Hidden Scales

Scales are an important part of a musician's diet. We need to do them every day, and we never quite perfect them. When we are familiar with scales and their finger patterns, we read music easier, we perform musical passages more adroitly, and we can memorize structure easier.

I have long puzzled over why students struggle with certain passages in the Bach's book 1 Minuets, or even other pieces in the repertoire, such as Bach's Bourree or Martini's Gavotte in Book 3 or Vivaldi's Concerto in A Minor in book 4. Then one day it hit me that students struggled with learning and memorization in these pieces because they tripped over the hidden scales.

Let me take a classic example in Bach's Bourrée from book 3, the last song in the book. In measures 5 and 6, students take a while to figure out the notes here until I dissect them. Here is the passage:

Bach's Bourrée (Violin Book 3)

 Here is what I teach them. First, I show them how to play these two notes:

Bourrée 2-note snippet

This is not difficult for the students at this point, because we encountered and worked over this spot in the grace notes of Gossec's Gavotte at the end of book 1. We play this little passage of two-note combinations a few times until the student is "easy" with it.

Then I ask the students to play these two notes (during the rests) while I play these other notes in between:

Bourrée's Hidden Scale

When we do the two parts together, we get the original passage. My next step is to teach the student to play the hidden scale passage that I played, and we then switch parts.

After the student is able to play this last step, then the student seems to have no problems putting both snippets together and playing the passage as written. This same hidden scale passage appears later on the A and D strings as well.

There are many instances of hidden scales throughout the Suzuki repertoire, and if the teacher and student were to spend a few moments studying it, these passages would be easier to remember and memorize. Here are a few more examples.

Vivaldi Concerto in A Minor, Movement I (Violin Book 4)

In Vivaldi's Concerto in A Minor, first movement, there is a great example of a hidden scale on the second page:

Vivaldi Concerto in A Minor (Violin Book 4)

When we dissect this passage to find the hidden scale, we find this:

Vivaldi Concerto's Hidden Scale

There are many more hidden scale examples in this concerto, and finding all of them may help a student lock in the notes in the student's memory.

Martini Gavotte (Violin Book 3)

In Martini's Gavotte in the beginning of violin book 3, we find this passage right before the last recapitulation of the theme:

Martini Gavotte (Violin Book 3)

When we dissect this passage to find the hidden scales, we find all of these scales:

1st scale

2nd scale

3rd scale

4th scale

Here is the entire hidden scale passage:

Martini's Hidden Scales

There are many such scale passages throughout the repertoire, and these hidden scales make a great quest for students to find throughout the music. This assignment could also be the subject of specific review requests ("find the hidden scales in this review song").

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

Martini Makes Silly Faces

How do you help your students remember which section of Martini's "Gavotte" comes next? Here is how I remind my students. I make goofy faces for each section. My students enjoy this because they can see my faces, but in a performance the audience cannot because my back is to the audience. So there is double humor involved. Here are the faces I use:

A section: I just smile, hold my head high, and off we go, as if we were setting out on an enjoyable walk.

B section: I make a very dour face right before the Bb to signal the sad mood of this G minor section.

C section: I open my mouth wide as if I am screaming, because as we all know, unless every student is standing their pinkies up tall and strong, a violin group ensemble really does sound like a bunch of little babies screaming at this place. I scrunch up my face sadly at the D# to indicate the lazy pinkie fingering. Other teachers may need to use a different face if they are using a sharp 3rd finger in this place.

D section: I smile very, very widely, as if I was saying the letter "DEE!" That is because this place starts with D.

E section: yes, you guessed it, the screaming baby face again. Then I quickly remind them "one" so they remember to play F# on the E string (1 finger).

F section: this is sad, so I make sad faces. As the music continues its descent into wallowing and despair, I will add slight moaning and wailing sounds as well, but only in the studio, not during performances. The students and their parents especially like this because it fits the music perfectly!

What are your favorite ways to remember the sections of Martini's "Gavotte"?

