Friday, October 26, 2007

A few violin video clips

Nora will be 4 years old on Monday October 29th!

For fun, here are some clips of Nora from her practice sessions at home and in her lesson.

Here is Nora rosining her bow ("one-and-two-and..."):


Here she is reciting her poem of the week (Hey Diddle Diddle) at night for Mommy and Daddy, with mischievious glee:


Here is her first weekly music listening presentation (practice at home) which is "Hungarian Dance #7 in A major composed by Johannes Brahms, played by Sarah Chang on the violin." In the lesson, Nora presented this information and Mr. S said that in the future she will also say the name of the accompanying musician:


Here is Nora playing the beginning of Mississippi Hot Dog Variation ("my turn, your turn"):

Violin Lesson October 27 2007

Practice List To Do, Friday 10/26/2007 Lesson 12 Week 6
Practice List:

I. Identification of All Twinkle Variations, Lightly Row, Song of the Wind, Aunt Rhody and O’ Come Little Children. NEW: add May Song, Long Long Ago, Allegro
II. Singing and Hand Signing A, E and F# C#
III. Sing and clap variation rhythm (first part of twinkle “the bread”) while keeping total eye contact Bread = AA EE F# F# E D D C# C# B B A
IV. Bow sets with “bumpy thumb” then tip up
V. Shoulder bowing of twinkle rhythms (while singing), i.e. “listen please”
VI. KEY: Violin Sets with soft left knee and head back for count to #
KEY: head on it’s own bed (chin rest and tail piece not violin wood on right side of tail piece)
VII. Playing MHD, HB, SBB, W on E string KEY: work for increased number of consecutive repetitions
a. Keeping bow on “red road” looking with “eyeballs” on her bow at bridge area.
b. Remember head leaning slightly backward at the “back door.”
c. Safer place for head on chin rest and tail piece, not on wood of violin
d. E string repetitions X times of all rhythms (except twinkle slow)
e. KEY: Listen for tone

VIII. Playing MHD on E string and A string with string crossing: E “reach to” A and A “drop to” E
a. KEY: 5 consecutive repetitions with eyes down on red road and head back (keeping violin up) “listen please” “your turn” (this is the “pebble game” for 5) allows Nora to do Dessert F# exercise IX
b. KEY: work for increased number of consecutive repetitions
c. KEY: Listen for tone

IX. Dessert: F# on the E string ( “touch E, reach to A” “touch F#”, “pop off”)
a. A A E E F# F# E E
b. On last E
i. The left hand (arm and elbow) move (“swing”) slightly sideways toward the right side of the violin. The pinky side of the palm of the hand leads the movement.
ii. Simultaneously the knees make a slightly deeper bend
iii. This is in preparation for getting ready to place the 3rd finger D on the A string
iv. Decrease tension, balance point is important
c. KEY: Listen for tone

X. Weekly Poem recitation Tuesday KEY: Look at (look into eyes) of Mr S or person to whom you are speaking / presenting. This makes it a special gift from you to your listener. You should feel like you are saying it just for Mr S.
XI. Weekly Music listening presentation (piece, composer, musician * and working up to accompanist or orchestra) Friday
Explanations

1. Nora did an excellent job of identifying all of the twinkle variation rhythms and the early book one songs as he played them on her little violin. She even correctly did May Song. But she did not answer him for the others that we have not studied: Long Long Ago and Allegro (despite the fact that she correctly identified Allegro at last week’s group class).
2. KEY: When adding new songs we should make sure she can tell Aunt Rhody from Long Long Ago and she may also confuse Song of the Wind, May Song and Long Long Ago as they all start on the note A

3. Note Cards and pitch singing were not covered in this lesson; we are to continue working.
a. He advised against using a metronome pitch meter with a moving arrow
b. He preferred a piano (in tune) or a small portable keyboard

4. KEY: Using your ears to listen for a nice tone
a. He wants Nora to listen critically to what she is playing
b. He had her sit in his “teacher” chair while he played repetitions of MHD on the E string
i. Even though he had everything looking OK (position, bow set, bow on road, eyes down), he played with good and bad sound.
ii. Too crunchy, too whispy, too fast, too heavy, too light and “just right”
iii. As in the story of Goldilocks, finding the sound that is “just right”, nice tone

