DIY recitals

I used to worry that as my children's only teacher, they were missing out on being a part of a studio and doing the typical studio things like recitals.  Then I decided I was being silly and had my own.  Recitals don't have to be stodgy, terrifying experiences.  I have some friends who have children who take lessons and I invited them all to our house for a evening concert.  The ones that wanted to participate prepared for it, and one friend actually taught her kids just so they could join in!  Her 3 year old daughter played a piece I named "Tiny Sonata in in C, first movement" - which was her getting up and finding middle C and playing it for us.  It was so sweet!  My mom was visiting so she accompanied some of the violinists too, although we also thought about hiring a local pianist to be our official accompanist.  Maybe if mom isn't visiting that will be our plan next time.

I printed up a little program, the kids dressed up or dressed down, and took their turns standing in front of the crowd and bowing, playing, then bowing again.  Then we put the instruments away and had root beer floats.  It was a blast!  Giving the kids goals to work towards - even a simple house concert - are fabulous motivation tools.  And if you look and the Dude's face, you can see how great it makes them feel when they accomplish something.  It was his first time playing for an audience, and after seeing all the other kids playing piano, insisted on starting piano lessons the next day.  It's going great so far, but that's a whole other post.

Plus it was a great motivation for me to get the house all cleaned up.  Win-win!

Party of 5!

It's a boy!  Again!  We were blessed with him back in March and the adjusting has been pretty minimal.  This kid is AWESOME.  

(these pictures are from my 365 photo-a-day project - hence the numbers)

Boy #1 has been having violin lessons for 6 months now and has been making progress - slowly but consistently!

He has some fine motor issues, so it has been so impressive to see him begin to be able to move his fingers independently of each other.  I'm so thankful we are doing violin now to strengthen his hands!  Interestingly - I taught his sister piano first and violin second because piano was so much easier for me to teach and for her to learn lesson skills since it's so straight-forward.  Plus she could read so reading piano books was a great first step.

Boy #1 can read already, but since we only have an electric keyboard, the distraction of all those buttons is too much to ask him to concentrate.  Violin has no distractions - just me and his instrument.  For a 3 year old boy, that seems like the best first fit.  I thought I had it all figured out after the first one - and this second child is doing everything backwards.  It's such a great education for me as a teacher.  I am curious to see what curveballs our new little brother will throw at us!

Teaching music to my own children has taught me to get rid of my preconceived notions of what I think they would be doing with a different teacher, and how I was taught in the past.  I can't push and make everything fit some mold - there is SO much flexibility required.  I have to be willing to be humble and go with the flow - which is difficult since I've spent so much time being a teacher to other people's children.  I can't be as strict, but I can't be lax either.  It's such a interesting balance.

 I adore these three munchkins.  There are so many unknowns in their future - but if I can at least teach them how to work and practice and try - then I think I can breathe a little easier.  And here's nothing more adorable than seeing them race to get their instruments so they can jam with Daddy on the guitar.  That makes it all worth it :)

Move slowly and don't stop.

I'm here!  I'm alive!  And this has been my mantra for the last 7 months or so, since I discovered morning, noon and night sickness again.  Yes, we are being blessed with another member to our family next month!  But it has taken a serious toll on my ability to do just about anything.  The guilt, the messes, the guilt - ak!  There are weeks where I don't have the energy for daily violin and piano with WonderGirl, and I repeat this to myself again and again - MOVE SLOWLY AND DON'T STOP.  The only way I can fail is if I quit.

When I started teaching WG, my mom gave me the best advice - you can make a mountain one spoonful at a time.  So even if I couldn't heap on tons every day, just constantly adding a bit more to our pile of experience would equal something bigger someday.  This has been very helpful during my pregnancy, especially because piano lessons are increasingly difficult with a 3 year old brother dying to steal the piano away.  So some weeks, we've had to settle for one of two sessions together - but I didn't beat either one of us up about it, I knew it was all just another spoonful for our mountain.  Some weeks violin practice is very thin or nonexistent, but we're not quitting, we're just taking a different pace.  We are still growing!  The important part is connecting with each other, giving her a new skill to develop and accomplishing something she can take pride and enjoyment in.

