Weber's Country Dance in Violin Book 5 and the Talent to Become Great

Written by Paula E. Bird, , ©2014

When I was a young Suzuki teacher just embarking on my teacher training experience, I remembered my first exposure to von Weber's "Country Dance" in Suzuki Violin Volume 5. I looked at all those up bow staccatos with a great deal of alarm. How in the world was I supposed to teach students how to play that bowing, when I as the teacher was unable to do this skill?

Let me relate my personal experience as a budding violinist at university. When the subject came up about this flying staccato/spiccato bowing (in the Mendelssohn concerto, third movement, if I recall), my teacher tried to teach me how to do it, but I struggled. We wound up doing the bowing with separate spiccato instead. Most of all I remember that my teacher made the comment that it was a tricky bowing, and that not everyone could do it. "You either can or you can't," but it was not something that could be taught for some students. I assumed from that moment on that I was one of those students who could not learn the bowing.

As I write this, I am reminded of something that Dr. Suzuki wrote in the preface to his book, "Ability Development from Age Zero": "I was not born with enough talent to become great," (emphasis added). He went on to write:

"A long time ago, I noticed that this common way of thinking was a mistake. Since then I have spent some thirty years proving a method about which it can truly be said, 'Look, advanced ability can be nurtured in any child. With this method wonderful ability can be developed, but with some other methods, some children will become miserable human beings with little ability.' The result is that today I can say, 'Talent is not inborn.' "

Hmm, then if I believe what Dr. Suzuki says, and I wholeheartedly believe this philosophy, then I am mistaken when I say that I am one of those students who cannot learn how to do this bowing. How do I then teach my students how to do the bowing when I cannot play the bowing myself? I turned to a fellow Suzuki teacher, Neela Kinariwala, for her advice. She assured me that my students would have no trouble with the bowing by the time they reached the piece in the repertoire. How can this be? Neela explained that my students would have worked with this bowing throughout their Suzuki education, so that when the time came, the learning of this new ability would be easily done.

Neela had me trace through the Suzuki Violin Volumes in search of the places when my students learned the up bow staccato in its various forms. Here is the tracing that we did, highlighting those pieces with the heaviest concentration of this bowing:

• Minuet "1" in Volume 1: the introduction of up-up bowing in measures 1 and 3.
• Minuet "2" in Volume 1: additional up-up bowing throughout the song.
• Minuet "3" in Volume 1: additional up-up bowing throughout the song.
• Long, Long Ago in Volume 2: the up-up bowing is found throughout the entire variation.
• Minuet in G in Volume 2: the trio increases the number of up bows to 3 and 4 in a row.
• Becker's Gavotte in Volume 3: the piece increases the up bows to as many as 6 in a row.
• Seitz concertos in Volume 4: practice tips include playing the lengthy slurs as up-up bow staccato bowing.
• Bach Gavottes in Volume 5: additional practice at extended up-up bowing.

Along with these pieces above, there are many other pieces in the volumes that include the up-up bowing in one fashion or another and frequently reinforce the skill, such that the students become well acquainted with this style of bowing by the time the student reaches the point of learning "Country Dance."

I took my discussion with Neela home and practiced tracing the bowing throughout the Suzuki violin literature, with the result that I surprised myself when I first attempted to play Weber's Country Dance. I could do it! For the first time in my life, I could play a fast up bow staccato! Then I repeated the process of tracing the bowing throughout the literature with spiccato and collé, and the result came out the same: I could perform a fast up bow spiccato as well!

Now, this is not a slight of any kind against that teacher who thought I could not learn it. Not everyone is exposed to the Suzuki philosophy or has reflected on the deeper meaning of this philosophy and its impact on talent education. Many teachers believed the opposite, and many still do. My eyes and heart were opened by this process, and I reflect deeply and often on other areas of my life where I might be holding myself back from success because of a limited belief in my ability to develop the talent to to become great.

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.

Quick Practice Tip: Releasing Tension in the Shoulder

The shoulder is a magnet for tension, especially as the student matures in age. Just about all of my older students or adults exhibit shoulder tension. Shoulder tension must be an adult person's most favorite way to "hold it in." I know that this was the case for me. I still work at it, and I have developed a few tricks to help me set my playing posture in a relaxed way.

Try these three simulations or games away from the violin:

• When driving your car, rest your hands on the steering wheel at the 10 and 2 o'clock positions (please make sure that you are still paying attention to the road!). While you are driving, notice how light your hands feel on the wheel. Now, let your shoulders relax and your arms hang down. If you do this exercise correctly, you will notice that your hands begin to feel fairly heavy and hang from the steering wheel almost enough to pull the wheel down. Your shoulders are now completely relaxed.