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

----- Paula -----

© 2016 by Paula E. Bird

Quick Teaching Tip: Teacher Note Cards

written by Paula E. Bird, ©2013

I have been teaching a long time, and although I had definite lesson plans in my earlier years, now I find that I have to be more flexible in my teaching approach. Once students reach a certain point in the Suzuki literature, I need to approach each student individually. Sometimes I even play "catch-up," where the student moves so quickly that I am addressing teaching points after the fact rather than as previews.

That is alright, though. Every student is unique and comes from a different environment than another student. Every student has a differently developed ability depending on the environment, the routine, the parents, and any number of other factors. So I go with the flow during lessons. I do have one tip that I use when I teach, and that is the Teacher Note Cards. I have put together these Note Cards while I teach, and these cards mostly pertain to later repertoire, any time after book 2, but mainly from books 4 and above.

Many times during teaching I would think of ways to relate earlier literature to a student's current piece or technical difficulty. For example, in Suzuki Violin Volume 6, the last movement of the Handel D Major Sonata, I would discover that the student's ability to play a tight dotted eighth and sixteenth note rhythm had disappeared from book 2's Witches' Dance. So out we would trot a review of Witches' Dance. Perhaps a student would lose the Seitz Concerto No. 5, 1st movement (Seitz "2" in book 4) rhythm of the dotted quarter and eighth note learned in Chorus from Judas Maccabeus, so we would review that point from book 2 to fix measure 16 of the Seitz concerto.

These impromptu thoughts were the real gems of my teaching experience because they represented the years that I had developed my expertise. These impulsive thoughts were the little connections that I had made in my teaching study of the Suzuki repertoire. There were so many of them, because each student brought a unique discovery of new connections. Each spontaneous connection that I made seemed logical and brilliant at the same time and so often different from those thoughts I had with other students.

I began keeping Teacher Note Cards in order to capture these flashes of teaching insights. When such a thought occurred to me, I scribbled it down on a large index card (5" x 8") with one card per song. In the Seitz "2" example above, I included these notes about review:

• Chorus from "Judas Maccabeus" for the dotted rhythm of measure 16

measure 16

• Variation C of Twinkles for the 16th note bowing pattern in measure 79

measure 79 bowing

• Hunter's Chorus for the slur and bow lift section of the triplet slur and lift measures in measures 32 and 33

measures 32 & 33

• Bach's Bourreé from Book 3 for the high third finger in the E major section of the Seitz in measures 52 and following

measure 52

These are a few examples of the types of notes that I might include on my Teacher Note Cards. Not every student will need to review all of these items in particular when studying Seitz "2", but having generated a Teacher Note Card for the piece will bring ideas to the forefront of my mind, and the Note Card makes an excellent reminder for me of the piece's teaching points and relationship to earlier repertoire. So I find these notes helpful to pull up and review for me when a student begins to study the piece. I pass along the specific review songs that would help the student. If I discover something new while working with the student, I will add it to the card.

These Teacher Note Cards are my personal gems, as they represent my many years of teaching experience in the Suzuki repertoire. They resemble the teaching point and review cards that Sue Hunt provides in her book Review - Making it Fun, Gets the Job Done. If you are unfamiliar with Sue's work, here is the link to my interview with Sue: interview. She provides similar review cards for books 1-3 as well as reminders of teaching points and suggestions for fun review.

So my teaching tip today is to build your own set of Teacher Note Cards. This is a simple thing to construct. Buy a set of large index cards (or use a 3-ring notebook with plain notebook paper, one sheet per song), and begin capturing your own flashes of teaching brilliance. Many of my articles about book 1 and 2 contain examples of teaching points or review songs that could provide the foundation for your note cards. Have a look at Sue's books about review. You may find more information about Sue here and here.

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.

The Suzuki Pathway: Books 1-10 General Overview

This next year I want to spend several blog posts discussing in detail the various books contained in the Suzuki violin method. I think it would be helpful to preface individual book discussion in favor of a general look at the Suzuki violin method books 1-10.

