A. Mr S Congratulated Nora on:
1. Bow hand hold becoming very natural for her
2. Keeping violin up the whole time and playing without wiggles
3. Using open door arm
4. Playing in playground tape better than before
B. Key element of lesson:
Assignment 10 finger soft pops using each finger each day (he did them on A string) 10 x 3rd, 2nd, 1st finger. Left hand only without the bow!
Explanation:
1. Just lightly touch (never press) and pop off, no squeezing. Touch and get off the string.
2. Soft finger pops back (rather than straight up) and moves from the base of the finger, the lowest joint closest to the hand.
3. She should try not to press her finger too hard on the string, just the natural weight of the finger, better to have a wispy sound at this point.
4. Touch is a happy word, press is not, “don't hurt the string” be gentle.
5. He said that one may also add the thumb moving away from the neck as an additional exercise.
C. He asked her to play the entire Twinkle MHD sandwich on her own for him (first time) and said that this should be a very rare treat at home.
1. She self corrected several notes that did not get a good sound and let him help her on a few.
2. When he tried to help her at one point she reminded him that he said she would be playing this independently, and she struggled through the entire song, faltering on the last few notes of the jelly. She forged ahead all on her own and regained confidence with the last bread. He helped her with an occasional verbal cue such as "E", and this was her very first time to play the entire song!
D. Other points of the lesson for her Sandwich practice.
1. He said that she should work more on her SWING (open back) drop D
2. When she finishes a “sandwich” she should raise bow hand up above her head while she keeps the violin up under her chin. He did not do the second step of the red feet rest position bow this week.
3. Play with shoulders “square” not a twisted trunk. (Left knee soft)
a. Pretend that there is a string from Nora's belly button to her practice parent in the chair in front of her.
b. Keep her nose, scroll toe alignment
i. While her belly faces forward
ii. It may help to practice in the same location in our house so that Nora is facing and looking toward the same part of the room in each practice. (after the holiday travels)
E. She told him her listening piece: Peter Tchaikovsky composed the Nutcracker Suite conducted by Michael “Thomas Tilson” played by the “harmonic” orchestra. She did this even as she saw Daddy walking by the window of her lesson room.
F. Behavior: He asked her to go back to the couch and walk to her green feet on the foot chart (instead of crawling, a first)! and she did this. We used hand sanitizer (a first!) quickly after she put her hand to her nose, and Mima will have to remember to use the regular and not the moisturizer variety, as it dries much more quickly. She prepared her violin nicely for the lesson in the waiting room and watched quietly from the observer chair for the last few minutes of L's lesson as Mr S was writing things down in the notebook for her father. Eventually Nora did get off the chair in her eagerness to give him his box of holiday violin cookies, but it was not a problem. She worked quietly in her notebook at the end of the lesson as Mr S showed Daddy and Mima how to do left hand light individual finger taps on a chair seat. He also had Mima and Keary hold the little violin to get a "feel" of what Nora was needing to learn. On the first finger touch Mima also had a too strong finger tap, and Mr S showed how Mima and Nora should be softly moving the individual fingers.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Violin Lesson 12/14/07
Practice List Friday 12/14/2007 Lesson 23 Week 12
Practice List Daily
1. 5 MHD A string & 5 MHD E string w/ “open door” what we will now call the bow arm opening at elbow
a. In order to count as one of the five they must be:
i. In playground especially do not go below the bottom of tape (error of playing above the tape is less problematic) NEW use whole tape area.
ii. Open elbow joint to see smiley face that was penned on inside of her elbow
b. Smiley face drawn on inside of R elbow will be visible when bow is correct
2. MHD Twinkle Dessert Practice –* NEW fix it or move on Game for “open door”
a. Nora plays her own bread when she sings the PB & J
b. NEW Nora plays her own PB & J when she sings the bread
c. Keep doing both play / sing variations of this practice
d. Do some (at least half?) of these as “my turn” “your turn”
e. Keeping even tempo (the word tempo was not used) was discussed with Nora in detail, not too fast, not too slow, just right temp
f. raise just bow arm over head, smile, red feet and bow
g. *If her arm opens at elbow (open door) go in the next note, if not, play note again with “open door”
h. NEW: Mr S showed Mima that Nora’s bow is now sometimes going crooked, at an angle on her “highway” with tip too far angled behind her. We should help Nora to learn what a straight bow on her highway between bridge and fingerboard feels like.
3. Note Cards shown to her when she has violin to play them using MHD rhythm (not done this lesson keep doing this)
a. Nora looks at the card
b. Sings the note she sees
c. Plays MHD rhythm for the note
d. Sing the note again
e. Next card do the same
4. Song Identification Specific Project “Is it ____ or ____?” keep doing these
a. Aunt Rhody vs Long Long Ago *still difficult try to explain that notes go up (LLA) or down (GTAR)
b. Perpetual Motion vs (Etude, Song of Wind. May Song, Allegretto, Andantino)
c. Allegretto vs Andantino
d. NEW: play 3 notes using extremes first and ask if they are going higher or lower (up or down)
5. Pitch: Mr S had Nora sing A and although nothing was said this week, we probably still need to work on Nora learning to adjust pitch without making her voice get louder. In general higher and softer singing for the A.
6. Crossed Violin hand off and thank you bow * remember to say thank you for teaching me …
7. Eye contact for presentations of poem and listening piece
Further Explanations:
- Story Format: for Listening Piece Recitation on Friday: “Peter Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker Suite, and it was conducted Michael Tilson Thomas with the Philharmonia Orchestra”
- Poem recitation Tuesday, look at Mr S.
Practice List Daily
1. 5 MHD A string & 5 MHD E string w/ “open door” what we will now call the bow arm opening at elbow
a. In order to count as one of the five they must be:
i. In playground especially do not go below the bottom of tape (error of playing above the tape is less problematic) NEW use whole tape area.
ii. Open elbow joint to see smiley face that was penned on inside of her elbow
b. Smiley face drawn on inside of R elbow will be visible when bow is correct
2. MHD Twinkle Dessert Practice –* NEW fix it or move on Game for “open door”
a. Nora plays her own bread when she sings the PB & J
b. NEW Nora plays her own PB & J when she sings the bread
c. Keep doing both play / sing variations of this practice
d. Do some (at least half?) of these as “my turn” “your turn”
e. Keeping even tempo (the word tempo was not used) was discussed with Nora in detail, not too fast, not too slow, just right temp
f. raise just bow arm over head, smile, red feet and bow
g. *If her arm opens at elbow (open door) go in the next note, if not, play note again with “open door”
h. NEW: Mr S showed Mima that Nora’s bow is now sometimes going crooked, at an angle on her “highway” with tip too far angled behind her. We should help Nora to learn what a straight bow on her highway between bridge and fingerboard feels like.
3. Note Cards shown to her when she has violin to play them using MHD rhythm (not done this lesson keep doing this)
a. Nora looks at the card
b. Sings the note she sees
c. Plays MHD rhythm for the note
d. Sing the note again
e. Next card do the same
4. Song Identification Specific Project “Is it ____ or ____?” keep doing these
a. Aunt Rhody vs Long Long Ago *still difficult try to explain that notes go up (LLA) or down (GTAR)
b. Perpetual Motion vs (Etude, Song of Wind. May Song, Allegretto, Andantino)
c. Allegretto vs Andantino
d. NEW: play 3 notes using extremes first and ask if they are going higher or lower (up or down)
5. Pitch: Mr S had Nora sing A and although nothing was said this week, we probably still need to work on Nora learning to adjust pitch without making her voice get louder. In general higher and softer singing for the A.