• When you are standing in church, rest your hands on the pew back in front of you. Or if you grocery shop instead, rest your hands on the handle of the shopping cart. Notice how light your hands feel on the pew back or shopping cart handle. Now let your shoulders relax and your arms rest downward. If you do this exercise correctly, you will notice that your hands begin to feel fairly heavy and hang from the pew or shopping cart handle quite strongly. Your shoulders are now completely relaxed.

• Spaghetti Arms Game: You will need a partner for this game. Have your partner make fists in both hands and hold up the thumbs like joysticks. You grab onto the "joysticks." Your partner will then swing your arms around wildly, trying to take you for a wild amusement park ride and shake you off. Your goal is to stay connected to the joystick but to allow your partner to flail your arms around wherever your partner wants to go. If you are completely relaxed with "spaghetti arms" and still hanging onto the "joysticks," then your shoulders are completely relaxed. Note that this game is the most similar simulation to that of playing the violin. The joystick is your bow hold, which must be turned on. Your relaxed arms are how your shoulder should be: aware, relaxed, and going wherever it is led.

Try these two simulations with the violin:

• Submarine Air Lock Game: Pretend you are on a submarine, but you need to explore outside the vessel. Go into the air lock chamber. Turn on the mechanism that lets the air out of the chamber. Now you are ready to go outside the vessel. Relate this to the violin.

• Set your bow on the string at the frog. Now, release the air from your shoulder.

• "Set, Sink" are the two commands I use.

• Flat Tire Game: Set your bow on the string at the frog. Now release the air from your tire (shoulder) so that it goes flat.

Carry this to the next level in review work or group class activities:

• Play "Song of the Wind" (violin book 1) and stop after every down bow circle. Recite "Set, Sink" before playing the next note. Make sure your bow hold is impeccable.

• Play "Allegro" (violin book 1) and add  "Set, Sink" after every down bow circle.

• Play "Perpetual Motion" (violin book 1) with a down bow circle after every note. "Set, sink."

• Play "Etude" with a down bow circle after every note. "Set, sink."

• Play "Chorus" (violin book 2) and add "Set, Sink" after every down bow circle.

• Play "The Two Grenadiers" (violin book 2) and note the three down bow circle places. Are you setting and sinking at those places?

• In violin book 4 and the Seitz concertos, there are several opportunities to set and sink the shoulder when placing down bows at the start of new sections. Play these concertos and ask the student to find places where the "set, sink" idea will be effective.

When I first realized how much tension I had allowed to creep into my shoulder while playing my violin, I also found many opportunities to address the issue. I used my teaching in the studio to allow me to practice the exercises I have outlined above. I also found opportunities in symphony rehearsals and concerts to remind myself to "set, sink" before playing The only adjustment I had to make was to get ready to play in symphony a little earlier than usual to allow myself enough time to actually "set, sink." To this day, I still remind myself to "set, sink" after every down bow circle or after I have set my bow on the string.

I also practice this exercise while driving, singing hymns in church, or grocery shopping.

Quick Practice Tip: Think-Throughs

Before beginning a practice session, a performance, or any other endeavor, I believe your student will have greater success if he or she makes use of the "think-through."

A think-through is a mental thinking through of the steps that you will take in order to meet your goal. Basically the think-through is your goal, or it should be. Here is an example.

Before playing through a section of Bach's Gavotte in Book 5, I asked my young student Elliott what he needed to remember while he was working through the section. Elliott indicated a few spots in the music where he wanted to be careful to play correct notes, and he also wanted to maintain his bow hold throughout the entire section. After playing the section, I asked Elliott to evaluate how he accomplished his think-through. In this case, Elliott met each of his think-through goals. We then decided to move on to the next section and repeat the think-through process, but in this section, Elliott had a different think-through. Here he was more concerned about following a particular bowing pattern and not bumping the wrong strings and making extraneous noise with his bow, as well as maintain his bow hold throughout the piece.

As a teacher, I was delighted to watch Elliott engage in this think-through process. A young boy, Elliott is more inclined to rush through his practices and play all of his music as fast as he can: (1) because it is fun to play fast, and (2) because faster means shorter practices (at least, he thinks that practices will be shorter until his mom reminds him about the metronome). When Elliott relies on the think-through system, Elliott's practices are more thoughtful, he is more present and aware of what he is doing, and he tends to pick much more reasonable tempos that allow him to complete his work successfully. As a student, I think Elliott enjoys the think-throughs because it puts him more "in charge" of what he is doing, and Elliott enjoys the feeling of being "in charge."

