On Teaching a 21 Month Old

Margaret and I started daily practice the beginning of September. You can check out some of what we've been doing on my INSTAGRAM@amysviolinschool .

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When practicing with a 21 month old my daily reminders are small steps and no pressure (for her and me!). Today we accomplished LOTS of rest positions (or what she calls armpit!). One point Suzuki lessons are a powerful thing.

A post shared by Amy Rose (@amysviolinschool) on Sep 19, 2018 at 1:34pm PDT

Being a Suzuki music teacher I thought daily practice with her would be the simplest thing in the world.

It's amazing how quickly you forget what you teach on a daily basis when you suddenly have to do it yourself with your own child.

I was surprised by how my instinctual reactions where not what I meant for them to be.

I was surprised by how hard it was to remember to practice for a few minutes daily at the allotted time. (on numerous occasions I forgot and squeezed it in right before bed. Yikes!)

I was surprised by my need to pressure her to do the things she had done well the previous day but didn't want to do today.

I am constantly surprised by the things she knows purely through observation and listening (even though I know better).

I am constantly surprised by her motivation to play when other students arrive at the house for lesson (even though I know better).

As a Suzuki teacher, I do not practice with my child perfectly. I have already made mistakes. The great thing about our kids is that they are resilient and very forgiving. So we keep trying. We keep doing our best and we do what we can do. Perfection is not the goal. It is the journey that we take together.

Right now my goals when I go to practice with Margaret is to remember SMALL STEPS, to LEARN WITHOUT PRESSURE, and to continue to LISTEN & OBSERVE as much as possible.

If you are just starting out with lessons or maybe even just struggling getting back into the practice routine, try analyzing what you are doing. Most likely if you are taking small steps, you are relieving pressure and if you are making a point to listen and observe, you will be motivating yourself to do more small steps. It's a loop to success.
On the other hand, if you are just playing through piece after piece and not isolating anything, most likely you are feeling overwhelmed because every practice is the same and not going anywhere. Progress comes from isolating the small steps and practicing them over and over and this is also where the fun of practice is established because we feel accomplishment and want to accomplish more.

It's also important to remember to go at the speed of the child (or whatever age the student is, adults included), this is part of the no pressure as we all learn at different speeds. We can develop these high hopes especially in starting them so young, that if they can just do a little bit everyday, they will be soaring through Book 1 by the time they are 3. It might be a possibility, but it's not worth having deadlines or expectations on a 2 year old. They have always taken their time, from smiling to sitting to crawling, walking and talking, and will continue to learn things in their own time. All we can do is model and encourage and support.

I continue to support my daughter when she practices her twinkle variations (even though she still won't say Ti Ti Sh Ti correctly and refuses to say Mississippi Mississippi because Mississippi Hotdog is better).

I encourage her every time she practices a bow, even if it's when I'm trying to get us out the door, or when she picks up her violin with the worst posture and sweetly plays and sings twinkle little star.

As a perfectionist, I have to remind myself that she does not need to do every detail perfectly. As long as she is enjoying the process, enjoying learning, and finding joy in music, that is what matters and that is what keeps me going and her. As long as I continue to model, I know she will one day add that last Ti to Ti Ti Sh Ti (oh please I hope so!).

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Cutting practice close tonight (30 minutes before bed). The tv is on and silliness ensues. I’ll take the imperfect practices over no practice any day. We do what we can!

A post shared by Amy Rose (@amysviolinschool) on Sep 14, 2018 at 6:12pm PDT

Shane Cook & The East Pointers!

I am too excited.

The East Pointers continues to be one of my favourite new groups and Shane Cook although I have grown up listening too, just keeps getting better.

Shane Cook is a MUST SEE violin/fiddle performer. I am offering this performance up to ALL REGISTERED STUDENTS regardless of if you have participated in a show or not. Tickets are going quick so send me your ticket #'s ASAP. He will be playing at:

Siloam United Church (yes, where we have group class!) 

