Practice Tips for Long, Long Ago Suzuki Book 1

   Get ready for a dynamics roller-coaster in your new piece, Long, Long Ago. Here are some tips to go along on the ride with this folk song:
  
Playing Position. Go to playing position a few times with your eyes closed. This will help challenge you to get ready to play.

Structure. The piece is laid out in 3 parts. The order in the songs is the following: part 1 (first line) mf, part 2 (second line), part 3, and part 2 mf (third line).

New Skills.
1. Theory: Moderato means medium speed, decrescendo means get gradually quieter.
2. Rhythms: half rest equals 2 beats and looks like a small box sitting on the third line of the staff.
3. Dynamics: crescendo. The crescendo was introduced in O, Come Little Children, where in part 2 and 3 we get louder and louder. Towards the end of the song we have a decrescendo, which means to get softer and softer
4. Three Strings: We now have the opportunity to play a song that uses the E, A and D string. In part 3 we hop the first finger from the A to D string.
 
Strategies.
1. Warm-up with the bow exercises, now with an emphasis on crescendos and decrescendos.
2. After you listen to the song one time and follow the notes, listen again and clap the notes along with the song to starting learning the rhythm of the song.
3. Practice hopping each finger 3 times from the A to the D string.
4. Play along with the Youtube video above.
5. Add crescendos and decrescendos to numbers 1-6.

     If you want a quick way to boost the speed of your progress, challenge yourself to do a 2-minute Theory Flaschard Challenge. This means that you push yourself to see how many flashcards you can get in 2 minutes. Let me know how it went and were my tips helpful?

Practice Tips for Lightly Row in Suzuki Book 1

    Congratulations on learning the Twinkles, so let's get to Lightly Row. As a parent working with your child or as a student it is easy to feel like you do not know how to approach a new song. Whether you are a violinist, violist, cellist, or bassist, here are some tips to help you learn this song:

• Playing Position: Prepare the playing position before starting the song.
• Structure: The order is part 1 (first line), part 2 (second line), part 3 (third line), part 2 (fourth line).
• Strategies:  
• Warm-up with the bow exercises.
• Listen to the song one time before playing it. So pop in that c.d. or watch the video above!
• The song introduces more hops from string to string (called string crosses). Play the first measure (E, C#, C#) with the Twinkle rhythms, this will make playing the E and C# easier. Now, play the first measure the way it is written in the book. 
• Go through the same process for the second measure and any other notes that are tricky for you.
• Beware of just getting through the piece, the best way to learn a song is to master it in small chunks.
• Play along with the Youtube video above.
• Play through all the Twinkles and Lightly Row. 

     Over the years I have noticed the tendency of students and parents of approaching practicing as a chore to get through. Beware of this mindset, it will slow things down, limit how much you will learn and make playing the violin boring. It is better to think of it as an opportunity to grow, as an adventure of learning something new, and as a chance to calm yourself from all the other things going on in the world. 

These are just a few ideas, get creative and try the song in different ways!