5. Dessert: F# on the E string Exercise
a. Begin with bow on E string
b. “Reach” bow up to A string
c. Play MHD A (listen please and your turn)
d. “Drop” to E string
e. MHD on E string (listen please and your turn)
f. “Touch F#”
g. MHD on F# (listen please and your turn)
h. “Pop off”
i. MHD on E string (listen please and your turn)
j. “swing” violin hand and bend knees

6. Dessert F# on E string
a. When he asked how the F# dessert went this week, Mima told him that Nora earned 3 desserts by playing 5 MHDs with bow on road and head back. Mima told him that we had only played two of the desserts and we had one still left to do.
b. Mr S showed Mima how it feels to “swing” the left arm gently forward on the last E of Nora’s dessert playing.


Notes

7. Nora did an excellent job of reciting her Listening Piece to Mr S. “I listened to Hungarian Dance Number 7 in A Major” …….. long pause ……. he gave her a hint (“Jo …”) and she continued “Joahnnes Brahams, played by Sara Chang on the violin.” He told us that we will work up to including the pianist or orchestral accompaniment.

8. L’s mother shared a few practice tips that Mr S gave them since it is really hard to get these girls to practice. He suggested that the child can choose which rhythm to play first and next or they can choose the number of repetitions or a die can be rolled to get a number from 1 – 5.

9. Nora showed Mr S her notebook with the notes she took during the time he works with Mima and they both saw that she had written a new word “cat” in addition to her word “zoo”. It is the first time Mima has seen Nora write the word ‘”cat”! Nora also showed some letters and said that it was the word “dog”.

10. Nora did not spontaneously come to Mr S to do her “thank you” bow and she was a bit slow with this part of the routine for the last few lessons.

11. It is a very rainy day today. We had boots and raincoats and had to wrap the foot chart in a plastic bag (remember to use crayon next time!). Somehow in the rush to get out of the house as the plumber was working in Mima’s room, the extra hair barrettes did not get into our lesson bag. And since Nora tore out the hair band her mom put into her hair this morning her hair was messier than usual. She had her hair in her mouth when she was listening to Mr S play his MHDs, but otherwise it did not prevent her from having a good lesson.

13. We could not go to the park in the pouring rain, so we drove back to Maryland and went to the library. On the way back to the car with our books, Nora took a detour through a big puddle and had a great time splashing back and forth through it.

14. She picked a box tiny Halloween cookies from our favorite store at the end of the street and asked to eat 12 of them for dessert. We also bought “Frog and Toad Are Friends to give at the birthday party tonight. Who has a birthday party on Friday night for 4 year olds?

15. Nora still has a cough but plays actively and energetically.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Violin Lesson October 19, 2007

Practice List, Tuesday 10/19/2007 Lesson 10 Week 5


  1. Identification All Twinkle Rhythms, Lightly Row, Song of the Wind, Aunt Rhody and O’ Come Little Children

  2. Singing and Hand Signing A, E and F#

    • Note Cards, around the house and singing and hand signing A E F#

    • Use a “pretty voice” when singing A, E and F#

    • Get metronome for pitch (he had round Seiko) and use this for pitch match. As Mima or mom tune her violin Nora *raises her hand when she hears that the string is at the correct pitch (matching the source note).

  3. KEY: Sing and clap rhythms (first part of twinkle “the bread”) while keeping total eye contact

  4. Bow sets with “bumpy thumb” then tip up and look at tip for count

  5. Shoulder bowing of twinkle rhythms (while singing), i.e. “listen please”

  6. KEY: Violin Sets 6 times a day with soft left knee and head back for count to #, e.g. 10

  7. Playing MHD, HB, SBB, W on E string

    • Keeping bow on “red road” looking with “eyeballs” on her bow at bridge area.

    • Remember head leaning slightly backward at the “back door.”

