestion is to make use of these tools as bookends to your day. Write morning pages when first arising in the morning and finish the day with a quick dash about a life lesson you learned that day. With these tools you will "look in the mirror" and build or deconstruct your life in order to recreate a life worth living.

From Buchenwald to Carnegie Hall

I want to write you a different type of story today. Last night I was checking my blog analytics, and I noticed that someone had found me using the search term "Marian Filar." This brought back of flood of exquisite memories for me, and I wanted to share this incredible story with you.

Many of you may already know that I am a pianist as well as a violinist. In fact, I began music lessons as a pianist at age 3, when my mother taught me several little songs or Christmas Carols on our grand piano. At age 5 I began formal instruction with a teacher other than my mother, and I continued private lessons all the way through high school. My junior and senior high school years, I had an excellent piano instructor, Merle Freeland, who was a retired university professor and a lovely gentleman. I added violin to my repertoire when I was 9.

Although I was a violin performance major at Temple University studying under Helen Kwalwasser (another excellent teacher and the best violin instructor I ever had!), I kept up my piano work. We were required to take a class piano, but I easily passed out of that. At first I was assigned with another student to "share" a lesson with a private instructor, but I didn't like that at all. I made little progress, and in fact, I don't remember anything more about that semester of piano. I complained to my old piano teacher, Mr. Freeland, and he apparently knew the piano dean at Temple. I don't recall if Mr. Freeland made a call or if I just made an appointment to talk to the piano dean, but I remember having that meeting with Dr. Wedeen and being reassigned to Marian Filar as my piano instructor.

I loved my lessons with Professor Filar. This was a time period in my musical growth when I became aware and discovered what musicality and musical expression were. I fell in love with music beyond just enjoying the physical playing of it. I attended concerts of the Philadelphia Orchestra under Ormandy, and I heard world-class soloists on a regular basis. I heard things in the performances I attended that touched me emotionally and very powerfully moved me to individual emotional expression. I started copying the musical and physical gestures of the performers I watched.

I studied some beautiful works of music with Professor Filar: Beethoven's piano concerto no. 2, Bach's Preludes and Fugues, and Chopin Nocturnes. One of my fondest memories of Professor Filar was when I asked him to play the Chopin Nocturne op. 27, no. 2 in Db Major. As I sat listening in a chair by his side, I was mesmerized by the beautiful sounds and expression he put into the music, which is gorgeous in itself. I was moved to tears because it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. To this day, when I contemplate making "music" out of a piece of music that I'm playing, I think back on that day long ago when my eyes were opened to what true musical expression is and how powerful it is on the listener.

Professor Filar was a lovely gentleman from Poland. In the arrogance of youth, this is all I knew about him until last night when I searched his name in Google. I was lead to Amazon.com and a link for a book: From Buchenwald to Carnegie Hall by Marian Filar and Charles Patterson (University of Press of Mississippi 2002). I had no idea that my wonderful piano teacher was a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, the concentration camp Buchenwald, and the Holocaust. I sit here now as I write this and just cringe at the thought of my wonderful teacher's horrific memories from that terrible time. Professor Filar did not talk about his past experience in the 40 years before this book was published. Now his story is laid bare for others to consider.

Every person we meet and every thing we encounter in our lives become teachers to us when we open ourselves up to a learning experience. For me, Professor Filar taught me about making music and touching the hearts of the listeners. I will never forget my listening experience in his studio as he poured his Chopin Nocturne over my soul. I hope that I get a chance to tell him how much I appreciate the beautiful gift he gave me that day in his studio.

As a teacher now, I myself appreciate those moments when I hear from a former student (or a current student) about their learning experience in my studio. If you haven't thought about your own special teachers in a while, why not take a few moments today and remember the gifts those teachers gave to you. Even better, drop them a note and thank them for the time and care they invested in you. It's never too late to show appreciation.

I have been blessed by many wonderful teachers over the course of my life, and Professor Filar was one of my most memorable teachers. I am reading the rest of his story now, having bought the book last night. I will write him a letter soon and tell him about his impact on me. I still think about him every time I play piano. That Chopin Nocturne has been my personal favorite since the day Professor Filar played it for me.

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us." -- Albert Schweitzer