6. Crossed Violin hand off and thank you bow * remember to say thank you for teaching me …
7. Eye contact for presentations of poem and listening piece
Further Explanations:
- Story Format: for Listening Piece Recitation on Friday: “Peter Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker Suite, and it was conducted Michael Tilson Thomas with the Philharmonia Orchestra”
- Poem recitation Tuesday, look at Mr S.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Violin Lesson Tuesday 12/11/2007
Practice List Tuesday 12/11/2007 Lesson 22 Week 12
Practice List Daily
1. NEW: 5 MHD A string & 5 MHD E string w/ bow arm opening at elbow
a. In order to count as one of the five they must be:
i. In playground especially do not go below the bottom of tape (error of playing above the tape is less problematic)
ii. Open elbow joint to see smiley face that was penned on inside of her elbow
b. Smiley face drawn on inside of R elbow will be visible when bow is correct
2. MHD Twinkle Dessert Practice
a. Nora plays her own bread (not model and then your turn)
b. Keep doing both play / sing variations of this practice
i. Sing & sign the bread and Play the two peanut butter and jelly parts, then sing and sign the bread to end.
ii. Play bread (herself) and sign and sing the two peanut butter and jelly parts, then Play the bread (herself) to end.
1. * raise just bow arm (not fiddle)
2. smile and bow
3. NEW: Note Cards shown to her when she has violin to play them with MHD
a. Nora looks at the card
b. Sings the note she sees
c. Plays MHD rhythm for the note
d. Sing the note again
e. Next card do the same
4. Song Identification Specific Project “Is it ____ or ____?”
a. Aunt Rhody vs Long Long Ago
b. Perpetual Motion vs (Etude, Song of Wind. May Song, Allegretto, Andantino)
c. Allegretto vs Andantino
5. Pitch: Mr S said that Nora’s self generated A is often a bit low to start and she can learn to make it higher without making her voice get louder. Higher and softer singing for the A.
6. Crossed Violin hand off and thank you bow
7. Eye contact for presentations of poem and listening piece
Notes:
Practice List Daily
1. NEW: 5 MHD A string & 5 MHD E string w/ bow arm opening at elbow
a. In order to count as one of the five they must be:
i. In playground especially do not go below the bottom of tape (error of playing above the tape is less problematic)
ii. Open elbow joint to see smiley face that was penned on inside of her elbow
b. Smiley face drawn on inside of R elbow will be visible when bow is correct
2. MHD Twinkle Dessert Practice
a. Nora plays her own bread (not model and then your turn)
b. Keep doing both play / sing variations of this practice
i. Sing & sign the bread and Play the two peanut butter and jelly parts, then sing and sign the bread to end.
ii. Play bread (herself) and sign and sing the two peanut butter and jelly parts, then Play the bread (herself) to end.
1. * raise just bow arm (not fiddle)
2. smile and bow
3. NEW: Note Cards shown to her when she has violin to play them with MHD
a. Nora looks at the card
b. Sings the note she sees
c. Plays MHD rhythm for the note
d. Sing the note again
e. Next card do the same
4. Song Identification Specific Project “Is it ____ or ____?”
a. Aunt Rhody vs Long Long Ago
b. Perpetual Motion vs (Etude, Song of Wind. May Song, Allegretto, Andantino)
c. Allegretto vs Andantino
5. Pitch: Mr S said that Nora’s self generated A is often a bit low to start and she can learn to make it higher without making her voice get louder. Higher and softer singing for the A.
6. Crossed Violin hand off and thank you bow
7. Eye contact for presentations of poem and listening piece
Notes:
- We missed the last lesson because Nora had a cold.
- Nora sang an A for Mr S and he said that she tended to sing the A a bit low and then get louder as she raised her pitch to match his source. He told her to sing higher and more quietly and she did it one time.
- Nora recited her poem well, though most of the time, she did not look at Mr S (eye contact). The poem was one he had not heard (very unusual, he said he has heard most poems the children bring in)and it made him laugh. It was taken from the back of a ravioli package, “Old Mother Hubbard” with a twist! When Old Mother Hubbard came home, the dog was eating itsy bitsy raviolis!
- Nora continued to have difficulty identifying some of her assigned songs in book one. We will have to remember to tell him on Friday that our “mystery song” was Perpetual Motion!
- He played Allegro first and Nora identified it immediately. After that he alternated playing just the ones that she has particularly had difficulty with. Aunt Rhody versus Long Long Ago (he played 8 and she missed Then he ran Allegretto, Andantino and Etude and she got them all except that her responses were quite slow. Perpetual Motion was still the hardest for her, even when given the choice “ is it Etude or Perpetual Motion?” We are to practice these in a similar manner this week. Is it X or Y?
- He asked her to play her MHD twinkle playing the bread without a teacher. Mommy, Mima model first. Nora did this quite well with just a bit of coaching from Mr S for the note E after the F# and for a C#.
- She told him her school poem about county corn and geese flying east and west. He had her do to a 2nsd time and she was able to give him more eye contact. He told Mima to introduce the hand signal for “looking” at her partner/audience. Mima notes that when she talked to him at other times in the lesson this eye contact with her communication partner (Mr S0 was also missing.
- She followed most of his directions the first time, but needed one or two repetitions for such things as getting on her green feet.
- KEY: bow arm opens at elbow joint (if possible one hand or person gently guide elbow joint using finger/s inside elbow the other finger/s at outside of joint. We really need to do this!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Nora's first group recital
The studio had a magnificent concert. Some of the most mature students started the concert with Vivaldi, The Four Seasons. Many kids took the stage for pieces from books 1-3, and one student finished off the evening with a sparkling Allegro and Presto from Barber's Concerto Op 14.
In the middle of the concert, the "pre-twinklers" were invited up to give a "demonstration" of singing and clapping rhythms. Here is Nora, with violin in rest position, placing her feet on red feet, getting ready for the first bow:
Then the children put their violins down for the clapping and singing, with bows after each:
They were all very proud to be part of such a wonderful concert:
In the middle of the concert, the "pre-twinklers" were invited up to give a "demonstration" of singing and clapping rhythms. Here is Nora, with violin in rest position, placing her feet on red feet, getting ready for the first bow:
Then the children put their violins down for the clapping and singing, with bows after each:
They were all very proud to be part of such a wonderful concert:
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Violin lesson Tuesday 11/27/2007
Nora plays the whole first "bread" part of MHD:
Practice List Tuesday 11/27/2007 Lesson 18 Week 10
Practice List
1. Tuning procedure: have Nora use her hand to indicate as we tune when she thinks that the pitch is correct. She can move her hand up higher to indicate too high and low to indicate low and the hand rests at the hand sign for “A” or “E” when it is at the correct pitch.
2. Playing “MHD Bread” A E F# E, D NEW: add C# and B and Nora gets her first slice of MHD BREAD A E F# E D C# B A then add EDC#B EDC#B , and the 2nd slice of bread.
a. Assignment: Do the Whole Song 3 times every day!!!
b. NEW: The new dessert exercise is as follows
i. Nora plays one slice of “bread” A E F# E D C# B A
ii. Nora sings the peanut butter & the jelly EDC#B EDC#B
iii. Nora plays one slice of “bread” A E F# E D C# B A
iv. (hand violin to parent when doing the singing parts)
c. NEW: use “walking fingers” with split second timing for the pop off and transfer.
d. KEY: bow arm opens at elbow need to grow.
e. Nora chooses MHD, HB, or SBB as rhythm to use for this new “Bread Dessert”.
3. Identification: Etude + AlleGR’etto, AN’dantino, Perpetual Motion. (Twinkle Variations) Lightly Row versus Aunt Rhody, Song of the Wind, O’ Come Little Children, May Song, Long Long Ago, Allegro)
4. Pitch Training: A, E, F# C# NEW: D and B, singing, hand signs and movements
a. KEY: Hear pitch for one note on the violin, then sing the name of the note with the hand sign
b. Sing the pitch, hear the pitch, then pitch match if needed
c. NEW: add the note card for D ….. and perhaps B as well
5. Shoulder bowing of Twinkle Variations while singing along “Listen Please” “Your Turn” (may hold left arm across chest/waist to prevent twist) *KEY watch for elbow joint opening
6. Keep green feet, head back on chin rest, bow on one lane of road, soft left knee, no twisting
7. Do 5 times a day: Left hand “Swing” includes the body balance shift with simultaneous knees forward, 1st finger “Open Back”, “Drop D” 3rd finger drops on A string and “ Tap D”: tap 3rd finger lightly a few times on A. Do as separate practice exercise.