  8. Playing MHD on E string and A string with string crossing: E “reach to” A and A “drop to” E

  9. Pebble Game – E string repetitions X times of all rhythms (except twinkle slow)

  10. Dessert: F# on the E string

  11. Poem recitation

  12. Music listening presentation (piece, composer, musician)


Explanations

1. Sing and clap rhythms (first part of twinkle “the bread”) *while keeping total eye contact with parent or Mr S
2. Get metronome for pitch (he had round Seiko) and use this for pitch match. As Mima or mom tune her violin Nora *raises her hand when she hears that the string is at the correct pitch (matching the source note).
3. Use a “pretty voice” when singing A, E and F#
4. Special listening: pick out a piece of violin music and listen to it all week. Come to lesson prepared to
a. Name the piece (e.g. “Romance in F composed by ____”
b. Composer
c. “Played by ______ on the violin”
5. Poem: Nora will memorize a poem of her choosing each week so that she can recite it with expression
a. Listening can be on, for example, Friday and the Poem can be on Tuesday

6. When Nora is playing rhythms on E and A, on the red road and looking at her bow, parent should be helping Nora to lean her head slightly backward over her left shoulder as her head is falling into a too forward (toward the bow side) position.
a. Mr S was doing this with his hand and no verbal directions were given

7. Dessert: F# on the E string
a. Mr S put a special piece of tape on Nora’s fingerboard to mark the place where the F# note will be made. The verbal cue will be:
i. TOUCH F#
ii. POP OFF
iii. Nora will practice F# as it comes in the first part of twinkle (He did not verbalize this idea that it is the “bread” of twinkle to her)
iv. MHD rhythm, A listen” (MHD), “your turn” (very rhythmic): (A) A (E) E (F#) F# (E) E

b. The first finger (left index finger) placement is very very light, barely depressing the string
i. If she does not have enough pressure to make the F# sound, parent gently helps just a teeny bit – touching on top of her finger. This should be mostly just the weight of her finger.
ii. Mr. S made a small diagonal ink mark on Mima’s finger to show that the finger should be touched to the string on the inside or thumb side corner of the fingertip. (It slants from corner of finger nail out toward flashy part of finger tip
1. He said that he teaches a low relaxed somewhat flat finger position as contrasted with an upright “square” finger position that is sometimes taught by other teachers.
2. He said that this will be a more relaxed position from which to learn vibrato in the future

8. Playing MHD on E string and A string keeping bow on “red road” looking with “eyeballs” down on her bow at bridge area

a. Begins with bow set, and violin set done as much as possible without direction or words (some physical touch cues)
b. Nora should now be able to point to tickle spot on her L index finger and no longer needs ink mark
i. Mr. S used his right hand to gently hold Nora’s violin left thumb and hand at scroll end of violin after violin was up

ii. Mr. S gently pushed the side of Nora’s head in a backwards direction when it fell (collapsed) too far forward
1. He said we might want to say some single word for this adjustment if we think it would help
2. He explained to Mima that sometimes he tells students that when they are looking at their bow road, they are peering around in a backwards manner “looking out the back door”. This is to give the idea or feeling of glancing or looking backward at the bridge area and may help Nora not to move or tip or turn her head in a forward direction.

c. Help Nora to “open her elbow” and not move the arm behind her back
i. She was bowing with a bit of a stiff elbow in a backward movement rather then opening her elbow joint as she is doing nicely for her shoulder bowing
ii. Use gentle touch at elbow (he did not tell her to do anything, he just touched her

d. He is now asking Nora to do more than just play several rhythms in a row without

9. Singing A, E, and F# with hand signs (and note cards)

Mr S said that Nora had made great improvement with this activity. He decided not to add new notes “D” and C# since she still needs to be more successful with the A E F#. She did one particularly wonderful singing of A after she did a good F# and he loved that one! She needed to use a “pretty voice” not screeching or yelling. She also needs to use hand signs spontaneously with her singing. Needs to be learned 100% before we go on

Mr S used Nora’s note cards flipping from one to the next, asking her to sing and make the hand sign for the note.

At the end of the observed lesson, L’s grandma told us that Nora would be learning D and C#, but Mr S does not do the same thing with his 2 beginners; he gives very individualized lessons. For example, the other student is not yet playing on the A sting, but she can sign and sign her notes reliably.

10. Identification All Twinkle Rhythms, Lightly Row, Song of the Wind, Aunt Rhody and O’ Come Little Children

Nora had some difficulty paying attention for this beginning part of the lesson – twisting and eating her hair and looking out of the window. As Mr S played variations on the violin, Nora identified MHD, but not SBB (she said HB and stayed with that answer despite his showing her all modes of SBB, including clapping and rubbing)

He worked on green feet and “look at me” when you clap and sing the rhythm

He did not stay with this activity as he said he had other things to teach Nora today

When Nora told him that Lolo does HB, he was very excited and wondered if when the parrot learns all of the variations, perhaps Nora can bring him to group class to show everyone!
Nora took several tries to tell him this thought, each time saying just the first words of her sentence and then repeating that beginning phrase over and over until the whole idea came out. (very reminiscent of Pablo at this age!) Mr S did not hurry her and gave her his full attention and time.