Saturday October 13th at 7:30

The East Pointers are something a bit different, still featuring traditional celtic music, they also perform many original pieces arranged for Fiddle, Banjo and Guitar/Piano. The only percussion is some really unique foot work by the fiddle player which is really something to see. They feature some vocal tunes and up beat tunes with a lot of harmony and rhythm variations. This unique performance is offered to those who did not participate in the LEAHY show last year (although I do recommend going anyway if you can!).

They are playing at:

Aeolian Hall

Sunday November 4th at 8:00

Have young ones like myself who these shows are just too late for? Help me keep an eye out for some interesting matinees!

Practice, Practice, Practice

The theme for September is PRACTICE and the goal is EVERYDAY.

But why?

Playing EVERYDAY can be hard. It takes commitment and discipline, perseverance and consistency. It becomes even harder to not only play everyday, but to practice the right way so that we can be constantly improving and constantly making ourselves better.

Why should parents in particular put in the effort to establish daily practice for the young 3 & 4 year old's and encourage teenagers and the ones making their way through high school and beyond? What is the point when there can inevitably be immense struggle? It can take so much energy to establish, maintain and then reestablish these routines. So why do we do it? Is is just about the violin? About what level we can get to and what pieces we are able to play?

We need to remind ourselves as Suzuki Students & Parents that we establish daily practice because of WHO WE WANT TO BECOME WHEN WE DO IT. It's about what we are learning from the act of daily practice and not necessarily the end result of it on the violin.

Imagine two students leaving high school who have practiced daily from childhood and one has finished Suzuki Book 9 going off to University for Music and the other has completed Suzuki Book 5 and leaving for business school. Just because they are entering University at two different violin levels, does not mean that they are entering school with a lesser understanding of how to work hard, how they learn, how to break things down into small chunks and how to not give up. The act of daily practice can set both of these students up to be successful in their chosen field. The speed at which we learn the violin does not discredit the skills we learn through daily practice. For all we know, that Book 5 player may be far more proficient at their review pieces than the Book 9, which is setting them up with a strong foundation of skills they will carry through their entire life.

Suzuki violin lessons is not just about how high we can push our violin skills, although this can be fun and rewarding work. Suzuki Violin Lessons has always been about, first and foremost, creating exceptional human beings. It is about who we become in the process of learning the instrument and what we learn about ourselves along the way. These are the skills that will benefit us in all areas of our life regardless of if we ever fully master that fast finger passage in Gossec Gavotte. The struggle and the effort is what matters and it sets the stage to who we are as parents and who our kids will grow up to be.

So parents, keep doing your best, encourage every child to do their best, and remember to ONLY PRACTICE ON THE DAYS YOU EAT!

Happy Practicing.

Happy Labour Day Weekend!

Even though lessons don't start for another week, take the opportunity this week to experiment with your schedules and decide where practice is going to fit in to your daily routines.

The amount of time you set to practice isn't really the point here. Although the more we practice, the more we learn and the more we will accomplish and be able to do, however, deciding to one day practice for 3 hours isn't going to make any difference in the long run. Without a daily routine, we are setting ourselves up to make learning the violin or any skill for that matter, a lot harder than it needs to be.

5 minutes of focused practice everyday, as a starting point, is an incredible habit to form. If we can make this feel easy, then we can eventually turn that 5 minutes into 10. 10 minutes into 20. 20 minutes into 30. And so on.

So start easy this week. Start with the minimum and put all your effort into just finding the time and playing something simple and easy. The work will begin soon enough - then the real fun starts!

Have a good first week back at school. See you all soon!

Suddenly we are ready. Daily practice begins!

A post shared by Amy Rose (@amysviolinschool) on Sep 1, 2018 at 5:45am PDT

Don't Settle, Keep Learning

It's the end of August... somehow!

I'm getting into gear for the start of the school year as I'm sure most of you are as well. It can be slightly intimidating to know that fall is on the way (even if you are like me and absolutely love this time of year!). Lunches need to be packed, schedules made, books and papers organized, rides need to be arranged for activities... With the start of school and fall, I find myself looking for inspiration and motivation for the year. Ways to make things more efficient than last year, more productive, ways to enjoy this time of year even more.

