Category: Violin Pedagogy

Click to learn why "chin rest" is a misnomer.

One of my teachers shared with me long ago that the body is the first instrument. After spending decades teaching and spending hours every day watching how the body's posture impacts the instrument's sound, I agree.

When we play the violin, both shoulders tend to tighten up and cause negative issues in our playing. Here are 3 tips to help violinists gain awareness in their shoulders and keep their violin playing healthy.

1- PRACTICE LAYING DOWN

This is silly and awkward BUT highly effective.

The laws of gravity will help a violinist feel a naturally aligned state in their body when they play laying down. Laying down while playing the violin is an incredible tool for the following three techniques:

1-Teaching the neck to release tension.

2- Supporting the shoulders in finding the base of their sockets.

3- Getting the knees to soften up.

Young children love this because it feels like a novelty, however, this practice technique is appropriate for players of all ages and levels. Laying down while playing the violin will create a very unnatural feeling in the bow arm and compromise the sound, but the long-term results of alignment and awareness are more than worth the short-term compromises.

2- TIGHTEN UP:

Go to the extreme to build awareness. Tighten up the shoulders as much as possible for 5 seconds and release. I use this verbal cue: "put your shoulders in your ears."

After this intense use of muscles, the shoulders will respond with fatigue and rest by staying down in the bottom of their sockets. They may not always stay down for the rest of the lesson or practice session, but this exercise helps develop the necessary awareness to address tight shoulders and fix this problem in violin playing.

In addition to creating muscle fatigue and natural inclination to release, this tip will also help a violinist realize the extreme of their range of motion so that they have more control in choosing where their shoulders go when playing.

3- EVALUATE THE CHIN REST AND SHOULDER PAD SET-UP:

When was the last time you changed your *chin rest or shoulder pad? Young students with growing bodies have different proportions in their neck-shoulder-arms approximately every six months and, their playing needs are also growing. Chin rests and shoulder pads need to be re-evaluated for younger players on a regular basis because of this continual physical and musical growth.

Most of us do not live in a major metropolitan area with a large string supply store to experiment with a variety of gear for our violins. Instead of this, stay up to date and informed of the variety of chin rests and shoulder pads by subscribing to string catalogs (links below).

Also, consider the Poly-Pad which I have featured on the “Things I Love” page. This economical shoulder sponge has extra curves than competitors pads and is one of my favorites. When I moved to Oregon 11 years ago I purchased a Poly-Pad in each size and it really helped me individually fit all of my students.

String Catalog Links:
Shar Music
Johnson String Instrument
Southwest Strings
Young Musicians

Interested in more tips for playing the violin? Here are 3 M4YV tutorial videos on vibrato, pizzicato and bow hold "bunny flips" that share ideas to help you bring out the best in your music making!

How do you help your student keep their shoulders relaxed when they play the violin?

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Fun Exercises for Violin: Spider Crawls

1/23/2021

5 Progressive Double-Stop Etudes for Beginners

Did you know there are 4 ways to do the "spider crawls" on the bow?

Learn all 4 ways, neat tricks for teaching and learning these and get introduced to the ultimate challenge with a short tutorial video below.

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How Long Does it Take to Learn Violin?

1/8/2021

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Guest author Adrian Martinez helps tackle one of the most popular questions - how long does it take to learn how to play the violin?

How long does it take to learn the violin? We’re going to start by responding to this question with what is perhaps the most frustrating answer: it depends.

First, it depends on what you mean by “learn.” Within a day, you might possibly be able to play a few notes - within a week, you might be able to play those notes in a way that kind-of-sort-of sounds like a song. You might then say you’ve “learned” the violin. On the other hand, if you’re asking how long it takes to master the violin, you might fall back on Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours, or you might be really impish and say that absolute mastery is impossible. After all, music is ever-growing and changing, and even micro-adjustments to technique can produce totally different sounding songs.