She's just hit the 2nd Faber Piano Adventures book on piano - eep!  - and one song away from completing the first Suzuki violin book while learning to read violin music.  I couldn't be happier, especially because we are traveling this journey together.   And you won't believe it - my 3 year old begs for violin lessons now!  I've taken the same mountain building approach and his lessons are just a few minutes each - and so far, his wee hand can manage a bowhold and he can hold the violin without dropping it for a good long while.  I don't care if he ever reaches massive technical feats on the violin, I do care that he is learning to stand quietly with me, learn something new and develop his ear and body.  It's a magical thing to witness in a 3 year old who rarely stands still for anything.  Or course he knows at the end of the lesson there is the chance to earn a treat... something from his Halloween stash usually, so there is definite motivation there :)

I have friends with much more regimented schedules and they are an inspiration to me - but I have to constantly stop and check myself before I start comparing and feeling inadequate - I am doing all I am capable of doing right now, and most importantly - no matter how slow I move, I will not stop.

More online theory awesomeness

I was looking around for online music theory games and found the mother load!!  MusicTechTeacher.com has a huge list full of music theory, ear training, music history and more.  It appears to be the brainchild of a music teacher in Alabama, and it is a wonder.  I suggest going to the quiz page and checking out all there is, but I looked through and found a few that I know will be perfect for my almost 6 year old (tomorrow - aahh!!!!).  They are all great, but these were some I found that would work well for WonderGirl:

• Treble Word Match
• Treble Louis Armstrong Story
• Find the Missing Note Beethoven Game
• Treble Word Warrior
• Treble Spaces Game
• Bass Word Warrior
• Bone Up on the Bass Clef Quiz
• Bass Clef Ledger Lines Quiz
• Treble Clef Ledger Lines Quiz
• Identify the Music Notes
• Identify the Key Signature Quiz
• Skips, Steps and Repeats Quiz
• Music Terms Hangman Game

link love

Lately I've found myself searching the Suzuki website for ideas and have found some great articles - the first,

101 Ways to Practice One Note, One Measure, One Line… - it's a fabulous list from the silly to serious, written for piano students, but can easily be used by other instruments as well.

I Love to Practice!  - written for parents, it reminded me of a few truths about practice, especially Mr. Suzuki's great advice - "Move slowly and never stop."  

Lastly, I just taught WonderGirl the dreaded Suzuki Book 1 Etude and was seriously lucky to stumble on some lyrics to it that a teacher posted on the Suzuki site:

Harry Potter Harry Potter had a special friend to play namedRonald Weasly Ronald Weasly, and he brought along his quaffleHarry Potter Harry Potter picked it up and threw it back toRonald Weasly Ronald Weasly, but it crashed right through the window 

Dumbledore came down the stairs and called to HagridHagrid came right down the stairs and quickly picked upHarry Potter Harry Potter, picked him up and said, “Bad boy!” andSent him back to class.

She's only 5 so I haven't let her start on the Potter series yet, but she knows enough that it excited her to no end to learn the words AND helped her from getting lost in that maze of repetitions and teeny tiny changes.

I have also found some music education gems on Pinterest!  What a fabulous wealth of awesome!

Just a spoonful of sugar

Does anyone feel like some summertime family snuck into their house in the dead of night and sprinkled some  I-don't-wanna dust all over their children?  Maybe it's just our house, what with the onslaught of family vacations, uprooted schedules, ridiculously hot weather and hosting the family reunion in our house with 12 guests last week.

Whenever I've managed to get WonderGirl to play violin or piano with me for our guests, it's obvious her memory and technique have taken a vacation as well.  I've been at my wits end with her with most things lately.  Today marks the first day where our lives are slightly back to normal, and I expected some whining on both sides of the lessons (I'm not perfect!) - until I remembered my greatest idea ever (I can't take credit, I know it was divinely inspired!) 

I grabbed 5 chocolate chips and put them in a bowl beside us, and we did mainly review on on both piano and violin.  It was a WG I hadn't seen in weeks!  She was disciplined, obedient and adventurous.  I really do need to remember when things feel like they are slipping out of control to get back to the basics - that making the medicine/practicing go down easily always goes better with some sugar!

Hooray for H!

Yes, we are still committed to cranking these alphabet videos out!  The original purpose isn't as pressing, since WonderGirl's little brother (the Dude) learned the whole alphabet a while back, but it's all about teaching commitment, right??  And also it didn't hurt that a lovely reader left a sweet comment about them :)  Way to motivate, Jenny!

I added it to the Alphabet Rock playlist, so go enjoy!