8. Playing MHD, HB, SBB, Wash, My name on E string and A string. KEY: work for increased number of consecutive repetitions, playground amount of bow on the “road” & listen for tone. KEY: bow arm opens at elbow joint.
9. Playing MHD on E string and A string with string crossing: “touch E” “reach A” and A “drop E” KEY: 5 consecutive repetitions with eyes down on road and head back (keeping violin up) “listen please” “your turn”
10. “Fix it” or “Move on” Game: Object is to get all “Move Ons” as she plays dessert A E F# E (not mentioned; we can work up to this challenge over time)
11. Bow sets with “bumpy thumb” then maintain bow in tip up position
12. Violin sets for count of 10 seconds and work to more
13. Finger tapping thumb to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th finger
14. Get violin to rest position and thank you bow with words “thank you for teaching me _______.
15. Vocabulary: Dynamics
16. Sing and clap variation rhythm (first part of twinkle “the bread”) while keeping total eye contact Bread = A E F# E D C# B A
17. Listening Piece Story for Friday
18. Poem for Tuesday *still needs eye contact as primary objective
Notes:
1) Nora identified , Lightly Row, Song of the Wind, O Come Little Children, May Song (after a quick guess of Perpetual Motion), Long Long Ago (she got this correct, but at home she still confuses this one with Aunt Rhody), Allegro, Perpetual Motion (after his verbal cue of “it keeps moving”), Allegretto (verbal cue of “AL___” ), Andantino (verbal cue of “An___”), Etude (she got this one right away.) No new additions as these are no yet “easy” for Nora.
2) Mr S played pitches on her violin and Nora was asked to name and sing what she heard. We are to continue to do these as singing and hand signs and now add the note card for “D” and then later, “B”.
a) He gave her the following note sequence: A E F# E D C# B
b) He said we could give her “scale” sequences to help her find the notes
c) Nora was able to sing “A” without sticking out her tongue (a major accomplishment!)
d) Nora is still learning all of the pitches and benefits from repetitions.
3) Twinkle song, beginning with MHD was described to Nora as a sandwich so that the musical form of the piece can be recognized and discussed in concrete terms. The piece has two pieces of bread (that Nora, as of today, “knows” how to play) A E F# E D C# B A. The piece then has two identical peanut butter and jelly parts that Nora has not yet been taught, E D C# B, E D C# B. And then the piece ends with a “slice of bread”, the sequence of notes that Nora is now practicing A E F# E D C# B A.
4) Thus Nora is being asked to play her “Bread” and then hand her violin to her practice parent while she sings the two peanut butter and jelly parts, and then after her violin is set for her she again is supposed to play her “bread” to end the sandwich and the piece.
5) Steps in “dessert” entire “BREAD”, fade verbal cues as Nora does these steps independently
• “Green Feet”
• “Soft Knees”
• “Soft Bow Hand”
• “TURN HEAD”
• “DROP HEAD”
• (Mima can swing Nora’s left arm to make sure it is soft and relaxed)
• “Thumb Pillow”
• “Tickle Spot”
• “Touch E” (need to teach Nora “touch E” because she got confused in group class when “Touch E” command caused her to “touch her F# finger to the string at the wrong time.
• “Reach A”
• “my turn” (a variety of cues can be used here, such as A listen, A play)
• “your turn”) (she really improved on this and is rarely playing too soon now!)
• drop E
• “my turn” “your turn”)
• touch F#
• “”my turn” – “your turn”
• “pop off”
• “my turn”– “your turn”
• “swing”
• “open back
• “drop D”
• “float bow” (to A string)
• “D listen”
• “D play”
• “C# listen”
• “C# play”
• “B listen”
• “B play”
•
NEW: use “walking fingers”.
i) As fingers change on A string from D (3rd finger) to C# (2nd finger), C# to B (1st finger), 2 fingers are momentarily down at the same time.
ii) This is essentially independent fingering not “block fingering”.
iii) Nora now has a 2nd finger tape on her violin.
b) KEY: bow arm opens at elbow joint (if possible one hand or person gently guide elbow joint using finger/s inside elbow the other finger/s at outside of joint. Use whole yellow tape playground / stay in playground and make a nice sound. As Nora grows size of her yellow tape, or even her bow size may need to grow.
6) The swing should bring the hand forward so that the 3rd finger just drops down to touch on the A string (her knuckle should not collapse downward.
a) For the Tapping, he showed how he touches the back of Nora’s hand lightly under the base of the third finger knuckle joint to help cue that the movement comes from the tendons in the hand and not just the distal joints of the 3rd finger.
b) MOVIE Clip 1 min 26 seconds taken at today’s lesson shows Nora’s first bread as it was done with teacher. This clip has some moments where it shows how he gently controls Nora’s left and right hands in subtle ways that we at home can not yet even approach. Also, it shows the “joy” always the “joy” connected with this Suzuki violin learning process, especially in the lesson.
7) Lightly “contribute weight to” Nora’s 3rd finger D on the A string as needed The touch on the string is so lightly that it may not depress the string enough to actually make a note that would sound. ….
8) Remember to place fingers 1st, 2nd 3rd)on string at thumb side corner (not verbalized to Nora, just be aware)
9) Nora told her teacher that she had difficulty seeing whether or not her left hand finger was on the correct string and the correct red tape because she was looking at her bow road. He explained to us that she will eventually be able to:
a) LOOK at the bow road
b) FEEL the correct placement for her fingers
10) Behavior: Nora followed directions well, however she had to be reminded by teacher to return to her foot chart – he called it “the bubble” that she needs to stay in during the lesson. She very quickly ran to Mima a few times for a very brief hug when she was a bit overexcited, but this did not seem to bother Mr S.
11) Mr S had Mima use his violin for her portion of the lesson. He helped Mima to play through the entire Bread (my turn, your turn) – sing peanut butter and jelly parts – and play the last bread (my turn, your turn).
a) Mima needs to remember to place fingers on thumb side corners.
b) Also remember to be relaxed in the left hand hold on the violin (next time Mima will bring “her” full sized violin and then perhaps she will be more relaxed).
c) Nora moves so quickly and sometimes unexpectedly that Mima at one point rescued Mr S’s bow from where it had been placed, too close to where Nora was standing between the teacher’s chair and table.
Further Explanations:
12) “Fix it” or “Move on” Game. The object is to get all “Move Ons” (not done in lesson and still quite new for us)
a) Choose two Possible Variables
• Head back (Nora fixed her own head spontaneously a few times in today’s lesson)
• No twisting shoulders and trunk
• Use playground
• Nice sound
b) After each MHD (on the dessert, or another playing practice exercise) the parent tells Nora
• “Fix it” and she needs to check and change her own head and twisted shoulders
• “Move On” means her head was back in proper place and she was not twisted left, so parent “goes on” to the give “listen please” for the next note of the dessert or exercise
13) Story Format: for Listening Piece Recitation on Friday: “Antonio Vvaldi composed Four Seasons Concertos, and they were performed by Itzhak Perlman on the violin.”
14) Poem recitation Tuesday, look at Mr S.