We might then look at the extraordinary variety inherent in humankind. There are so many different students, each with different levels of experience. Someone who has played the guitar before might find it easier to develop a left-hand technique than a total novice. On the other hand, another guitarist might find the lack of frets daunting and disorienting, which could curb their progress.

Factors that impact how long it takes to learn the violin

How you’re learning can also be a pretty important factor. Whether or not you’ve got a personal instructor, if you’re taking online music lessons, if you have access to sheet music, or you’re just trying to guess for yourself.

Other factors include:

How often the student practices (this is the biggest one)!
How much the student is enjoying learning the instrument.
Whether or not the student knows music theory.
How much they listen to music.
The way in which they study.

Of course, you’re not here reading this blog post for the answer “it depends” - though elaborating on why it depends can help you narrow down what your goals and potential barriers might be.

We’re going to make some assumptions, then. We’re going to assume you’ve never played an instrument before, you don’t know any music theory - that you’re basically a complete beginner. We’re also going to assume you practice for around 5-6 hours a week (an hour a day with a day or two off or 45 minutes every day) and that you have a teacher.

Month 1:

The first month is all about the absolute basics. You’ll learn how to hold the violin and the bow (and yourself). You’ll also learn the basic anatomy of a violin. It’s unlikely that you’ll use the fingers on your left hand during the first month; instead, you’ll focus on your bow technique. You will do exercises like this & this (click on the links for some fun YouTube tutorial videos from M4YV).

You’ll also begin to learn the basics of music theory - mainly how to read sheet music. Learning about music theory is an ongoing discipline. There’s an incredible depth, diversity, and richness to theory, especially once you start going outside of the Western canon, so there’s a lot to learn here.

Month 2:

At this point, you’ll be growing more comfortable with the basics - posture, holding the instrument, and a simple bowing technique. You’ll now start to incorporate the fingers on your left hand to press down on the violin's strings and produce different notes. You may not be able to string the notes together (yet), but you’re on your way.

The First Year:

Within the first year, you’ll be able to play several basic songs on your violin - pop songs, folks songs, and more! You’ll start to be able to play basic songs (think Jingle Bells simple) within the first few months of picking up the instrument. They won’t sound perfect, but they’ll be recognizable!

Months after, those basic songs should start sounding quite a bit better, and you’ll have increased your repertoire. You’ll be getting pretty good at the first position (the fingerings you’ll use with your left hand without sliding it up the neck of the violin).

The Second Year:

Within the second year, you’ll have learned all of the notes in the first position. At this point, you’ll even be able to play several classical solos, and your repertoire will certainly be impressive enough to put on a small show for friends and family.

The Third Year:

At this point, you’ll be learning a variety of more complex bowing techniques, as well as left-hand techniques like double stops. Your repertoire will expand pretty quickly in the third year, and you may learn new positions for your left hand.

Beyond Year 3:

There are so many different ways to play the violin - from using the bow's wooden side to play to learning vibrato. You can continue to learn and master the violin for decades - even the most sophisticated players are always learning something new. By the end of year three, you’ll be quite proficient - keep expanding and honing your technique. At this point, almost everyone will agree that you’ve “learned” the violin

A heartfelt thank you to Adrian Martinez for authoring this blog post!

Adrian Martinez is the Content Coordinator at Academy Of Music, a music school specializing in both in-home and online music lessons. Academy of Music has been offering quality music lessons at reasonable tuition rates since 1990. Their mission is to offer the highest quality, enjoyable musical education and make them convenient and affordable for everyone!

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What are Double-Stops on the Violin?

8/7/2020

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In this post you will learn what a double-stop for the violin is, the top 5 benefits of using double-stops and be able to download free double-stop PDF printables for beginner-advanced level violin.

Double-stops on the violin are when two notes are played simultaneously and part of what makes the violin repertoire so thrilling, gorgeous, and sublime. See the image below for an example of how this would appear in a score.

The term "double-stop" is a bit of a misnomer and can be confusing because nothing is actually stopping in the verb sense of the word stop (i.e., to cease or end). The term double-stop makes more sense when we think of "stop" as a noun referring to a location such as a bus stop. For violinists, the location refers to pitches on the fingerboard.

