December is just around the corner

We are fast approaching our last recital of 2012 and the Christmas season. Here are some pointers to help get everyone through the next few weeks.

The week before the recital:

1. Play your performance piece everyday (but don't obsess or go overboard playing it!)
2. Listen to your piece everyday! Sit down with your music book while listening and track your piece. Memorize and remind yourself of the landmarks of your piece; starting note, ending note, repeats, accidentals, dynamics, bowings, shifts, etc.
3. Once you've done a run through, take out practice spots, new & old, meaning take out spots that came up in your current run through, and take out practice spots that maybe might sound great now, but were problem spots in the past. 
4. After some successful repetitions, put yourself in performance mode. Picture yourself on the day. Where are you standing, how much time do you take getting yourself set up, do you give a lead-in for the piano or are you waiting for an introduction?
5. Focus and listen only to your sound and the piece you are playing.
6. Have family act as a distraction. Can you still keep playing and play well?
7. Use family, friends, stuffed animals as a practice audience. Try recording yourself! How do you think you sound? What would you change? What do you like?
8. How are you ending your piece? Bow on the string or off the string? How much time will you take?
9. Bow and smile! Practice this! We must thank our audience for listening to and supporting us by bowing and smiling.  

A few things for parents and students to remember on the performance day:

1. Dress: what you wear is up to you for these recitals. However, please make sure that whatever you wear does not interfere with your playing. This could be collars, hoods, flowing sleeves, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, heels on shoes, etc. Practice performing your piece in your recital clothes just to be sure you are comfortable.
2. Tuning: Please have your violin tuned by a teacher before the recital begins. Once in the ready chair, please remember to head over to your teacher for a quick tuning before you play your piece.
3. Set up: where should your scroll be pointing? Where should the f holes be pointing? Have you adjusted your feet so that your scroll is still over your toes and your hips are aligned?
4. Parents participating with a pretwinkler: please do your best to ensure your child is playing with their best posture at all times.
5. Bow and smile! No matter how "perfect or imperfect" you think your performance may have gone, you prepared the best you could, you stayed focused and you had fun! That's what matters. Besides, any little mistakes become undetectable by the audience when they feel the performer is having fun. 

There is no reception at this recital, but there will be a Christmas surprise at the end. 

December 1st is only a few days away. Think about things you can do during this month to motivate practice. 

1. Have an advent calendar just for practice! You have to practice that day to get your picture, chocolate, etc.
2. Pull out the christmas tree, or you can buy miniature trees with mini ornaments at the dollarstore. Every day you practice, you can put an ornament on the tree. You can also do this for days you got review done or for repetitions of a practice spot.
3. Christmas chains! Cut out strips of Christmas coloured construction paper. For everyday practiced, number of repetitions etc. tape/glue a piece of the chain together. 
4. Paper snowflakes are also a fun activity. Look online for tutorials and instructions if you've never made them before. 
5. Click here for a site I came across with some repetition charts (seasonal and non).
6. Something I did as a kid was make recordings of myself playing the violin for grandparents as Christmas gifts. Back then its was cassette tapes and recorders. Today, you can just hit a button and you have a great sounding and looking video recording! Send it by e-mail or burn it on a disc so you have something to wrap and send my mail. Share your child's abilities with family members who maybe don't have a chance to come to recitals and see your child in action. Have fun with it! Say Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to whoever you are sending it to and introduce what songs you will be playing. These are also a great keepsake for yourself and your child. In years to come you can look back and see what they were able to do at such a young age.

This week pull out any Christmas sheet music you may have played in past years. I like to spend the last few weeks of lessons before Christmas break looking at and learning some seasonal tunes in the lessons so that everyone has something to play for family over the holidays. If you don't have any music, I will provide you with some. Those not reading music yet will have the chance to learn some tunes by ear if they'd like. 

Have a good last week of November!

More Fiddle Tunes!

Okay, so for those who may be playing in the fiddle show in January (pending a slight audition), here are more of the songs that we would typically play. 

What I love to play is Cape Breton fiddle music. These tunes are a little more Americanized then Cape Breton although anything by Scott Skinner can be found in lots of fiddle styles. Each tune is typically not unique to any particular kind of fiddle music, it's how the tune is played that differs. Eventually I'll post more tunes that are more traditional Cape Breton style as that is what I study. 

Recently I have connected with a Cape Breton fiddler that I met on my trip out east two summers ago. I spent two weeks in PEI and Cape Breton going to shows and hearing different performers everyday. I am taking lessons with him over skype learning the specifics of Cape Breton styled fiddling and am so excited to be able to take what I learn and eventually share it with everyone. 

Enjoy the tunes!