Group Class for performance (Mima thinks this is right?):
0. parent will place foot chart at front of room
1. Walk out with purpose w/ violin in “rest position” (look ahead at leader or child in front of you and not around room or at ceiling)
2. SMILE (when hear clapping)
3. Place violin on chart
4. Look at leader – follow command for “green feet”
5. variation rhythms follow his “______ please” and clap hands, slap knees, stomp feet, pat cheeks, ____
6. hear a single note and sing the name of the note while making hand sign
7. pick up violin and put in rest position
8. BOW in rest position with “red feet” with SMILE (left arm straight down at side)
Group Class Information:
Note Hand Position Movement
A bottom of chin sit down
E top head, hairline stand up
F# above head jump
D forehead/eyebrow touch shoulder
C# nose touch waist
B lips touch toes
More Notes:
1. Nora dictated a few “I am thankful for” sentences at school for their Thanksgiving project, and the first thing on Nora’s list was “violin lessons” – not practicing, but the actual lessons themselves! We will have to remember to tell her teacher about this.
2. Giving Nora even the most basic choice (such as which of 3 rhythms she wants to play, or whether she wants to do 2, 3 or 4 repetitions) has helped the practice sessions at home immensely.
3. After Nora played her very first complete “bread” of MHD twinkle and Mr S took her violin, she ran away, flung herself onto the couch, and bounced around in excitement. In answer to her teacher’s question “did you get her reaction on film” Mima had to answer that she did not, as Nora ran right out if the picture frame!
4. We did remember to turn the heater on and in the few minutes before the teacher arrived the studio had heated up to a comfortable temperature.
5. She showed her “notes” to Mr S at the end of the lesson. She told us that she had written the letters of the notes that he taught her. She gave the page to him so that he could remember what the notes were and he put the paper on his music stand, an important place.
6. Nora went back to look into the lesson studio (she stood very quietly outside of the door) when she heard the girl in the next lesson playing an excerpt from the Nutcracker Suite. We anticipate that this will be her listening piece for most of December in preparation for going to the Ballet with her cousins.
7. We are on a health kick and have substituted a purchase of fruit instead of the cookie for Nora’s after lesson treat. The large cup of grapes proved very enticing so all went well with this change in routine, at least for today.
5. It was a chilly day at the park, but there were a few other brave souls on the equipment. Nora got to do lots of running climbing and swinging.
6. Hair: Nora pulled the clips and bands out of her hair as she got into the car to drive to her lesson. She allowed Mima to redo her hair before the lesson and managed not to chew on her hair during her lesson. When there was more “down time” as in group class, Nora’s hair sucking behavior was at it’s most troublesome.
a. Nora got a haircut after the lesson today and her back hair is now too short to get into her mouth. Mom is counting in the fact that the front hair will remain in the hair band, at least for school, lessons and performances.
b. She was cooperative and held her travel blankie throughout the procedure. We went out and bought a wooden dreidle after the haircut and plaed several rounds when we got home.
Practice List Tuesday 11/27/2007 Lesson 18 Week 10
Practice List
1. Tuning procedure: have Nora use her hand to indicate as we tune when she thinks that the pitch is correct. She can move her hand up higher to indicate too high and low to indicate low and the hand rests at the hand sign for “A” or “E” when it is at the correct pitch.
2. Playing “MHD Bread” A E F# E, D NEW: add C# and B and Nora gets her first slice of MHD BREAD A E F# E D C# B A then add EDC#B EDC#B , and the 2nd slice of bread.
a. Assignment: Do the Whole Song 3 times every day!!!
b. NEW: The new dessert exercise is as follows
i. Nora plays one slice of “bread” A E F# E D C# B A
ii. Nora sings the peanut butter & the jelly EDC#B EDC#B
iii. Nora plays one slice of “bread” A E F# E D C# B A
iv. (hand violin to parent when doing the singing parts)
c. NEW: use “walking fingers” with split second timing for the pop off and transfer.
d. KEY: bow arm opens at elbow need to grow.
e. Nora chooses MHD, HB, or SBB as rhythm to use for this new “Bread Dessert”.
3. Identification: Etude + AlleGR’etto, AN’dantino, Perpetual Motion. (Twinkle Variations) Lightly Row versus Aunt Rhody, Song of the Wind, O’ Come Little Children, May Song, Long Long Ago, Allegro)
4. Pitch Training: A, E, F# C# NEW: D and B, singing, hand signs and movements
a. KEY: Hear pitch for one note on the violin, then sing the name of the note with the hand sign
b. Sing the pitch, hear the pitch, then pitch match if needed
c. NEW: add the note card for D ….. and perhaps B as well
5. Shoulder bowing of Twinkle Variations while singing along “Listen Please” “Your Turn” (may hold left arm across chest/waist to prevent twist) *KEY watch for elbow joint opening
6. Keep green feet, head back on chin rest, bow on one lane of road, soft left knee, no twisting
7. Do 5 times a day: Left hand “Swing” includes the body balance shift with simultaneous knees forward, 1st finger “Open Back”, “Drop D” 3rd finger drops on A string and “ Tap D”: tap 3rd finger lightly a few times on A. Do as separate practice exercise.
8. Playing MHD, HB, SBB, Wash, My name on E string and A string. KEY: work for increased number of consecutive repetitions, playground amount of bow on the “road” & listen for tone. KEY: bow arm opens at elbow joint.
9. Playing MHD on E string and A string with string crossing: “touch E” “reach A” and A “drop E” KEY: 5 consecutive repetitions with eyes down on road and head back (keeping violin up) “listen please” “your turn”
10. “Fix it” or “Move on” Game: Object is to get all “Move Ons” as she plays dessert A E F# E (not mentioned; we can work up to this challenge over time)
11. Bow sets with “bumpy thumb” then maintain bow in tip up position
12. Violin sets for count of 10 seconds and work to more
13. Finger tapping thumb to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th finger
14. Get violin to rest position and thank you bow with words “thank you for teaching me _______.
15. Vocabulary: Dynamics
16. Sing and clap variation rhythm (first part of twinkle “the bread”) while keeping total eye contact Bread = A E F# E D C# B A
17. Listening Piece Story for Friday
18. Poem for Tuesday *still needs eye contact as primary objective
Notes:
1) Nora identified , Lightly Row, Song of the Wind, O Come Little Children, May Song (after a quick guess of Perpetual Motion), Long Long Ago (she got this correct, but at home she still confuses this one with Aunt Rhody), Allegro, Perpetual Motion (after his verbal cue of “it keeps moving”), Allegretto (verbal cue of “AL___” ), Andantino (verbal cue of “An___”), Etude (she got this one right away.) No new additions as these are no yet “easy” for Nora.
2) Mr S played pitches on her violin and Nora was asked to name and sing what she heard. We are to continue to do these as singing and hand signs and now add the note card for “D” and then later, “B”.
a) He gave her the following note sequence: A E F# E D C# B
b) He said we could give her “scale” sequences to help her find the notes
c) Nora was able to sing “A” without sticking out her tongue (a major accomplishment!)
d) Nora is still learning all of the pitches and benefits from repetitions.
3) Twinkle song, beginning with MHD was described to Nora as a sandwich so that the musical form of the piece can be recognized and discussed in concrete terms. The piece has two pieces of bread (that Nora, as of today, “knows” how to play) A E F# E D C# B A. The piece then has two identical peanut butter and jelly parts that Nora has not yet been taught, E D C# B, E D C# B. And then the piece ends with a “slice of bread”, the sequence of notes that Nora is now practicing A E F# E D C# B A.
4) Thus Nora is being asked to play her “Bread” and then hand her violin to her practice parent while she sings the two peanut butter and jelly parts, and then after her violin is set for her she again is supposed to play her “bread” to end the sandwich and the piece.
5) Steps in “dessert” entire “BREAD”, fade verbal cues as Nora does these steps independently
• “Green Feet”
• “Soft Knees”
• “Soft Bow Hand”
• “TURN HEAD”
• “DROP HEAD”
• (Mima can swing Nora’s left arm to make sure it is soft and relaxed)
• “Thumb Pillow”
• “Tickle Spot”
• “Touch E” (need to teach Nora “touch E” because she got confused in group class when “Touch E” command caused her to “touch her F# finger to the string at the wrong time.