Notes

Oct 19th Nora showed him her 51 pennies that she earned for 51 times keeping bow on the red road while keeping eyes always down.” She tried about 10 times with Mr S and got 4 “pennies.” She looked up for more than half of the tries and occasionally her bow slipped toward the bridge.

Nora was coughing a bit since she has had a cold. Mr S said that L.(prior lesson) has just recovered from Strep Throat.

Mima’s turn on her full sized violin:

Mr S showed Mima the F# exercise and had Mima teach it to him on the full sized violin

Nora took notes in her notebook and showed him her word “zoo” and a few other word attempts after we were finished and he really gave her his full attention as she showed him her work, even though it was past the actual end of our lesson time.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Nora's Eighth Violin Lesson

Practice List To Do, Friday 10/5/2007 Lesson 8 Week 4

I. Identification of All Twinkle Rhythm Variations, Plus Early Book 1 songs
II. Bow Sets 3-5 times per day
III. Bow MHD, HB + other rhythms on left shoulder while singing the rhythm
IV. Violin Sets 6 times a day
V. Rosin Bow before practice and wipe off at the end of practice
VI. “Dessert” Play MHD HB SBB WASH on E string within yellow tape on bow
VII. NEW String Crossing E to A and back A to E
VIII. The Pebble Game – E string repetitions X times of all rhythms (except twinkle slow)
IX. NEW The Tickle Spot on left index finger for holding the violin
X. Note Cards and singing A E F#


I. Identification of Twinkle Rhythm Variations, Plus:

Begin identifying these songs by their names during listening or in listening part of practice time:
Lightly Row, Song of the Wind …… Go Tell Aunt Rhody, O Come Little Children
* added ID May Song

For Rhythm Identification, Practice Strategies:

  1. Hear the first line on the violin, slice, rub and clap and the recording

  2. Give Nora a contrast of 2 choices: Is it Lightly Row or May Song?

  3. NEW: He plays song on violin and as soon as she knows what it is she should begin clapping and singing that song or rhythm.



Mr. S played rhythms or first lines on Nora’s violin and she identified MH & HB, she got SBB after he rubbed it on her arm and Wash after it was clapped by Mr S. For most rhythms she seemed to be looking out of his picture window or looking down at the floor.

She named Lightly Row, Song of the Wind and Aunt Rhody (!!!), but confused O Come Little Children with Lightly Row. He said that this was understandable given that both start with E’s and C#’s. She hummed along with what he was presenting, even when she did not give an answer.

When Nora began to sing the 1st line of the traditional American version of “Go Tell Aunt Rhody” Mr S told us that Mr Suzuki thought of this song in the Japanese w ay, as a lullaby. Mr S said that Suzuki was horrified when he found out what the American children were singing. I told him that Nora was singing “the old grey goose is fed” (not dead, as it is in the original). Mr. S smiled and nodded.


II. Bow Sets 3-5 times per day

  1. Green Feet, Soft knees , Parent holds bow (usually horizontal)

  2. Nora places fingers hanging curved over stick, soft hand, fingers spaced with air between each one, middle finger across from bumpy thumb, pointer finger on silver

  3. Bow tip points to ceiling, Parent points very close to tip and Nora looks at tip for count down from 10



III. Bow Practice MHD, HB, SBB, WASH on left shoulder while singing the rhythm
A. NEW: Guide soft shoulders rather than opening elbow
B. May do “My Turn” bowing with parent holding the stick above Nora’s bow grip rather than at screw of bow. This may give less of a slip off the shoulder feel?

The shoulder bowing is one of the hardest things for Nora to do at this point, and it is an essential part of group class performance.

He said that her right bow arm was opening nicely at the elbow and we can use our hands in other places now to get her to relax her right shoulder and her left shoulder, for example, or to keep her left knee “soft” …… or whatever, rather than always touching her elbow joint to guide that motion (which she seems to be doing well on her own at this point).