I think of the books as grouped in beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels:

• Beginning: books 1-3

• Intermediate: books 4-6

• Advanced: books 7-10

Within each of these groups, I think the books represent a beginning, intermediate, and advanced level as well. For example:

• Beginning: books 1-3:

• Beginning: book 1

• Intermediate: book 2

• Advanced: book 3

• Intermediate: books 4-6:

• Beginning: book 4

• Intermediate: book 5

• Advanced: book 6

• Advanced: books 7-10:

• Beginning: book 7

• Intermediate: book 8

• Advanced: books 9 and 10

So within each basic category, there are subcategories. Within each of these subcategories are additional "sub"-subcategories. For now, for general discussion purposes, let us consider the basic ingredients of each book. I will leave for a later discussion the actual information about how to mix the various ingredients in the proper way to create a satisfactory finished product.

For the purpose of this general and brief discussion about the various books, I will consider the general left hand and right hand skills. What will not be included is a discussion about how to specifically teach the concepts contained in each book.

Book 1:

• Left hand skills include the introduction of 3 basic finger patterns, which encourage the left hand fingers to stretch between each finger within the basic hand framework of a perfect fourth.

• The right hand skills include staccato, legato string crossings, good contact point, pizzicato, slurs, hooked bowing.

Book 2:

• Left hand skills include the introduction of some more finger patterns which encourage the left hand to "unfurl" and lengthen, and the Bb scale pattern, the extended fourth finger, and the wider stretch between the first and second fingers.

• The right hand skills include more complex use of the up bow staccato (2- to 4-note staccato groupings), string crossings at a quicker tempo, and hooked bowing (dotted eighth and 16th note rhythms).

Book 3:

• Left hand skills continue to widen the stretch between the first and second fingers, the Bb finger pattern, the cross-the-string pattern (Minuet) when the fingers consider playing combinations as double stops, third position, and the cementing of the "yellow" finger pattern, where the third finger is sharpened and placed next to the pinkie.

• Right hand skills include more complex slurs, including string crossings on a slur, and more complex use of the up bow staccato and string crossings; the introduction of double stop execution

Book 4:

• Left hand skills mix and match all the finger patterns learned in the previous books, plus double stops (Seitz 3) and 6/8 meter. In addition, the student uses second and third positions (Vivaldi concertos) and 4th position harmonics, along with "cross" fingerings, which are those fingerings that accommodate augmented or diminished fifths across the string. In addition, the student extends the "unfurling" of the hand to reach the interval of an augmented fourth. The final repertoire piece, Bach's double violin concerto, combines everything learned to date, by combining every possible finger pattern, upper positions (1st, 2nd, 3rd), and bowing complexities.

• Right hand skills include more complex string crossings and slurs and playing of harmonics and double stops. The student learns how to apply equal pressure between up and down bows to accomplish a good articulation.

Note: The Suzuki community has embarked on a campaign to revise the Suzuki books to memorialize several teaching techniques that have been in play for many years now. The Suzuki books are designed to be a growing, breathing animal, so it should not surprise us that the books will continue to meet this growth demand. I have not addressed the particular changes of each book in my discussion here. I am still learning how to incorporate the new changes within the framework of how I have been teaching the Suzuki material to date.

Book 5:

• Left hand skills include 4th and fifth position skills and more familiarity with second and third positions. The book builds the knowledge of the fingerboard "across" the strings rather than up and down a string, as in earlier books. The book allows the discussion of fingering choices and also introduces the time signature of 3/8. The student learns how to play successfully in the key of G minor.

• Right hand skills include more complex string crossings in lower positions as well as higher positions. The student learns how to perform "off the string" bowing techniques, such as spiccato and flying staccato, and perfects the collé stroke.