• “Reach A”
• “my turn” (a variety of cues can be used here, such as A listen, A play)
• “your turn”) (she really improved on this and is rarely playing too soon now!)
• drop E
• “my turn” “your turn”)
• touch F#
• “”my turn” – “your turn”
• “pop off”
• “my turn”– “your turn”
• “swing”
• “open back
• “drop D”
• “float bow” (to A string)
• “D listen”
• “D play”
• “C# listen”
• “C# play”
• “B listen”
• “B play”
•
NEW: use “walking fingers”.
i) As fingers change on A string from D (3rd finger) to C# (2nd finger), C# to B (1st finger), 2 fingers are momentarily down at the same time.
ii) This is essentially independent fingering not “block fingering”.
iii) Nora now has a 2nd finger tape on her violin.
b) KEY: bow arm opens at elbow joint (if possible one hand or person gently guide elbow joint using finger/s inside elbow the other finger/s at outside of joint. Use whole yellow tape playground / stay in playground and make a nice sound. As Nora grows size of her yellow tape, or even her bow size may need to grow.
6) The swing should bring the hand forward so that the 3rd finger just drops down to touch on the A string (her knuckle should not collapse downward.
a) For the Tapping, he showed how he touches the back of Nora’s hand lightly under the base of the third finger knuckle joint to help cue that the movement comes from the tendons in the hand and not just the distal joints of the 3rd finger.
b) MOVIE Clip 1 min 26 seconds taken at today’s lesson shows Nora’s first bread as it was done with teacher. This clip has some moments where it shows how he gently controls Nora’s left and right hands in subtle ways that we at home can not yet even approach. Also, it shows the “joy” always the “joy” connected with this Suzuki violin learning process, especially in the lesson.
7) Lightly “contribute weight to” Nora’s 3rd finger D on the A string as needed The touch on the string is so lightly that it may not depress the string enough to actually make a note that would sound. ….
8) Remember to place fingers 1st, 2nd 3rd)on string at thumb side corner (not verbalized to Nora, just be aware)
9) Nora told her teacher that she had difficulty seeing whether or not her left hand finger was on the correct string and the correct red tape because she was looking at her bow road. He explained to us that she will eventually be able to:
a) LOOK at the bow road
b) FEEL the correct placement for her fingers
10) Behavior: Nora followed directions well, however she had to be reminded by teacher to return to her foot chart – he called it “the bubble” that she needs to stay in during the lesson. She very quickly ran to Mima a few times for a very brief hug when she was a bit overexcited, but this did not seem to bother Mr S.
11) Mr S had Mima use his violin for her portion of the lesson. He helped Mima to play through the entire Bread (my turn, your turn) – sing peanut butter and jelly parts – and play the last bread (my turn, your turn).
a) Mima needs to remember to place fingers on thumb side corners.
b) Also remember to be relaxed in the left hand hold on the violin (next time Mima will bring “her” full sized violin and then perhaps she will be more relaxed).
c) Nora moves so quickly and sometimes unexpectedly that Mima at one point rescued Mr S’s bow from where it had been placed, too close to where Nora was standing between the teacher’s chair and table.
Further Explanations:
12) “Fix it” or “Move on” Game. The object is to get all “Move Ons” (not done in lesson and still quite new for us)
a) Choose two Possible Variables
• Head back (Nora fixed her own head spontaneously a few times in today’s lesson)
• No twisting shoulders and trunk
• Use playground
• Nice sound
b) After each MHD (on the dessert, or another playing practice exercise) the parent tells Nora
• “Fix it” and she needs to check and change her own head and twisted shoulders
• “Move On” means her head was back in proper place and she was not twisted left, so parent “goes on” to the give “listen please” for the next note of the dessert or exercise
13) Story Format: for Listening Piece Recitation on Friday: “Antonio Vvaldi composed Four Seasons Concertos, and they were performed by Itzhak Perlman on the violin.”
14) Poem recitation Tuesday, look at Mr S.
Group Class for performance (Mima thinks this is right?):
0. parent will place foot chart at front of room
1. Walk out with purpose w/ violin in “rest position” (look ahead at leader or child in front of you and not around room or at ceiling)
2. SMILE (when hear clapping)
3. Place violin on chart
4. Look at leader – follow command for “green feet”
5. variation rhythms follow his “______ please” and clap hands, slap knees, stomp feet, pat cheeks, ____
6. hear a single note and sing the name of the note while making hand sign
7. pick up violin and put in rest position
8. BOW in rest position with “red feet” with SMILE (left arm straight down at side)
Group Class Information:
Note Hand Position Movement
A bottom of chin sit down
E top head, hairline stand up
F# above head jump
D forehead/eyebrow touch shoulder
C# nose touch waist
B lips touch toes
More Notes:
1. Nora dictated a few “I am thankful for” sentences at school for their Thanksgiving project, and the first thing on Nora’s list was “violin lessons” – not practicing, but the actual lessons themselves! We will have to remember to tell her teacher about this.
2. Giving Nora even the most basic choice (such as which of 3 rhythms she wants to play, or whether she wants to do 2, 3 or 4 repetitions) has helped the practice sessions at home immensely.
3. After Nora played her very first complete “bread” of MHD twinkle and Mr S took her violin, she ran away, flung herself onto the couch, and bounced around in excitement. In answer to her teacher’s question “did you get her reaction on film” Mima had to answer that she did not, as Nora ran right out if the picture frame!
4. We did remember to turn the heater on and in the few minutes before the teacher arrived the studio had heated up to a comfortable temperature.
5. She showed her “notes” to Mr S at the end of the lesson. She told us that she had written the letters of the notes that he taught her. She gave the page to him so that he could remember what the notes were and he put the paper on his music stand, an important place.
6. Nora went back to look into the lesson studio (she stood very quietly outside of the door) when she heard the girl in the next lesson playing an excerpt from the Nutcracker Suite. We anticipate that this will be her listening piece for most of December in preparation for going to the Ballet with her cousins.
7. We are on a health kick and have substituted a purchase of fruit instead of the cookie for Nora’s after lesson treat. The large cup of grapes proved very enticing so all went well with this change in routine, at least for today.
5. It was a chilly day at the park, but there were a few other brave souls on the equipment. Nora got to do lots of running climbing and swinging.
6. Hair: Nora pulled the clips and bands out of her hair as she got into the car to drive to her lesson. She allowed Mima to redo her hair before the lesson and managed not to chew on her hair during her lesson. When there was more “down time” as in group class, Nora’s hair sucking behavior was at it’s most troublesome.
a. Nora got a haircut after the lesson today and her back hair is now too short to get into her mouth. Mom is counting in the fact that the front hair will remain in the hair band, at least for school, lessons and performances.
b. She was cooperative and held her travel blankie throughout the procedure. We went out and bought a wooden dreidle after the haircut and plaed several rounds when we got home.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Violin Lesson Friday 11/9/2007 Lesson 16 Week 8
Practice List Friday 11/9/2007 Lesson 16 Week 8
Practice List
Notes:
1) Nora stayed sitting/standing on her foot chart (directed by Mr S) as she named the songs and twinkle variations that Mr S played on her violin. After what appeared to be a warm up period where she was slow to answer and unsure, she then seemed to begin listening in earnest and her answers became faster and more reliable. He explained to her that she would get his direction to stand after she correctly named a song, but it was several songs past this point when she began answering with more confidence. There was no direction from Mr S nor was there an obvious difference in the procedure, it just appeared that about half way through this activity, Nora started fully participating! She answered most queries by listening and she did not actually watch/look at Mr S play the variations (though one would think that this could have helped her (?). At one point, after listening to “O Come Little Children” all the way through to the end and not saying the name, she sort of said to herself (looking down and not actually at Mr S) well, that has to be “O Come Little Children” because it is the only one with the ‘up bow, you can hear the up bow”. Mr S has not told her about the “up bow” but she certainly could have heard about it in group class observation, or even from Mima who is trying to remember the names of these songs by any manner available to her! Nora identified “Lightly Row” by sort of singing/humming it to herself as he played it, and this is often her way of figuring out this particular song. She listened to “Song of the Wind twice before saying the name. The first time he played “Allegro” she guessed that it was “May Song” and then “Song of the Wind”, before getting it correct. When he played it for her toward the end of this session she got it immediately. She incorrectly labeled “Washington” as “Huckleberry” and we do need to continue to review this one especially. He played “Perpetual Motion” and she named it correctly immediately after he gave to give her a hint that it was her new one. Then at the very end of this activity, as he said out loud that he thought perhaps he had missed one, Nora immediately, without hesitation, said that it was “Stop Big Bow”; and she was right! He added NEW: AlleGR’etto, and AN’dantino and said that it would help us to tell these two somewhat similar pieces apart if we pronounce them with different syllables accented. He also noted for us that AlleGR’etto starts on the open D string note, and AN’dantino begins with F# (on the D string …..made by, Mima noticed, placing the 2nd finger down on the D string).