Parent Ed Recap

Thank you to everyone who made it out to Parent Ed night! It was so nice to see you all there and I hope you walked away with something valuable. Please continue to take advantage of these nights and the opportunity to hear from a teacher who has had one on one experience with Shinichi Suzuki.  

Here is a recap of some of the things we talked about...

Parent Fundraiser Committee:
We are looking for a parent committee (4 or 5) to help organize annual silent auctions at our February recitals. As Suzuki teachers, we believe in the importance of ongoing education and training so that we might provide the best education for you and your children. The semi-annual Suzuki conference in Minneapolis is an incredibly inspiring (but very expensive) experience. With your help, we are hoping to get some donations through a silent auction to help fund these trips. Please speak to Sharon or I if you are interested in participating. (Thank you to those who have already offered help! It is greatly appreciated.)

On Performing:
In light of the upcoming recital on December 2nd, we talked a lot about performance preparation and this idea of the whole spectrum of performing which includes 7 realms:

Physical - the connection between our body and the instrument. The formation of muscle memory and developing a naturalness to our posture.

Inward emotional - how we feel when we are playing, the positives and the negatives. Are we worried about that one shift or getting those 4th fingers in tune? Or are we letting the music take over and playing from the heart and playing for fun?

Aural - because we listen regularly to our repertoire, we know how all the songs go; we can hear them in our minds. When we play, we must play from what we internally hear and compare that to what we externally hear. 

Mental - knowing the road map of the piece; endings, repeats, accidentals, etc.

Outward emotional - who are we playing for? A favourite stuffed animal, mom/dad, grandma/grandpa, the family pet?

Visual - not much visual in violin playing as we focus more on how things feel and sound.

Spiritual - playing for our individual religions/spirits, or playing in the spirit of the composer.

There is so much to be considered in a performance situation. From the pieces we pick, how we prepare, and how we approach the actual performance. Let's continue to encourage kids to always try their best,to realize that there is no such thing as perfect when it comes to music, to find joy in the pieces that come easily to them now, that maybe were a struggle before and to have fun!

One more thing...

If you wish to continue receiving posts, please subscribe to my blog by entering your e-mail in the "Follow by e-mail" box in the right column. 

First Fiddle Post! (MacKenzie Hay & Don Messer's)

Okay, so trying out something new here. I'm looking into getting a mic, so that the sound isn't so awful, but here is MacKenzie Hay, a great strathspey by Scott Skinner. I get tunes from a lot of different books and recordings, but a lot of free sheet music can be found at www.thesession.org. Check it out.

Here is Don Messer's Breakdown from www.thesession.org. Every tune you find may be written and/or played differently. Compare the notation to how I play it below.

Let me know if the video sounds/looks horrible. I'm experimenting, and me experimenting with computer things is never good, but I'll do my best...

New Local Violin Maker!

Hi everyone! So I've just been in contact with a new violin maker to London, his name is Matthew Schmidt. As he is currently in the process of establishing his business in early 2013, attached is a survey which will give him a better idea as to what the consumers of London (us!) would be looking for from a violin maker (ex. affordable prices, range of instruments from size to make, buy back/trade in policies, restoration, repairs, adjustments, accessibility to accessories such as cases, shoulder rests, sponges, etc.)

Please consider taking 5 minutes to fill out this survey. The way I see it, it can't hurt to see what he may be able to provide and it would be nice to have another local violin maker to turn to. Also, he will be giving a 15% discount at his store to those who participate in the survey.

CLICK HERE to fill out the survey and to read a brief biography of Matthew Schmidt.

Also, CLICK HERE to check out a video of Matthew featured on thestar.com.

Currently, the violin makers I use are:

William R. Ware - Violins Ltd. - I got my first violin from him when I was three and all my violins thereafter. Always has a great selection of instruments and will do many minor adjustments free of charge.

Riedstra's Shop Inc. - Located in both Stratford and Kitchener. Wide variety of instruments.

Allan's Violins - Although I've never used him, some of my students have had success with him.

Where I find my violin/suzuki books, music and violin accessories:

Belle Air Music, now Long & McQuade. Look for their new store opening on the corner of Wonderland and Fanshawe. 

Walter's music will have some books/music, although not much in the way for violin accessories.

A great store in Toronto is The Sound Post. They have everything from violins, books, music, accessories, and lots of fun music games and resources. You can order online from them as well and from my experience have great customer service if you need to call them. 

Also, you can sometimes find books on Amazon.ca like Suzuki related exercises and studies, Suzuki Violin Books & CD's, as well as Suzuki philosophy and fiddle books.

Thank you for your consideration in supporting Matthew and his upcoming business!