Today’s video clip shows Mr S doing this shoulder bowing with Nora the “new” way, guiding the soft shoulders rather than the opening elbow joint.

Nora is tending to twist a bit to the left, keeping her right knee nicely bent and soft and straightening her left knee (which should also be softly bent). Again he noted that we should watch that Nora’s right bow arm shoulder remain down and relaxed. Nora’s shoulders should be directly over her green feet and nicely back and straight and should not twist, or raise, or move forward.

The example bowing should be fluid, legato type bow strokes and not too fast.


IV. Violin Practice Sets 6 times per day
1. Green Feet, Soft knees , Left arm on softly waist, Nora looks straight ahead, Parent places violin, Nora turns head, drops head, left arms move up for thumb pillow.
2. NEW: add tickle spot violin neck hold see IX below (we will probably start after the weekend)
3. Parent lets go of violin and holds something of interest at end of the scroll – hand should be fine now, she will not need her favorite rabbit, Willa, cavorting around anymore.
4. Nora should look at violin for a count down
a. from 10
b. from 20 (she just barely did this at the Tue lesson)
c. he said he would like to increase this to a high number … 30 and eventually more (but with the new tickle spot he just to from 10 again)

Behavior Issues:
Nora left her hair in the band at the back and only pulled it out for the last part of the lesson. She fidgeted a bit with her skort and underwear. When her gave her a chance to get the wiggles out, this time she was ready on the first 1-2-3 count.

He gave her one 5 count to get back on the foot chart and she promptly complied.

He kept her going at the end of her lesson with closely spaced repetitions of her new skill and he told her that there was just one more to go – or this was the last one, and then she would take her thank you bow. This worked well for Mr S who was coordinated enough to do the practice repetitions with much more fluidity than Mima can muster at this point.


V. Rosin Bow Procedure: Rosin each day before practice
1. hold rosin in left hand
2. bow in right hand - hold bow firmly at frog but not actual bow set grip
3. place bow on rosin track, use whole bow strokes frog to tip
4. do 7 strokes (count one and two and)
5. lightly wipe off violin bridge area with light handkerchief at the end of practice

Mr S said that Mima needs to do the wipe for her violin and it seems that it would be helpful if Grandpa Jim could give the old fiddle a good cleaning. In looking closely at this violin, I think it may have belonged to Nancy Wec, as it does not seem to be dark enough to be Grandpa Phil’s. But the Label does not say Philadelphia s I remember Wec’s did, it says Vienne …..

VI. “Dessert” is MHD, HB, SBB, Washington, played on E string at yellow tape marked on Bow Stick
new* these were played all in a row at the lesson without break

  1. Green Feet, Soft knees, Right Bow hand set with parent, Left arm softly across waist

  2. Violin set with parent, Parent maintains grasp on scroll of violin

  3. Parent guide bow by screw to place on E string at lowest part of yellow tape

  4. My Turn – parent moves bow downward to begin rhythm, keeping bow stroke within yellow, Your Turn: parent lets go of screw but continues to guide right elbow

  5. Nora is to try to stay within the yellow tape bow playground area and to stay on E string

  6. *sing the rhythm on the note E while playing

  7. NEW: Keep bow hold soft – he told her to turn OFF her muscles

  8. NEW: Play “easy easy easy”

  9. NEW: right shoulder (bow shoulder) needs to stayck and soft, relaxed

  10. NEW: keep bow off bridge area and out of the “crocodile pit”



It was after she played all of these rhythms (My Turn, Your Turn) in a row that Nora needed the 5 count to return to the foot chart. She really played well and kept the bow going in generally the right direction in generally the right area. At one point her bow slipped over the bridge.
*In the observation part of the lesson she learned (and he repeated it in her lesson) that her bow should not slip over the fi
board, because that is called the “crocodile pit “for bows. Nora loved the crocodile reference!


NEW 7 & 8: He played a rhythm for her 2 ways and asked her which one she preferred. He played the first one with too much pressure, a stiff and tight bow grip, high right shoulder and locked elbow bowing, and he played the second one “easy”. After Nora got a better understanding of first versus second (and perhaps we can go over this a bit) she picked the “easy” open nice sounding rhythm, over the first forced squeezed sounding one.

The video has a nice shot of Mr S using his right ring and pinky fingers on Nora’s left shoulder to relax it down during his violin set. So far, this is not a technique that Mima has mastered.