2) At the end of the lesson we reminded him that Nora had a special listening piece and she did a great job (nice clear voice and not too fast) of telling him that Johannes Brahms composed Hungarian Dance Number 1 in G minor played by (she had a pause here) ……………. Itzhak (said with quite a bit of enthusiasm as she found this name particularly interesting) Perlman on the violin. I have no idea about her eye contact as he did not mention it, and my seat is directly behind her so that her focus is on Mr S and not me. But eye contact will be important for her poem on Tuesday.
3) Mom talked to Nora over the last 3 days about following directions and cooperating with her teacher Mr S at her lesson and today Nora did a fine job of both. Mima had just the faintest concern when Nora stayed seated and hesitated before following his first direction to stand on her green feet so that they could do pitch singing. After that Nora was very compliant for the entire lesson. While we are on the subject of behavior and distractions, her hair, in 3 bands done by mom, worked great and it remained a non-issue at the lesson. The scoop neck T-shirt seemed fine as well, but, the too long sleeves found their way into her mouth on several occasions during the pitch singing exercise, and the shirt was changed before group class in the evening. She had taken all the bands out by that late hour so Mima redid 2 bands and the hair was OK in the group class as well.
4) Mr S played pitches on her violin and Nora was asked to sing what she heard. He commented that the hand signing seemed to really help her with her pitch learning. Nora correctly did A E F# and then she sang an A when it should have been an E. She then did one C# OK and confused another with F#. She is getting more comfortable with these notes/pitches and he added D and B. We are to do these as singing and hand signs before we add the note cards.
5) He then did the 3rd finger tapping with Nora and at one point she was using her 2nd finger to do the tapping and it took her quite a while to change to the 3rd finger. This was a genuinely difficult task and she seemed to be giving it all her effort. He also asked her to make sure that the finger tapped right on her red tape. This exercise begins with the swing (includes the knees forward) movement.
6) Last they did the F# Dessert Exercise that will be the beginning of MHD twinkle, though Nora has not realized this yet, and that is fine. Nora seems to be concentrating so hard for this and you can hear her hum/grunt along with her playing. He reminded us that when her 1st finger F# comes off the string her hand should remain in place and not open away from the fingerboard.
7) Still Important: The swing should bring the hand forward so that the 3rd finger just drops down to touch on the A string (her knuckle should not collapse downward. For the Tapping, he showed how he touches the back of Nora’s hand lightly under the base of the third finger knuckle joint to help cue that the movement comes from the tendons in the hand and not just the distal joints of the 3rd finger. The touch on the string is so light that it may not depress the string enough to actually make a note that would sound. …. Until Tue lesson when he said he would give us the rest of this sequence.
8) He demonstrated for Nora what he will be teaching us in the Tuesday lesson. After the E, Left hand “Swing”, “open back” “drop D” and then she will “Reach Bow” moving the bow from the E string to the A string, before actually playing MHD for the new note D cue is “play”.
9) There will be no Friday lessons for the next two weeks so he is giving us plenty to keep us busy. He said that he has found that sometimes children can process and learn 3 new things at once more easily than they can master just one new thing.
10) Nora told Mima that she did not get a chance to “write in her notebook” at the end of the lesson, and so we went back into the studio as quiet observers of the beginning of the next lesson. Nora sat quietly on the “red observer chair” and wrote in her notebook, stopping to give her full attention to the lesson when the 9-year-old girl played “May Song” beautifully with perfect intonation and a lovely bow arm. The violinist’s objective on this piece seemed to be that she was supposed to go to the frog of the bow on 100% of the opportunities. She accomplished this on her 2nd try and Nora watched very attentively for the entire “performance”. The girl stated her listening piece (a fairly complex recitation that included an orchestra and a conductor in addition to the violin soloist, Nadja Solerno Sonnenberg). She also gave a recitation of the first half of a long poem. We are indeed fortunate that Nora is able to just concentrate on one or the other for her twice-weekly lessons.
11) When Nora returned from group class this evening, it was quite late, and it was even later when we finished dinner. Imagine our surprise when she announced that she wanted to practice right then and there with her mommy. And so they did! And it seemed that something was different in this, a very rare self initiated practice. Instead of just cooperating with what the adult was telling her to do, it seemed like Nora was trying to understand and learn what she needed to do in order to play the violin. Her concentration seemed different, more acute, and she made that new soft humming sound as she struggled to get her mind and body to perform all the small and large sequences that go into playing this instrument.
Further Explanations:
12) Steps in “dessert” A E F# E. Mima should give clear and rhythmic requests/instructions to Nora (some instructions use a variety of words meaning the same thing (“my turn” “your turn” has several variations)
13) Do 5 times a day Swing (far enough so that the 3rd finger can just drop down to touch the A string with no additional movement), “Open Back” 1st finger movement opening hand backward and 3rd finger dropping on A string NEW : tap 3rd finger on red tape on A string but not hard, just lightly touch. Pressure may not be enough to depress string and that is OK. :
• Only left hand, no bow needed
• “Open Back” : the first finger reaches back and a little down, left hand fingers fan open led by 1st finger movement back and down
• drop 3rd finger “D” to lightly touch the red tape on the A string (no squeeze)
14) “Fix it” or “Move on” Game. The object is to get all “Move Ons” (not done in lesson and still quite new for us)
a) Two Variables for the game at this point
• Head back (Nora fixed her own head spontaneously a few times in today’s lesson)
• No twisting shoulders and trunk
b) After each MHD (on the dessert, or another playing practice exercise) the parent tells Nora
• “Fix it” and she needs to check and change her own head and twisted shoulders
• “Move On” means her head was back in proper place and she was not twisted left, so parent “goes on” to the give “listen please” for the next note of the dessert or exercise
15) New Story Format: for Listening Piece Recitation worked well: “Johannes Brahms composed Hungarian Dance Number 1 in G Minor, and it was performed by Itzhak Perlman on the violin.”
16) Dessert: F# on the E string (“set E”, “reach to A” “Drop to E” “touch F#”, “pop off” “swing”)
a) A E F# E
b) On last E
• left side of hand leads (arm and elbow) (“swing”) slightly and body changes balance point so that knees come slightly forward
• Decrease tension, balance point is important
c) KEY: Listen for tone
17) For weekly Poem recitation Tuesday, 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. Learn new poem for Tuesday.