When a request for more double-stop content from the M4YV project came to my inbox, I was an instant YES due to my captivation with this aspect of violin playing. I love double-stops so much that they are one of the reasons I play the violin!

Double-stops are not hard, but they are different than playing on a single string. For some of the players here, it will be a new technique, which makes this the perfect time to remind us that new does not equal difficult, but without the proper mindset, new can be interpreted as feeling difficult.

Keep reading to learn the 5 benefits of double-stops on the violin.

The Top 5 Benefits of Double-Stops on Violin:

1- Improved intonation:
Double stops help to hear pitches in relationship to each other, and this process leads to better intonation because intervals are more evident in the ear.

2- Learning block fingerings:
Double-stops require using "block fingerings," where two fingers are placed on the fingerboard simultaneously. Block fingerings are more sophisticated than using a single finger at a time and help to develop skill.

3- Better understanding of whole & half steps:
Double-stops fortify an understanding of whole and half steps because when using block fingerings, the fingers will feel the proportions of a whole and half step in relation to each other.

4- Advanced bow control:
In the same way that double-stops require the left hand to use two fingers at a time, the right hand also needs to double it's playing requirements by refining it's control over two strings simultaneously. When we begin playing the violin, we work with focus to play just a single string at a time. When we start learning double stops, we exert focus to play two strings together with control and precision.

5- Advanced repertoire:
The most magnificent repertoire composed for the violin uses double-stops, including but not limited to: J.S. Bach's 6 Sonatas & Partitas for Solo Violin, concerto cadenzas, and mesmerizing fiddle playing. Check out the videos below for some amazing examples of double-stops in violin repertoire.

Double-Stop FREEBIE

Scroll down a bit on the page to find these FREEBIES to help learn and play double-stops.

What are your favorite double-stop compositions?
Please share in the comments below.

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Violin Finger Placement: Finger #'s vs. Pitches

6/28/2020

Learn More About the Fantastic Finger Guides HERE

In the arena of heated conversations among string teachers, the subject of finger #s (i.e., 1, 2, 3) versus pitches (B, C#, D) is a hot topic. I was surprised to read the comments on the blog post Best Way to Learn Violin Notes? and did not expect the consistency of responses. My favorite part was learning how the different countries approach this.

Click HERE to read what others are saying about finger #'s vs. pitches.

The pros of using finger numbers are that they are simple and clear. They also can segue nicely into using finger patterns. I am a proponent of teaching finger patterns even if using pitches over finger #s is the preference since they help train the whole and half steps while strengthening the mind-body circuitry. Since the finger patterns correlate nicely with the tapes on the violin fingerboard, it is easy to integrate them into the curriculum, especially at a beginning level.

Another pro of using #'s is to benefit students with special learning needs. These students (i.e., dyslexic, or right-brain dominant learners), have minds that best connect with a # over a letter.

The pros of using the letter name of the note segue into a broader understanding of key signatures. This leads to understanding music theory, and ultimately teaches the universal language of music.

I spent most of my teaching career using finger #s and have to wonder:

Was my reluctance to embrace using pitch names a reflection of my struggles with music theory?

I digress but bring this up since many of us had either very limited or unsuccessful music theory training. It was not until I was age 25 and did teacher training and teaching using the Music Mind Games music theory curriculum that I began to understand music theory.

I recently discovered the Fantastic Finger Guides. I think they are fantastic- they offer a quick and economical solution to accurate finger placement and immediately help to code the language of music theory into the beginning level violinist.

In 8 seconds, I applied the Fantastic Finger Guide. It went on smoothly and would be doable for students to apply independently.

Now, a clear map of pitches appears on my fingerboard as well as easy to see finger numbers identified on the side of the neck (perfect to see from "rest position"). The product comes on a beginning version (with less information as not to overwhelm the beginning student) and an advanced version that includes more pitches and a quick visual guide for how sharps and flats work.