VII. Practice “Touch E, Reach A” String Crossing E to A and back A to E
A. “Touch” Bow to E string (play a rhythm on E My Turn, Your Turn) and rock bow to A string and play a rhythm on A My Turn, your Turn
a. Reach to A string, bow hand leads and arm follows
b. Drop to E string, arm leads and hand follows

VIII. Pebble Game The Burn, but did not do, did not mention at this lesson
New Practice Game for these rhythms to encourage Nora to play one after the other without a break – she should keep standing on her green feet with violin in playing position. In the lesson I think that she actually played all the rhythms at least once with him except perhaps “twinkle slow” as Mima plunked 8 pen caps into a china mug.
a. He said he liked this game best when pebbles (little rocks) were dropped into a container for each practice item that is done without break (green feet violin up and go through all repetitions or exercises).
b. If Nora does get off green feet, lower violin, or otherwise break the rhythm of this practice exercise then all the pebbles go out of the cup and we begin again to try to get ALL of the pebbles into the cup.
c. Nora now has 10 small smooth shell pieces in a container in her case

IX. NEW The Tickle Spot on left index finger for holding the violin
a. Touch (no) versus Tickle (yes) – the idea is that Nora is holding the violin so gently, so softly that it is just a tickle and not even an actual touch. He touched her arm and then he did a very light “tickle” and she felt the difference.
b. This is the new position for Nora’s violin sets and for her playing
c. On the thumb side of the middle joint of the left index finger he made a pen mark for Nora and for Mima and this is where the violin just tickles the finger
i. Keeping this spot will prevent the violin neck from falling into the web space between the thumb and the index finger, or from riding so high that the fingers will have a hard time reaching the finger board.
d. *we will start this new step next week and keep everything the same for the weekend

Reviewing the video clip of this new step should help us to help Nora with this task.

On one video clip you can hear Nora telling Mr S that her mother will “probably” not like him drawing on her finger with marker. When he very calmly tells her that he is using ball point pen and so it is OK, Nora accepts this explanation readily.

You can see on the second video clip that Nora’s hand position with the tickle spot is a more classic violin position and the wrist is not as collapsed toward the violin as her first try, but he said absolutely noting about her wrist or general hand position at this point.


X. Practice Music Reading and Pitch Training (not addressed on this lesson)
Note Card Game:
1. Mix note cards up and place on the floor face up with all cards showing
2. Parent names a note (may give hand sign to assist if needed)
3. Nora is to first sing the pitch of the note as she names it
4. Then she finds the note card with the note on the staff

Extra Notes:

End of Lesson:
Mr S worked with Mima on her full sized violin to show her the proper tickle spot and how the proper violin hold “feels”. Mima has some relaxing to do to let go of her tense muscles and be soft, easy and relaxed for the violin position. He was not sure if Mima had enough sponges to feel “secure” about her violin hold. He said that he assumed that Mima was able to tune the violins if given a reference pitch and Mima said that she could do this. He said that the students are introduced to tuning at about the book 4 level.

Leaving:
Nora learned (I hope) that it is best to sit on the rug on the floor to put on her shoes at the end of the lesson. She had a nasty tumble backwards off of a lobby chair and into the glass door of Ms. C’s (thankfully empty) studio. Nora was OK (the door was OK), Nora was mostly frightened as she cried into Mima’s shoulder for a bit, but not a sob was heard in the other rooms and she disturbed no one. She knew, of course, that Mima had told her not to get onto that particular chair for that particular purpose, and especially not to be sitting sideways on the chair.

With the mention every now and then, by Mr S of book # this or book # that, Nora told me on the car ride home that she supposes that she is in “book two, probably” - even though Mima told her that Mima supposed that she was on the twinke rhythms in book one.