18) Weekly Music listening presentation (piece, composer, musician * and working up to accompanist or orchestra) Friday (see new format above)
Group Class
Group Class Information:
Note, Hand Position, Movement
A , bottom of chin , sit down
E, top head, hairline, stand up
F#, above head, jump
D, forehead/eyebrow, touch shoulder
C#, nose, touch waist
B, lips, touch toes
19) During group class this evening, Nora was the caboose on a 3-person “train” (children behind each other holding onto the shoulders of the child ahead). The class of 3 moved around the room to find the hidden violin bow led by Mr S playing twinkle variations with dynamics. Nora did not like being the caboose of this train, but the “engine” was 5 years old and understood much better how to follow the clues of the dynamics to find the hidden bow. When Mr S hid Nora’s bow and the engine was the one to find and touch her bow first, Nora was visibly upset and near tears. Amazingly, she took few deep breaths, pulled herself together and got back on her green feet for the next activity. We did hear on the car ride home how unfair she felt that this had been. Never the less, it was good for her to be able to join back in the group activity, even after suffering what she felt was a trauma to her sensibilities.
20) In the 5:30 evening group class, L and Nora (the only members present who had violins with them played some of their twinkle rhythms on the E string and A string following Mr S playing the “Listen Please” model on his own full sized violin. This was the very first time in class (private or group) that Nora played a rhythm on her violin without first having Mr S or a parent model it by moving her bow on her violin just before she did the “your turn” phase of this exercise. Nora had a bit of difficulty waiting for Mr S to play or complete the “Listen Please” portion of this new drill, and sometimes she started playing her part when he was still modeling. Nora did several of the sequences nicely on her own, though Mima kept her hands pretty close to the action. Sometimes Nora’s bow direction was confused (up for down) and sometimes she started bowing a rhythm different from the one that was modeled. Generally she and L kept together well for a first try at this task. An observer noted that L did this activity more independently, without the very close parent supervision and support that was given to Nora. Mima will have to monitor the situation to make sure that she is giving Nora enough freedom to learn in these types of situations. It is not easy for a parent/grandparent to judge how much help to provide, especially in a new activity. At one point L did loose control of her violin, and it fell to the floor (it was fine and suffered no damage).
Practice List
- Identification: NEW: AlleGR’etto, AN’dantino, Perpetual Motion. (Twinkle Variations, esp. Washington & Twinkle Slow) Lightly Row, Song of the Wind, Aunt Rhody, O’ Come Little Children, May Song, Long Long Ago, Allegro)
- Pitch Training: A, E, F# C# NEW: Add D and B, singing, hand signs and movements (and last add note cards if we feel she is ready)
- Violin sets for count of 10 seconds and work to more
- Shoulder bowing of Twinkle Variations while singing along “Listen Please” “Your Turn” (may hold left arm across chest/waist to prevent twist)
- Playing dessert (A E F# E, left side of hand leads left arm “swing”, and simultaneous body balance shift knees forward) KEY: at this point her 3rd finger should be in position to drop down on A string NEW variables: use whole yellow tape playground up to the new stopper band and make a nice sound. KEY: F# pop off is just 1st finger moving off, not fingers and hand opening away from fingerboard.
- Keep green feet, head back on chin rest, bow on one lane of road, soft left knee, no twisting
- Do 5 times a day: Left hand “Swing” includes the body balance shift with simultaneous knees forward, 1st finger “Open Back”, “Drop D” 3rd finger drops on A string and “ Tap D” : tap 3rd finger lightly a few times on A. Do as separate practice exercise. Use “knees forward” not “bend” as cue.
- Playing MHD, HB, SBB, Wash, My name on E string KEY: work for increased number of consecutive repetitions, playground amount of bow & listen for tone
- Playing MHD on E string and A string with string crossing: “set E” “reach A” and A “drop E” KEY: 5 consecutive repetitions with eyes down on road and head back (keeping violin up) “listen please” “your turn”
- “Fix it” or “Move on” Game: Object is to get all “Move Ons” as she plays dessert A E F# E (again not mentioned; we can work up to this challenge over time)
- Listening Piece Story for Friday
- Poem for Tuesday *still needs eye contact as primary objective
- Sing and clap variation rhythm (first part of twinkle “the bread”) while keeping total eye contact Bread = A E F# E D C# B A
- Bow sets with “bumpy thumb” then tip up
- Finger tapping thumb to 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th finger
- Turn head to follow hand (not body and eyes should not move)
- Getting violin into rest position and thank you bow with words “thank you for teaching me Mr S”
- Vocabulary: Dynamics
Notes:
1) Nora stayed sitting/standing on her foot chart (directed by Mr S) as she named the songs and twinkle variations that Mr S played on her violin. After what appeared to be a warm up period where she was slow to answer and unsure, she then seemed to begin listening in earnest and her answers became faster and more reliable. He explained to her that she would get his direction to stand after she correctly named a song, but it was several songs past this point when she began answering with more confidence. There was no direction from Mr S nor was there an obvious difference in the procedure, it just appeared that about half way through this activity, Nora started fully participating! She answered most queries by listening and she did not actually watch/look at Mr S play the variations (though one would think that this could have helped her (?). At one point, after listening to “O Come Little Children” all the way through to the end and not saying the name, she sort of said to herself (looking down and not actually at Mr S) well, that has to be “O Come Little Children” because it is the only one with the ‘up bow, you can hear the up bow”. Mr S has not told her about the “up bow” but she certainly could have heard about it in group class observation, or even from Mima who is trying to remember the names of these songs by any manner available to her! Nora identified “Lightly Row” by sort of singing/humming it to herself as he played it, and this is often her way of figuring out this particular song. She listened to “Song of the Wind twice before saying the name. The first time he played “Allegro” she guessed that it was “May Song” and then “Song of the Wind”, before getting it correct. When he played it for her toward the end of this session she got it immediately. She incorrectly labeled “Washington” as “Huckleberry” and we do need to continue to review this one especially. He played “Perpetual Motion” and she named it correctly immediately after he gave to give her a hint that it was her new one. Then at the very end of this activity, as he said out loud that he thought perhaps he had missed one, Nora immediately, without hesitation, said that it was “Stop Big Bow”; and she was right! He added NEW: AlleGR’etto, and AN’dantino and said that it would help us to tell these two somewhat similar pieces apart if we pronounce them with different syllables accented. He also noted for us that AlleGR’etto starts on the open D string note, and AN’dantino begins with F# (on the D string …..made by, Mima noticed, placing the 2nd finger down on the D string).
2) At the end of the lesson we reminded him that Nora had a special listening piece and she did a great job (nice clear voice and not too fast) of telling him that Johannes Brahms composed Hungarian Dance Number 1 in G minor played by (she had a pause here) ……………. Itzhak (said with quite a bit of enthusiasm as she found this name particularly interesting) Perlman on the violin. I have no idea about her eye contact as he did not mention it, and my seat is directly behind her so that her focus is on Mr S and not me. But eye contact will be important for her poem on Tuesday.
3) Mom talked to Nora over the last 3 days about following directions and cooperating with her teacher Mr S at her lesson and today Nora did a fine job of both. Mima had just the faintest concern when Nora stayed seated and hesitated before following his first direction to stand on her green feet so that they could do pitch singing. After that Nora was very compliant for the entire lesson. While we are on the subject of behavior and distractions, her hair, in 3 bands done by mom, worked great and it remained a non-issue at the lesson. The scoop neck T-shirt seemed fine as well, but, the too long sleeves found their way into her mouth on several occasions during the pitch singing exercise, and the shirt was changed before group class in the evening. She had taken all the bands out by that late hour so Mima redid 2 bands and the hair was OK in the group class as well.
4) Mr S played pitches on her violin and Nora was asked to sing what she heard. He commented that the hand signing seemed to really help her with her pitch learning. Nora correctly did A E F# and then she sang an A when it should have been an E. She then did one C# OK and confused another with F#. She is getting more comfortable with these notes/pitches and he added D and B. We are to do these as singing and hand signs before we add the note cards.
5) He then did the 3rd finger tapping with Nora and at one point she was using her 2nd finger to do the tapping and it took her quite a while to change to the 3rd finger. This was a genuinely difficult task and she seemed to be giving it all her effort. He also asked her to make sure that the finger tapped right on her red tape. This exercise begins with the swing (includes the knees forward) movement.