Receive 10% off the Fantastic Finger Guides thru July 31, 2020 with coupon code MFYV2020.

Click HERE to learn more and order the Fantastic Finger Guides.

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Best Way to Learn Violin Notes?

6/19/2020

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Giveaway Contest - Win the Fantastic Finger Guides!!!
Entering is easy, scroll down to learn how.

What is the best way to improve student learning

After almost a decade of teaching, Toby Weston, educator & creator of the Fantastic Finger Guides asked himself:

Why do we use finger tapes when first learning to play string instruments such as the violin, viola, or cello?

Is there a better way than finger tapes to get our beginners playing correctly with musical confidence?

Learn more about why using pitches instead of finger numbers is empowering to the learning process below by guest blog post author Toby Weston.

I have learned from teaching middle school music for the past 12 years that the best way to improve student learning is to improve the teaching system.

I wondered if there was a better way to teach than with finger tapes because finger tapes don't provide sufficient musical information to help the student grow musically smarter and they are a very abstract teaching tool.

I was concerned that by using finger tapes, my students were labeling the sound only by its physical location and not coding the actual musical language. At one point I used different color tapes for different locations:
1st finger was red, 2nd finger was white, and the 3rd finger was blue.

After a year of playing, most students using this system will code the location as 1st finger on the red tape on the A string, but not code the letter name nor musical language. By the time these students reached the 7th grade, many had deficiencies in understanding their fingerboard in terms of a musical alphabet.

After years of using finger tapes I had a breakthrough in the Fall of 2017:

Why don't we just put the letter names on the instrument?

How to make more musical violin students

This way the student has the information needed to move forward in the music. When a student practices on their own they build correct muscle memory for spacing and also musical alphabet memory. This leads to gaining confidence in their playing without their teacher present. The student can code the music alphabet as their primary thinking versus finger tapes that are too abstract and don't provide any musical information.

I ended up creating the Fantastic Finger Guides to solve this problem for my students. I created the D Major Beginner Guide for my first-year students and the All Notes guide for my second-year students. When students are beginning to learn the violin, less is better thus the rationale for a more simplified finger guide.

Receive 10% off the Fantastic Finger Guides thru July 31, 2020 with coupon code MFYV2020.
Click HERE to order the Fantastic Finger Guides.

How To Enter the Fantastic Finger Guide Giveaway Contest:

Comment below
State if you are a "STUDENT" or "TEACHER"
Write in your learning preference: NUMBERS (for finger #s) or LETTERS (for pitches).

i..e. STUDENT & Numbers or TEACHER & Letters

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Top 5 Benefits of Zoom Lessons

6/14/2020

Through Limitation Comes Innovation

At the end of February 2020, I hired someone to help me with my website and they suggested using Zoom as a way to discuss plans.

I had never even heard of this thing called Zoom.

Fast-forward to June 2020 and I now use Zoom 7x a week to take classes, teach violin and capoeira, and attend meetings. Scroll down to learn the top 5 benefits & 3 downsides of Zoom violin lessons.

Like all of you, I have experienced many changes in the trajectory of my teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I always prefer meeting face-to-face with my students, but, acknowledge that there have been many benefits that have come from this period and using Zoom (or other online video communications) to keep music lessons active.

1- Gaining fluency and skills with new options for teaching and learning.

My first Zoom violin lesson was a bit of a disaster. I was late for my student due to not understanding how to properly share and access the link, I did not know how to use the features so there was no audio for the first 5 minutes and the camera angles and lighting were, well... let us just say that this too had room for improvement. It was distracting and clunky for both me and my student.

I know now how to set-up a recurring session, place the camera, adjust the lights, and easily adjust the audio and camera in a matter of seconds.

I learned a new skill and this will open future options for connecting and has expanded my concept for how I can teach. The options are endless and I now know that if a student or myself ever has a situation where we can not meet in person we can continue our work and fulfill our vision.

2- Insight into a student's environment.