Next time you practice, pick a section to work on, give it a "think-through," and then evaluate your efforts at the end. I think you will be surprised at what you will accomplish and learn using this quick practice tip.

Book 5: What's the point?

I received a great comment that asked me about book 5, and I thought I would share my thoughts about how I use book 5.

I remember hearing once that several teachers were opting to skip portions of book 5, because the students could "learn G Minor in other repertoire." I myself have experienced difficulty with students in the past and getting these students through the "slump" of book 5.

There may be several possible reasons why book 5 is so difficult. Although I have heard that many Japanese families strive to complete all ten Suzuki violin books by the time a student enters junior high, in my personal experience, most of my Suzuki students seem to hit book 5 about the time that they are in middle school. I wish that all my students would be out of book 5 by the time they turn 13, but alas, that has not been the case.

Why 13? Once upon a time, my educator husband showed me an article that talked about a child's development and the phenomenon of the odd-numbered years. (Occasionally a student will hit one of these developmental periods in an "even" year, but the signs are still the same.)  From what I recall of that article, it discussed the child's brain synapses pulling apart about every two years as the child's body underwent several physical developmental changes. As a teacher, I would have to turn up my "patience" quotient as I worked with such a student. A student going through one of these developmental phases would appear a little goofy and unfocused. Ages 9 and 13, in general, were the most difficult periods. The student would appear to be using just the right hemisphere of the brain and relying on physical motion rather than using logic or reasoning.

When a student hit Vivaldi's Concerto in G Minor at the age of 13, things seemed to progress at an excruciatingly slow pace because of the student's seeming inability to enter into a productive, rational discussion about the piece, the skills to be developed, and evaluation about effective practice techniques. I would get pretty discouraged during these periods. These types of lessons used up a lot of my teaching energy with little return from the student to be expected. I think the parents of such a student suffered even more than I did, as they watched their formerly bright child behave as if aliens had abducted the child's mind during the night. Learning book 5 seemed to take a very long time when a student was in the middle of one of these developmental phases.

Perhaps other teachers have experienced this same "slump" by the time a student would begin learning the Concerto in G Minor. I understand the desire to skip this piece and to approach the G Minor issue in another fashion, but I believe there are definite benefits to Dr. Suzuki's book 5 structure.

Generally, I view book 5 as the middle book of the "intermediate" portion of the 10 Suzuki violin books. I use the book to teach several basic things for a student's development:

• how to see intervals "across" the strings and the violin fingerboard
• what reasons to choose particular fingerings
• how to play off-the-string, i.e., spiccato, collé, and flying staccato
• how to cement the proper left hand position for upper positions and the G minor key

Intervals Across the Fingerboard

Book 4 pretty much wraps up a student's education about intervalic relationships between the fingers on the same string. The Bach double at the end of book 4 explores all finger patterns and combinations. Book 5 then leads the student into learning how to view intervals across the violin strings and fingerboard. For example, in first position, a minor second is played by putting one finger next to or very close to an adjacent finger. Minor sixths feel like half steps as well, since generally one finger is adjacent to another, albeit on another string. However, students do not quite "see" that interval when reading music.

Starting with the first song in book 5, Dr. Suzuki presents material that includes passage work that involves intervals across the string. Measures 8-16 and 40-48 are good examples of such passage work. The first movement of Vivaldi's Concerto in G minor has several obvious examples of string crossings and intervals: measures 41-43, 85-90, 119-126, and 167-169. The third movement has several such places as well: 101-106 and 172-186.

One of the best ways to introduce this concept of seeing intervals across the fingerboard is to approach these passages as an exercise in double stops. Certainly I point out to the student how easy it can be to determine whether a particular interval is like a half or whole step by showing the student how to see the interval of a fifth across the violin fingerboard and in the music and then building the interval upwards from the fifth.


How to Choose Appropriate Fingerings

With the second piece of book 5, the second movement of Vivaldi's Concerto in G Minor, I begin discussing the appropriate reasons to choose particular fingerings. The subject of choosing fingerings is a particularly dense subject and probably a subject best left to one or two (maybe even three) blog posts of its own. However, briefly, I will just say that I introduce the student to five basic reasons for choosing a fingering, and we discuss various fingerings within the piece and how they relate to those five basic reasons. There are many other reasons to choose particular fingerings, but I focus on five reasons in this piece:

• shifting over the closest distance (preferably a half step if possible)
• avoiding a shift on a slur, unless the portamento sound is desired
• maintaining the same string/tone color or avoiding string crossings
• maintaining a fingering pattern
• providing a stronger finger for vibrato (or avoiding an open string)

I do not always use the fingerings as suggested in the revised book 5 Suzuki book. The revised edition provides several choices in some places, and I use these suggestions as starting points for discussions about fingering choices.

