Incredible high school musicians from Venezuela! Led by Gustavo Dudamel

This youth orchestra from Venezuela is incredible! Pay close attention to their form.

Lesson #5 "First Character, then ability."

Lesson #5
September 22nd, 2010

Quote of the Week:
by Dr. Suzuki’s alma mater, Nagoya Commercial School
“First character, then ability.” p.66 in "Nurtured by Love"

Review:
Crawling spider with bow
Names of strings (Every Alligator Does Good), parts of violin
Umbrella hand (slide left hand back and forth on neck- must be relaxed and touching first finger to thumb)
Finger #’s on tapes: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Square fingers(left hand positioned at back of fingerboard,thumb by 1st finger tape,wrist back)
Positioning the violin on the shoulder correctly: "Split, Step with feet, then Stop, Turn, Ear, Shoulder, Head with violin"
Everyone stand in lion position (violin on shoulder with bow hand on opposite shoulder, without bow) while I play entire Twinkle Variations and Theme!
A Scale (Open A=no fingers, 1st finger on A, otherwise written as A1, then A2, A3, Open E, E1, E2, E3)

New:
A scale backwards (E3,E2,E1,Open E, A3, A2, A1, Open A)
Play scales one time with each rhythm:
(Miss-is-si-ppi Hot-dog, Run Po-ny Run Po-ny, Wish-I-Had-A-Mo-tor-cy-cle, Slee-py (shh) Girl)
Preview of Miss. Hotdog song : Play Open E (roll bow, place all 3 fingers on tapes), Play 3, Play 2, Play 1

Next Week:
Student teaches parent! Bow hold, 5 steps, Left arm form, A scale with Mississippi Hotdog
Read book about practice and discuss practice charts
Learn to play “Twinkle Variations”- learn notes by plucking first
Please check the blog for weekly updates and pictures! I will always try to have it ready by 2pm on Thursdays.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band 2009 - "Up In Indiana"

I saw Lyle Lovett perform this song, and many wonderful others, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville recently. What a treat of a concert! Make sure you listen long enough to hear the fiddle solo. The other instruments are upright base and mandolin. Did you know that a mandolin is strung like a violin/fiddle? You just play it like a guitar!

Lesson #4 "Fine Musicians"

Lesson #4
September 15th, 2010

Quote of the Day
by Dr. Suzuki
“The purpose of Talent Education is to train children, not to be professional musicians but to be fine musicians and to show high ability in any other field they enter.” p.79 of Nurtured by Love

Review:
Crawling spider (Bow hand/right hand)
Names of Strings: E,A,D,G
Can you think of an acronym to help you remember?
Rolling bow across all 4 strings: elbow/right arm moving up and down
5 steps to playing position- is foot lined up with scroll?
Play rhythms on E, A, D, and G strings saying, “1,2,ready,play.....stop,roll,play”
“Umbrella hand”: nice round and relaxed hand, move back and forth around the neck
Finger #’s: 1st,2nd,3rd,4th

New:
Practice “Square fingers” on left hand
Put tapes on fingerboard for 1st,2nd,3rd fingers
Play an A scale
one stroke for each note
playing a rhythm for each note, ie “Mississippi Hotdog” for each note

Next Week:
Learn to play Mississippi Hotdog from the “Twinkle Variations”
Hand out practice chart, Read book
Please check the blog for weekly updates and pictures! I will always try to have it ready by 2pm on Tuesdays.

Lesson #3 "A work of art"

Lesson #3
September 8,2010

Deep Thought of the Day
by Dr. Suzuki
"A work of art is the expression of a man's whole personality, sensibility, and ability."
p.83 "Nurtured by Love"

Review:
Bow hold- practice agility doing the Crawling Spider
Who can go to the tip and back 1st?
Musical Feet without violin
Rest Position to Playing Position in 5 steps
Is foot lined up with scroll?
Play rhythms on E string- between bridge and fingerboard
Open and close elbow, bend wrist to keep bow straight

New:
Rolling bow across all 4 strings- elbow moves up and down
Names of strings: E,A,D,G (Good Dogs Always Eat) or (Eat Apples During Golf)
Can you think of an acronym?
Playing Rhythms on A string
Finger #’s: 1st finger is pointer finger, 2nd, 3rd finger is ring finger, 4th is pinky.

Next Week:
Put tapes on fingerboard for 1st, 2nd, 3rd fingers
Playing with square fingers
Learn to play the A scale
One stroke for each note
Rhythms for each note

Lesson #2 "The habit of action"

Violin Lesson #2
September 1, 2010

Deep Thought of the Day
by Dr. Suzuki
"The habit of action- this, I think, is the most important thing we must acquire.... If you put a task off until some other time, you will never get it done, because 'some other time' has its own tasks. Consequently, you end up doing nothing and become a person who keeps putting things off. Time doesn't wait; but most people are so narigachi na no desu (not up to doing things)."
p.89 "Nurtured by Love"

Review:
Parts of violin and bow
Feet Stance: (Rest Position & Playing Postition)
Bow hold/ air rhythms/ *This time with toy on tip
Bow on shoulder with tube, play rhythms

New:
Learn Rest Position/Playing Position using “1,2,3,4,5”
-Make sure scroll is lined up with foot.
Putting on shoulder rest
Hold violin on shoulder with and without arm support
How long can you hold it without your left arm?
Playing rhythms on E string:
1)Mississippi Hotdog
2)Run Pony Run Pony
3)Wish I had a motorcycle
4)Sleepy (shh) Girl/Boy

Next Week:
Musical Feet (walk without violin while I play Book 1 songs, end on traced feet)
Put tapes on strings
Play A scale/ Rhythms on E and A strings

Practice this way each day:
Do the 5 steps from Rest Postion to Playing Position- 10 times
Then, play each rhythm on the E string- 10 times each
Ex. Mississippi Hotdog 10 times, Run Pony Run Pony 10 times...