Does your student hold their violin too far down?
Did you see on the Zoom lesson that their music stand is not properly elevated to facilitate proper posture?

Does your student suffer from distractions?
Can you recommend a more ideal place in their home for learning based on what you observe in their environment?

Did you discover that they have a piano you never knew about and now you can integrate this into their curriculum?
The piano keyboard is the best way to solidify music theory concepts, how exciting!

We must remember that we only see our students for 30-60 minutes every week and the rest of their learning takes place in their home. Gaining insight into the student's home learning environment can solve mysteries (such as the posture circumstance listed above) and help you make suggestions to better a student's core learning environment.

3- Creativity: Through limitation comes innovation.

I work with an older brother and younger sister. The older brother was starting to refine his vibrato and the younger sister was just beginning to learn vibrato. To be honest, this has been very difficult for me to concentrate on through a screen and make any real progress in a positive direction. However, what the screen is fantastic for are all of the visual components of violin playing:

Posture
Bow Angles
Bow placement
Use of bow
Finger placement

I have always said that the reason it is so easy for me to teach the violin is that I get to see everything so clearly. Video lessons helped to spotlight this factor and I made use of this in my curriculum. This also correlates with the 4th benefit of Zoom lessons listed next.

4- Instant Videos: Zoom has built-in video features.

My students video record their Zoom lessons and then review the video to understand their assignments and in the process, observe their performance.

Viewing oneself play the violin is one of the best ways to improve. Students should be doing this regularly but as teachers, we get busy and do not always uphold this expectation. Also, this convenience relieves the student (or parent of the student) from taking notes during the lesson.

5- Prioritizing health in our modern society.

Foremost, the use of Zoom lessons helps us prevent spreading the COVID-19 virus. There remains much to learn about this virus and it appears one can transmit without having symptoms. If this is accurate, then we have a responsibility as instructors to continue being prudent in our actions so we do not pass this along to our students, many of whom are children and may not have developed a robust immune system yet.

Secondly, without spending so much time driving and in activities, most of us (teachers and students) are receiving a well-needed rest. Our bodies need this extra time to repair and stay healthy.

I hope that we are all cognizant that health is one of our highest values and this experience will forge in us a commitment to take better care of ourselves in the years to come. Connecting with this value is a blessing that will serve us thruout the rest of our lives and something to be grateful for.

What are the downsides of virtual lessons

While it can be healthy to seek the positive in any situation, the 5 benefits of Zoom violin listed above do not paint the full picture of Zoom lessons. Below are listed some of the downsides of using this way of teaching.

1- Compromised Tone -

Shinichi Suzuki said, "tone is the living soul."

The limitations of the microphones and speakers in the computers we use to do Zoom lessons remove this life-infused quality of beautiful violin tone and frankly put, it's painful to listen to at times. On a basic computer, everything above a certain range or volume entirely cuts out and all violin sounds are compressed. Having a microphone or specialized headphones can help but nothing will ever compare to the beauty of live violin tone.

2- Environmental Diversions -

It's distracting being in my dining room teaching because our homes have so many triggers, the learning environment does not lend itself to dedicated focus like a teaching studio does.

3- Increased Screen Time -

We already are on our screens too much and now Zoom lessons add to this burden. According to the Mayo Clinic, the average time we spend on screens is 7-10 hours a day. This is in sharp contrast to the recommendations of acceptable screen time:

No screen time whatsoever for children under 2
One hour a day for children 2 to 12
Two hours a day for teens and adults

We love the violin because it's slow and it connects us to a time period where things were slow. The instant gratification offered by my screens dulls our dopamine receptors and may affect the way mitochondria operate within cells. Educate yourself further about the negative impacts of too much screen time here.

What have you learned from using video communications for the violin?
Please share in the comments below. Thank you!

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The Practice Experiment

1/2/2019

Click Here for FREE Practice Charts

There is ONLY one way to know what your students are doing at home...