I would like to remind you that I set up the discussion of fingering choices beginning in book 1. In my earlier posts I frequently mentioned songs in which I asked my students to learn a particular fingering sequence in order to build up a fingering habit that would be comfortable throughout book 2, 3, 4, and now 5. So book 5 is basically the continuation of a fingering discussion that I have silently had with my student since book 1. I now use book 5 to have an open discussion about fingering with my student.

I have also provided my student several places in the Suzuki books where I have given my student a chance to pick a particular fingering over another in some places due to personal preference. For example, I have a very small hand, and I find it very useful to use my "lazy pinkie" or flat 4th finger to play some fingering passages rather than stretching my 3rd finger. I have suggested both fingerings to students in book 2 and have accepted the student's personal preference for one fingering or another.

Off the String Bowing Skills

As preparation for the off-the-string bowing opportunities presented in book 5, I incorporate off-the-string playing in review of earlier books. We might do this in group class or just as a general review assignment, when I introduce spiccato. For example, book 4 and the Seitz concertos all include several places where the student can begin practicing off the string in the lower half of the bow. In addition, I also focus on places where the student can use the collé bowing, such as the first Seitz concerto in book 4, the Long Long Ago variation in book 2, Minuet in G trio, Martini's Gavotte, Becker's Gavotte, and any earlier repertoire piece that used the "up-up" bowing, such as Minuet 2 in book 1. This bowing practice incorporated within earlier repertoire then culminates in the first piece of Bach's Gavotte and the later Country Dance in book 5. These bowing skills do not become perfect in most cases at the time the student learns these pieces but later during group class activities or as the student progresses into later Suzuki or other "outside" repertoire.

When the student gets to German Dance in book 5, I wait until the student has learned the notes before teaching the airborne bowing (remember Dr. Suzuki's suggestion: "Finger, Bow, Go!"). Then we play the two-note slur and single note up bow of measure one as a lifting, in-the-air bowing. It may take the student a few lessons to master this skill. Note that this bowing pattern leads to the faster, mixed spiccato and slur bowing of Veracini's Gigue.


Left Hand and Upper Positions


I mentioned before that I have a tiny hand. When I first learned Vivaldi's Concerto in G Minor, I noticed a persistent ache in my left hand. Since I have been playing for 47 years, I thought it was strange. As I analyzed the situation, I happened to be considering left hand issues in general, and I noted that my usual left hand attitude seemed a little low in relation to the fingerboard for the kind of finger passage work that I needed to accomplish in the G Minor concerto. I tried raising my left hand a little bit higher (steeper) so that my left pinkie was curved more rather than straight, and I found that the problem disappeared. The intonation and the tone quality also improved, as I was using more of my finger skeleton than I was using my finger pads. (Yes, there is a place for finger pad playing too). I also use Kreutzer's 5th etude (the one in Eb) to help my university students make that same discovery.

Dr. Suzuki's inclusion of the G minor key of Vivaldi's Concerto in G minor provides the teacher with several opportunities to monitor the student's left hand position. If you'll recall from earlier posts, I've pointed out several other places in which Dr. Suzuki included repertoire that provided opportunities to correct falling left hand positions: Minuet 2 and the problem of "pocket fingers,", Two Grenadiers, Gavotte from "Mignon, Seitz 3, Vivaldi's A Minor concerto movement 3, and so forth. Now he has included more such opportunities in book 5. In addition, Dr. Suzuki has included repertoire that requires the student to learn the higher 4th and 5th positions, which I have found to be places that the student may lapse into a falling left hand position.

This blog post was intended as a general introduction to some basic issues that I focus on in book 5. Needless to say, each repertoire piece included in book 5 has its own list of detailed issues to be considered, and each student brings his or her own list of possible issues to each new repertoire piece.

The learning process is never cut and dried. The process of learning, and of teaching, continually expands. As I journey alongside each of my students in book 5, I gain additional insight into Dr. Suzuki's brilliant repertoire structure. Each student teaches me something new about the book 5 repertoire, and I then pass it along to the next student. As I pass along this basic information to you now, I will also be adding to my current understanding of the book within the next semester, as I have several young students embarking on the book 5 journey. I hope to share more thoughts about book 5 in the coming year.

I hope you will leave me more comments about particular issues in book 5 repertoire, or any other Suzuki repertoire.