Somewhere along the way, students learn the vibrato skill and how to read music. I have discussed both of these topics in earlier posts as well a teacher's need to develop a system for incorporating such new skills as these:

http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com/2011/06/johnny-cant-read.html (post about reading)

From this point on, I would like to be more general in my discussion about the books. At this point, the student is probably exposed to a lot of repertoire that is not contained in the Suzuki books. The student may be a member of a youth or school orchestra program or responsible for preparing special repertoire or ensembles for school assignments or regional contests. The student may be a member of a church or other ensemble outside of school or be asked to perform as a soloist at community events. The student is therefore learning a lot of music that is not contained in the Suzuki books.

Book 6 is one of my favorite books because I use it to teach a full development of tone as a right hand skill, and it is a chance for the student to develop ease in playing in various positions within a phrase as part of the left hand skills. The pieces present many varied bowings within each piece, and the repertoire becomes complex in its demands for memory and advanced musical forms.

Book 7 really advances students to another level by the middle of the book and the big Bach A minor concerto. Dr. Suzuki set up the concerto learning by inserting the Handel Sonata No. 1 in A major, which is similar in many respects on a simpler scale to the Bach concerto. The Bach concerto provides an in-depth study in articulation clarity (movement 1), tonal colors in phrasing and bowing (movement 2), and bariolage and 9/8 bowing phrase complexities (movement 3). In addition, the concerto draws increased focus and concentration from the student in terms of memory and structure. The rest of the book provides the student with additional opportunities to learn alternatives to the Bach bowing of movement 1. The last Corelli piece is an excellent pinkie development tool.

Book 8 develops the students' facility to trill and ornament. There are even more complex musical forms for the student to exercise memory and concentration skills, and there are ever increasing string crossings and double stop opportunities. I enjoy using book 8 repertoire pieces in an advanced discussion of musicality and phrasing. By advanced discussion, I mean the kind of discussion I would have with a performance major at the university or conservatory level. This is very advanced repertoire, and by this point in a student's musical education, they are well versed in advanced musical concepts of phrasing and execution, so I go to that place in our discussions, no matter the student's age.

I lump books 9 and 10 together in my mind because they are the end of the Suzuki line and I sometimes think that we can teach these books interchangeably, although I do them in order. Mozart is as important to me as a teacher and performer as Bach is. The music in these two books is quite advanced in terms of right and left hand skills, phrasing, musicality, and musical forms. We can study these pieces over and over and still come up with new ideas, new fingerings, and new expressions. I use these books to enthuse my students with the excitement that comes from true music making on a professional level. These books represent creativity at its highest level. Every student is unique. Every student presents with unique learning issues and individual ideas. Every time I teach these pieces, I learn something new about the student and about myself and my approach to music. If I were to keep a record of the comments I write in my students' music in books 9 and 10, I would enjoy re-living my own growth as a musician and a teacher.

Although many people may think that the Suzuki Method is the only way to create true artists, I will have to point out that the research I have read seems to indicate that the number of "professional" or "concert artists" that come from the Suzuki Method seems to equal that which comes from the more traditional approach. In other words, the same number of students go on to become professional musicians on some level, no matter what their origin or learning. But that does not matter to me. That is not my purpose. I have always known my purpose as a teacher since the moment I first read Dr. Suzuki's book "Nurtured by Love." I want to teach students to raise them to be productive citizens in the world and not only to create concert artists, although teaching students to love their culture and musical heritage and to be able to express emotions and creativity on an advanced level is extremely important to me as well. To this end, I whole-heartedly agree with Dr. Suzuki's philosophy.

I do not always retain a student who makes it through all 10 of the Suzuki books, although I have had several. It is always a joy to journey with such a student who has made it his or her goal to complete all the Suzuki books by high school graduation. Students do develop other life interests and focus on other life goals outside of music. My having exposed my students to learning and life lessons gained through the disciplined study of music as a creative art gives me satisfaction that I have touched their innermost souls and hearts. I know that each child I have taught will retain in their spirit and hearts the love that their parents and I have shown them through our teaching, our sharing, and our learning together.