Additional:
Nora picked out a chocolate croissant at the store at the end of the street, and pretty much finished it on the 5 minute car ride to the park! We had a picnic on the small tables under the trees, a spot that was new for us. Nora tried some new, and very high climbers today at the playground. We did the planes and cars and trains and several swings as well. She is getting better at using her legs to “pump” herself on the swing, and it helped her to watch a girl in the next swing really pumping efficiently and getting her swing to go really high. The fact that Nora cannot yet go that high herself is probably a good thing for now! We listened to two Pooh stories on the way home, and at this point she must hear a story to it’s conclusion in one car ride. Luckily these are really short stories.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Nora's Seventh Violin Lesson


Practice List To Do, Tue 10/2/2007 Lesson 7 Week 4
I. Identification of All Twinkle Rhythm Variations, Plus Early Book 1 songs
II. Bow Sets 3-5 times per day
III. Bow MHD, HB + other rhythms on left shoulder while singing the rhythm
IV. Violin Sets 6 times a day
V. Rosin Bow before violin part of practice
VI. “Dessert” Play MHD (and add HB and SBB) on E string within yellow tape on bow
VII. NEW String Crossing E to A and back A to E
VIII. The Pebble Game – E string repetitions X times of all rhythms (except twinkle slow)
IX. Sing A E F# and identify notes
X. Wipe violin bridge area with hankie before putting away

I. Identification of Twinkle Rhythm Variations, Plus:

Begin identifying these songs by their names during listening or in listening part of practice time:
Lightly Row, Song of the Wind …… Go Tell Aunt Rhody, O Come Little Children

For Rhythm Identification, Practice Strategies:
1. Hear the first line on the violin, slice, rub and clap are what he uses in lesson most
2. Give Nora a contrast of 2 choices: example: Is it Lightly Row or Twinkle Slow?
3. He said that Nora will need to know all channels of the rhythms, visual too (slicing).

Mr. S played rhythms or first lines on Nora’s violin and she identified most rhythms as she seemed to be looking out of his picture window or looking down. He did not mention her lack of eye contact as she listened to all but one of his samples. She gave him her attention when asked for the last rhythm. He did note that she needed to learn the rhythms visually (slicing). Nora needed the “shh” sound to identify “My name (pause) is Nora” but he still gives her slicing or other opportunity without “shh” to see if she can do it. Twice, she correctly identified “Song of the Wind” when he gave her the “woosh” of the wind sound at the times in the song where the violinist retakes a down bow. This was very similar to how Mima was identifying” Song of the Wind” for Nora on the few times we did this practice. He showed her Aunt Rhody and came back to it to see if she had learned it and again could not identify it. She was also unable to identify “O Come little Children”, and we have not worked on identifying these songs. She hummed along to finish all the songs he demonstrated and so he feels that she does know them on some level.

II. Bow Sets 3-5 times per day
1. Green Feet, Soft knees , Parent holds bow (horizontal)
2. Nora places fingers hanging curved over stick, soft hand, fingers spaced with air between each one, middle finger across from bumpy thumb, pointer on silver
3. Bow goes tip to ceiling and Parent points very close to tip and Nora looks at tip for count down from 10

Nora had a lovely soft bow grip, guided by Mr. S

III. Bow Practice MHD on left shoulder while singing the rhythm

Add HB and SBB rhythms

Although it never/rarely happened at home, Nora’s bow at the lesson was slipping off of her left shoulder. Mr. S recommended trying to use a toilet paper roll attached to her clothing on the front of her left shoulder. This would help to guide her bow on her left shoulder while her parent can make sure that her right shoulder is not raising and moving forward. *The toilet paper roll turned out to be too distracting and using the parent’s right hand to guide bow on Nora’s shoulder worked better.

He was especially noting that we should watch that Nora’s right bow arm shoulder remain down and relaxed. Nora’s shoulders should be directly over her green feet and nicely back and straight and should not twist, or raise, or move forward.

The example bowing should be fluid, legato type bow strokes and not too fast.


IV. Violin Practice Sets 6 times per day
1. Green Feet, Soft knees , Left arm softly on waist, Nora looks straight ahead, Parent holds violin by ribs and places violin, Nora turns head, drops head, left arms move up for thumb pillow.
2. Parent lets go of violin and holds something of interest at end of the scroll
3. Nora should look the object of interest for a count down – may use favorite toy
a. from 10
b. from 20 (she just barely did this at the lesson)
c. he would like to increase this to a high number … 30 and eventually more

Behavior Issues:
Nora never put her hands in her mouth, nose or hair – a first! Her hair was all in bands and barrettes, though I am sure that mommy Lisa would not have approved of the fashion statement. She did not get wiggly and watched and cooperated with Mr S quite well.

At one point in the lesson, Nora got off of her foot chart and he told her that she could take a 5 second “break” and after the count of 5 she should return to her chart – and she did!