6) Last they did the F# Dessert Exercise that will be the beginning of MHD twinkle, though Nora has not realized this yet, and that is fine. Nora seems to be concentrating so hard for this and you can hear her hum/grunt along with her playing. He reminded us that when her 1st finger F# comes off the string her hand should remain in place and not open away from the fingerboard.
7) Still Important: The swing should bring the hand forward so that the 3rd finger just drops down to touch on the A string (her knuckle should not collapse downward. For the Tapping, he showed how he touches the back of Nora’s hand lightly under the base of the third finger knuckle joint to help cue that the movement comes from the tendons in the hand and not just the distal joints of the 3rd finger. The touch on the string is so light that it may not depress the string enough to actually make a note that would sound. …. Until Tue lesson when he said he would give us the rest of this sequence.
8) He demonstrated for Nora what he will be teaching us in the Tuesday lesson. After the E, Left hand “Swing”, “open back” “drop D” and then she will “Reach Bow” moving the bow from the E string to the A string, before actually playing MHD for the new note D cue is “play”.
9) There will be no Friday lessons for the next two weeks so he is giving us plenty to keep us busy. He said that he has found that sometimes children can process and learn 3 new things at once more easily than they can master just one new thing.
10) Nora told Mima that she did not get a chance to “write in her notebook” at the end of the lesson, and so we went back into the studio as quiet observers of the beginning of the next lesson. Nora sat quietly on the “red observer chair” and wrote in her notebook, stopping to give her full attention to the lesson when the 9-year-old girl played “May Song” beautifully with perfect intonation and a lovely bow arm. The violinist’s objective on this piece seemed to be that she was supposed to go to the frog of the bow on 100% of the opportunities. She accomplished this on her 2nd try and Nora watched very attentively for the entire “performance”. The girl stated her listening piece (a fairly complex recitation that included an orchestra and a conductor in addition to the violin soloist, Nadja Solerno Sonnenberg). She also gave a recitation of the first half of a long poem. We are indeed fortunate that Nora is able to just concentrate on one or the other for her twice-weekly lessons.
11) When Nora returned from group class this evening, it was quite late, and it was even later when we finished dinner. Imagine our surprise when she announced that she wanted to practice right then and there with her mommy. And so they did! And it seemed that something was different in this, a very rare self initiated practice. Instead of just cooperating with what the adult was telling her to do, it seemed like Nora was trying to understand and learn what she needed to do in order to play the violin. Her concentration seemed different, more acute, and she made that new soft humming sound as she struggled to get her mind and body to perform all the small and large sequences that go into playing this instrument.
Further Explanations:
12) Steps in “dessert” A E F# E. Mima should give clear and rhythmic requests/instructions to Nora (some instructions use a variety of words meaning the same thing (“my turn” “your turn” has several variations)
- “Green Feet”
- “Soft Knees”
- “Soft Bow Hand”
- “TURN HEAD”
- “DROP HEAD”
- (Mima can swing Nora’s left arm to make sure it is soft and relaxed)
- “Thumb Pillow”
- “Tickle Spot”
- “Set E”
- “Reach A”
- “my turn”
- “your turn”)
- drop E
- “my turn” “your turn”)
- touch F#
- “”my turn” – “your turn”
- “pop off”
- “my turn”– “your turn”
- “swing”
13) Do 5 times a day Swing (far enough so that the 3rd finger can just drop down to touch the A string with no additional movement), “Open Back” 1st finger movement opening hand backward and 3rd finger dropping on A string NEW : tap 3rd finger on red tape on A string but not hard, just lightly touch. Pressure may not be enough to depress string and that is OK. :
• Only left hand, no bow needed
• “Open Back” : the first finger reaches back and a little down, left hand fingers fan open led by 1st finger movement back and down
• drop 3rd finger “D” to lightly touch the red tape on the A string (no squeeze)
14) “Fix it” or “Move on” Game. The object is to get all “Move Ons” (not done in lesson and still quite new for us)
a) Two Variables for the game at this point
• Head back (Nora fixed her own head spontaneously a few times in today’s lesson)
• No twisting shoulders and trunk
b) After each MHD (on the dessert, or another playing practice exercise) the parent tells Nora
• “Fix it” and she needs to check and change her own head and twisted shoulders
• “Move On” means her head was back in proper place and she was not twisted left, so parent “goes on” to the give “listen please” for the next note of the dessert or exercise
15) New Story Format: for Listening Piece Recitation worked well: “Johannes Brahms composed Hungarian Dance Number 1 in G Minor, and it was performed by Itzhak Perlman on the violin.”
16) Dessert: F# on the E string (“set E”, “reach to A” “Drop to E” “touch F#”, “pop off” “swing”)
a) A E F# E
b) On last E
• left side of hand leads (arm and elbow) (“swing”) slightly and body changes balance point so that knees come slightly forward
• Decrease tension, balance point is important
c) KEY: Listen for tone
17) For weekly Poem recitation Tuesday, 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. Learn new poem for Tuesday.
18) Weekly Music listening presentation (piece, composer, musician * and working up to accompanist or orchestra) Friday (see new format above)
Group Class
- Standing in line, waiting, hand violin crossed, thank you
- Notes A E F# D C# B (see below)
- DYNAMICS
- Bow Poem with tip up, good following and rhythm
- Follow directions quickly: touch ____
- Notes: hand motions and body positions review
- Crossed arm violin hand off and “thank you”
- Getting violin into rest position and thank you bow with words “thank you for teaching me Mr S”
- Moving and stopping quickly as music plays
- ID Violin parts
- Pizzicato versus Arco
- Harmonic, Double Stop, Triple Stop, Quadruple Stop
- Say ____ exactly when he points to you
- Song identification (stand up/sit down, raise hand)
- Game to find hidden bow using dynamics as Mr S plays twinkle variation louder as the children get closer to the hidden bow and softer as they get farther away.
Group Class Information:
Note, Hand Position, Movement
A , bottom of chin , sit down
E, top head, hairline, stand up
F#, above head, jump
D, forehead/eyebrow, touch shoulder
C#, nose, touch waist
B, lips, touch toes
19) During group class this evening, Nora was the caboose on a 3-person “train” (children behind each other holding onto the shoulders of the child ahead). The class of 3 moved around the room to find the hidden violin bow led by Mr S playing twinkle variations with dynamics. Nora did not like being the caboose of this train, but the “engine” was 5 years old and understood much better how to follow the clues of the dynamics to find the hidden bow. When Mr S hid Nora’s bow and the engine was the one to find and touch her bow first, Nora was visibly upset and near tears. Amazingly, she took few deep breaths, pulled herself together and got back on her green feet for the next activity. We did hear on the car ride home how unfair she felt that this had been. Never the less, it was good for her to be able to join back in the group activity, even after suffering what she felt was a trauma to her sensibilities.
20) In the 5:30 evening group class, L and Nora (the only members present who had violins with them played some of their twinkle rhythms on the E string and A string following Mr S playing the “Listen Please” model on his own full sized violin. This was the very first time in class (private or group) that Nora played a rhythm on her violin without first having Mr S or a parent model it by moving her bow on her violin just before she did the “your turn” phase of this exercise. Nora had a bit of difficulty waiting for Mr S to play or complete the “Listen Please” portion of this new drill, and sometimes she started playing her part when he was still modeling. Nora did several of the sequences nicely on her own, though Mima kept her hands pretty close to the action. Sometimes Nora’s bow direction was confused (up for down) and sometimes she started bowing a rhythm different from the one that was modeled. Generally she and L kept together well for a first try at this task. An observer noted that L did this activity more independently, without the very close parent supervision and support that was given to Nora. Mima will have to monitor the situation to make sure that she is giving Nora enough freedom to learn in these types of situations. It is not easy for a parent/grandparent to judge how much help to provide, especially in a new activity. At one point L did loose control of her violin, and it fell to the floor (it was fine and suffered no damage).
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