That is the Suzuki Pathway.

When to Teach Positions

I have noticed that several people have been searching for answers to the question of when to start teaching a student how to play in higher positions. My answer is to teach them any time.

Now having said that, I do have a system that I will gladly share with you. However, I have shown students how to play higher notes whenever the issue comes up regardless of where we are in the progress of my system. For example, last Christmas season, I was teaching a very young book 1 student how to play "O Holy Night" as a surprise for a family member. We were rocking along just great in a key that was easily accessible for a book 1 student, when we encountered a short passage of the song that required us to either rewrite the passage or to quickly learn how to play the notes in third position. I opted to show this bright little student how to play the notes in third position. She was excited to learn this new "book 3 skill."

I find that if I present "harder" concepts as "easier" ones, the students learn the new skills just fine. Perhaps we are making things hard by offering the suggestion that the skill is hard to learn in the first place?

So here is my system. In book 2, I introduce the Bb scale. We then use our new Bb fingers to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star theme from book 1 in the key of Bb, which also introduces the word "transposition." We might try another book 1 song in Bb, like Lightly Row, and then we work on playing Perpetual Motion in Bb. I might also introduce this concept as a book 2 and 3 group class activity. Once the student has learned Perpetual Motion in Bb, the next step is to teach the student how to play Perpetual Motion in each of the seven positions using the "Bb fingering" as we move up higher on the A string in the various positions.

When do I actually introduce higher position fingering in the Suzuki repertoire? I actually wait until book 3 to do so, starting with "Humoresque." I know that there are teachers who introduce positions somewhat in book 2. For example, teachers sometimes introduce the octave harmonic A on the A string in Boccherini's "Minuet" and the octave harmonic D on the D string at the end of "Musette." Some teachers try to avoid the fourth finger pinkie stretch in Lully's "Gavotte." Do not do this until later. Have your student master this pinkie skill first! The reason is that book 2 is all about the student's learning to unfurl the left hand. Note some of the fingers that get stretched in book 2:

• "Chorus", "Bourree," and "Witches Dance": 3rd finger stretches to play D# on the A string
• "Musette" and "Bourree": 2nd and 4th fingers stretch to play G and B on the E string
• "Hunter's Chorus": 2nd and 3rd fingers stretch to play D-C natural on the A string in repeated hiccup section
• "The Two Grenadiers": first finger stretches back to play Bb and F natural on A and E strings
• Lully's "Gavotte": pinkie stretch and 1st and 2nd finger stretch in middle section; 3rd finger stretch to G# on D string in first section
• "Minuet in G": stretched 3rd finger; first finger plays A# on A string; C natural on A string stretched to 3rd finger G# on D string (if you opt for this fingering rather than the lowered 4th finger)

I introduce third position in Humoresque in Suzuki volume 3. However, since my students have been doing some reading since the end of book 1, they have already been introduced to positions through the use of William Starr's "Scales Plus!" book. Introducing third position is a piece of cake then because we've already done it in the "green book," as my students refer to Mr. Starr's book. In group classes, when we review earlier book 1 material, I show my more advanced students how to play easier songs in different positions. As I've said before, if I don't tell my students that it's hard, then they just do it with little effort.

Later, as we review previously learned repertoire, we will add new fingerings in positions as the students are able to do so. I note also that the revised edition of book 3 has several new ornaments that can only be accomplished well by using third position, e.g., Minuet by Bach (#2 in book 3). I hold off adding these particular ornaments until later after the student has learned the song.

Sometimes I wait to teach the third position fingerings in Humoresque until after the student has learned the piece in first position with the ridiculous pinkie slide on page 2. This slurpy slide is the perfect place for a discussion about the need for a better fingering, and so we discuss why positions are useful to know. Since my students work with Mr. Starr's book, we are already having these discussions, because different keys feel easier to play in different positions, and we talk about the reasons why that is so.

Why have a system at all? This is a great topic that I think I'll save for a future blog post.