So I wanted to pass along an article someone sent to me at the beginning of August. Something that really stuck with me is the idea that:

Being a musician means 'consistently reassessing what you do' 

If we take what we learn and the discipline we practice in music lessons and apply this to other and all areas of our life, we can succeed at anything.

Let's start the year off with the mindset that we will experiment, we will try new things and new ways, always working to be the best that we can be - for ourselves and for those around us.

You can find the article HERE.

Enjoy!

Registration is DUE!

Although registration is due in just a couple weeks on July 31st, thank you to many of you for sending it in before hand. 

This is just a heads up that I will be sending out invoices for the annual membership fee within the week which secures your lesson time that we have agreed upon. It also gives you the chance to update any payment information for the fall if you would like to change how you pay for your monthly tuition.

If you have chosen to pay tuition by cheque, please arrange to bring cheques to your summer lesson or drop them off to me by July 31st.

If you are unsure about our agreed lesson time, you will either receive an e-mail from me shortly confirming (because most likely I'm not sure either), or please just send me a quick e-mail to clarify.

I look forward to another great year of music!

By the way, we are heading into FESTIVAL SEASON and there are a lot of (FREE!) opportunities to hear some amazing music.

This weekend is Sunfest in London (FREE).

Canterbury Folk Festival in Ingersoll (FREE) July 13-15

Home County in London (FREE) July 20-22

Shane Cook is in Stratford (FREE) July 26-29

Goderich Celtic Festival ($$$ - highly recommended) August 10-12

Go check it out!

Starting the Summer Strong

As I mentioned in the last post, although there have been no major life changes this year as there was last year, I have been struggling with a lot of minor, inner changes. Turning 30 unexpectedly made me face a lot of things about myself that I am unhappy with and made me realize things I want to work on changing. And although they are small things, a lot of small insecurities can add up to some really big problems.

My purpose for this blog has dwindled the past couple years as my priorities have shifted... but that's really just an excuse. I've stopped writing about what matters to me. Out of fear, uncertainty and many more things that I'm trying to battle. I plan on sharing a lot more once the new school year starts on how I've been changing things and how it all relates to teaching through the Suzuki method. 

In the meantime, here is some inspiration to get active this summer, to work a little bit less, to spend more time with family and to do the things that we love to do. The amount of money we make and the hours we work mean nothing if there is unhappiness attached. And in the end, everyone around us will benefit so much more if we can do what we need to do to get rid of it. For me, the best way to gain some perspective is to go on an adventure. Any adventure.

So here's what I've done so far:

Ran my first HALF MARATHON

Crossing the finish line - instantly vowed never to do it again, and now committing to another round of torture in September. 

Rugged Manic 5k Obstacle Course

Yes, I am leaping over FIRE (one of the tamer obstacles)!

Performing with Celtic Shift

We haven't performed much this year, and even though I do not consider myself a performer, it felt incredible to be able to play this music that I love with a group of amazing musicians who challenge me every time we play together. The feeling of being up on stage and letting the music take over was exhilarating. Not to mention the Winter Fiddle Class did an incredible job in joining us on two numbers. So proud of you all! *SPOILER* A Christmas album is in the works for the end of the year, fingers crossed! 

Declutter & organize the house = declutter & organize the mind

After moving and purchasing a home from the within the family (which has it's own challenges), adjusting to living on one level and just dealing with a 10+ year accumulation of stuff, I am getting rid of a lot. I am keeping only what we use and what means something to us. Although I declutter & organize on a regular basis, this has been a major project and feels incredibly freeing to be rid of so much stuff! Garage Sale this SATURDAY!

NOW...

Challenge yourself to look at your life and problem solve your way out of the little things that give you unhappiness. Even though there will be some things that we don't have much control over, more often then not our unhappiness is self-inflicted. Break down these walls and free yourself from the cages we put ourselves in. If I can do it, so can you.