Archive for the "Practicing" Category
Practicing Techniques for Intonation
Every violinist needs to work on intonation whether we’re just beginning, or we have made it to the professional realm. Sometimes it can be a frustrating endeavor. We know we aren’t playing in tune, but no matter what we do it doesn’t seem to get better! Hopefully this post encourages you to keep working at [...]
Helping the “Tone Deaf” Student
If you have not read my post Am I Tone Deaf? (http://blog.playviolinmusic.com/2013/03/06/am-i-tone-deaf/) I would recommend doing that before proceeding to read this post. It will give you the necessary preliminary material to get the most out of the information provided here. As discussed in my previous post, Am I Tone Deaf?, most likely your student is NOT tone deaf, [...]
The Practicing Myth
What I call “the practicing myth” comes in various forms, but it always goes something like this: “My kids hate to practice, and I don’t want them to hate music, so taking music lessons must not be for them.” If parents took that perspective with other things it might sound something like this: “My [...]
Tuning at Home
My previous post on tuning had to do with the importance of teaching students of all ages to tune right from the first lesson. It gave helpful tips and outlined my approach. Check it out here: http://blog.playviolinmusic.com/2013/01/18/the-importance-of-tuning/ In addition to teaching students how to tune in the lesson, students must practice tuning at home each day [...]
Teaching the Bow Hold
There is more to holding the bow than simply putting one’s fingers in the correct orientation on the stick. The balance of the bow hold needs to be correct in order for a student to use their bow properly and efficiently. This will take years to perfect, but it can be helped by stressing the [...]
The Importance of Tuning
Tuning is the first thing we as musicians do before playing, so we should teach our students to do the same. Many teachers tune their student’s instrument for them, especially younger beginning students. While this may give more time in the lesson to teach other things, I think students are missing out on a very [...]
The Marriage of the School and Private Instructor
Picture with me an elementary school stage,… …a full audience of parents and friends, and a procession of young violin students parading across the platform with their instruments neatly tucked under their right arms. When they reach their positions they stop and face forward, waiting for their cue, eyes on their instructor who follows the [...]
Teaching the 4th Finger
Many method books and teachers hold off teaching the 4th finger on violin or viola until fingers 1, 2 and 3 have been mastered. Why, and where this practice started I’m not sure, but I believe it does a great disservice to beginning players. The 4th finger is an intricate part of how the hand [...]
Practice Frequency and Duration
Frequency I recommend students practice 6 out of the 7 days a week. This isn’t a magic number, but it does have thought and process behind it. Practicing must be regular. A student will not achieve regular progress if they are not regularly practicing. In fact, a student will either be moving forward or backward [...]
“When do I get to ____________?”
As a teacher it’s exciting to me to have students ask this question! It shows me they are enthusiastic about learning and have a goal for themselves. Sometimes they may be asking about something we can start learning right away – other times it’s something that requires some pre-requisite steps. As a teacher it’s a [...]