V. Rosin Bow Procedure: Rosin each day before practice
1. hold rosin in left hand
2. bow in right hand - hold bow firmly at frog but not actual bow set grip
3. place bow on rosin track, use whole bow strokes frog to tip
4. do 7 strokes (count one and two and)
5. lightly wipe off violin bridge area with light handkerchief at the end of practice

Nora did this nicely one he got her to use the whole bow, she started with just tiny strokes on the rosin, something we have not seen at home. He liked the idea of the small rosin cake encased in wood to prevent cracking. He said she can graduate to a different and more fragile, cloth wrapped rosin later.

VI. “Dessert” is MHD, HB, SBB, Washington, played on E string at yellow tape marked on Bow Stick
new* work to stay on just the E string he said
1. Green Feet, Soft knees, Right Bow hand set with parent, Left arm softly across waist
2. Violin set with parent, Parent maintains grasp on scroll of violin
3. Parent guide bow by screw to place on E string at lowest part of yellow tape
4. My Turn – parent moves bow downward to begin rhythm, keeping bow stroke within yellow, Your Turn: parent lets go of screw but continues to guide right elbow
5. Nora is to try to stay within the yellow tape bow playground area and to stay on E string


VII. NEW Practice String Crossing E to A and back A to E

Touch Bow to E string (play a rhythm on E My Turn, Your turn) and rock bow to A string and play a rhythm on A My turn your turn
a. Reach to A string, bow hand leads and arm follows
b. Drop to E string, arm leads and hand follows

Nora did beautifully on this exercise and Mr S seemed especially pleased that she was able to isolate and play on just one string at a time. She played on the A string for the first time ever and she stayed on the A string for the MHD rhythm. He commented that this ability to play on just one string at a time was unusual in his experience. He said that there were lots of things to help teach this one string playing, but that it seems at this point that she will not need these strategies.


VIII. The Pebble Game – “The Burn”

New Practice Game for these rhythms to encourage Nora to play one after the other without a break – she should keep standing on her green feet with violin in playing position. In the lesson I think that she actually played all the rhythms at least once with him except perhaps “twinkle slow” as Mima plunked 8 pen caps into a china mug.

a. He said he liked this game best when pebbles (little rocks) were dropped into a container for each practice item that is done without break (green feet violin up and go through all repetitions or exercises).
b. If Nora does get off green feet, lower violin, or otherwise break the rhythm of this practice exercise then all the pebbles go out of the cup and we begin again to try to get ALL of the pebbles into the cup.

Going for “The Burn” :
He said he wished he had found more than the 8 pen caps he found. But Nora looked very challenged to be doing 8 rhythms in a row at this lesson. He explained that this was a technique to help provide Nora a just right challenge, something that seems a real stretch, but that is actually within her grasp if she really really tries. He said that doing things over and over again that are not very hard makes the lesson and practice a bit boring and doing things that are too hard do not help learning. The “burn” is a special challenge that the teacher tries to set specifically for each student to promote learning and interest.


IX. Practice Music Reading and Pitch Training (not addressed on this lesson)

Note Card Game:
1. Mix note cards up and place on the floor face up with all cards showing
2. Parent names a note (may give hand sign to assist if needed)
3. Nora is to first sing the pitch of the note as she names it
4. Then she finds the note card with the note on the staff

End of Lesson:
When he was finished with demonstrating to Mima how to change from back and forth between the E and the A strings, he asked Nora to do the goodbye bow.
Nora found her red feet and bowed beautifully and smoothly and said “Thank you for teaching me Mr. S”.

Mima please remember to bring violin next time to work with Mr. S

Mr S said that the pictures Mima is taking must be adorable and they will be great at Nora’s graduation and he looks forward to seeing them.

Mr S told Nora that the really fat cat at the lesson house (the one that he said sort of looks like a balloon cat) is named Winkie.

Additional:
Nora picked out a big chocolate chip cookie from the store at the end of the street. We had a great time at Clemyjonti park ,and met Hanna who came up to Nora and introduced herself. Hanna will be 4 years old at the end of December. She lives in Rockville and goes to a morning preschool. Her mom has taught her lots about numbers and she is a beginning reader as well. Hanna and her mom were there with a few friends and their mothers. Her friends spoke mostly Spanish, so Mima got a chance to practice for her class tonight.
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