I spent 1 week watching my students practice, and it was one of the most profound things I have ever done in my teaching. I believe that if more teachers did this, then we would be able to help more students reach higher levels in their violin playing.

In this video (posted below) and correlating blog post I explain how I organized a week of watching my students practice and why this was such a powerful use of time.

How I organized The Practice Experiment:

The week before watching students practice I had told them to expect something very different at their coming lesson, but I did not say what it was since I wanted to observe them in their "natural practice state" as much as possible. I was hoping to avoid students preparing for this observation since it would not be an honest representation of their work and defeat the purpose.

On the following week, I brought my computer to my teaching studio and reorganized the space so I could sit at my desk. After explaining that I would be observing them practice, I was silent and typed up a personalized report for each student while they showed me how they practiced. We reviewed the report together at the next week of lessons and went over suggested modifications to their practice routine.

It was a heartfelt but shocking and humbling week.

I was touched by the loving interactions between parent and child, but I was genuinely shocked that only about 20% of my students actually followed their practice notes (I create a personalized lesson sheet for each student to help us stay organized). Also, I was humbled that after 20 years of teaching and priding myself on being highly organized that so many of my students were not clear on:

1- What was actually expected of them.

2- How to execute the specific teaching points by themselves even after covering in repetition at their lesson.

I also have always assumed that if something were not accurate, then the student would isolate the issue and create a practice spot out of it. I was WRONG on this because over and over again I heard my students plow over obvious inaccuracies in their interpretation.

((((((Deep Exhale from Me))))

So, the other part of this humbling lesson is that I had first heard about doing this years ago but delayed implementing it. I regret this because had I done this in past years my students would absolutely be having a higher success outcome with their efforts. I will know at the end of April if I am accepted into nursing school. If so then this will be my final nine weeks of violin teaching from a 20+ year career. Better late than never but hopefully by passing this along here you can carry the torch and watch your students practice to serve them best and nurture their gifts.

The following is an extreme statement but I think the sentiment will be heard:

It DOES NOT MATTER how great of a teacher you are and it DOES NOT MATTER how talented your student is.

IT MATTERS how they interpret the lesson information and practice in their own space and time.

The only way to check in on this is to actually watch them practice.

We want to hear from you and know how you help your students reach their highest potential. Please share in the comments below. Thanks!

Click Here for More Practice Videos

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Flash Giveaway Contest

12/8/2018

81 Comments

Win a Set of WonderThumbs!!!

Relax your hand and let the music flow...

I recently discovered these neat violin playing aids called the WonderThumbs and really like them. In fact, I am surprised it took so long for someone to create these - thank you Craig!

Lucky for us the creator was kind enough to donate a set to one of our lucky members. If you don't happen to be the lucky duck who wins, you can order these from the WonderThumb website or from Shar Music. They cost $24, and if you are thrifty like me, you may be on the fence for making this investment so I invite you to consider this price in comparison of 4 years of remedial violin lessons ($4,000+) if this is a product that could benefit you, your student or your child. Remedial lessons are costly and honestly, can be treachery for all parties involved. Just some food for thought as you consider this product.

I played around with several different sizes and as a 5"8 female with slightly larger sized hands am probably an L in the WonderThumb sizing. That being said, I tried all the sizes, and I like the XL for using backward which is a non-traditional use of the product, but it worked for supporting the neck of the violin. I also liked the smallest size for taking up as little space as possible. Just some ideas to consider when looking into these.

OK, now onto the FUN STUFF - enter this giveaway contest by saying "Hello" (or "你好" or "Bonjour" or "Dzień Dobry") in the comments below and a winner will be chosen in 24 hours.

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Giveaway Contest!!!

11/10/2018

141 Comments

Things 4 Strings® Studio Kit:
Bow Hold Buddies®

Every violinists and violin teacher knows the challenge involved with developing a balanced bow hold.

What if there were a way to have constant guidance supporting correct bow hand technique?

I have good news because this already exists with the Things 4 Strings® product solutions for learning and teaching the violin.

Founder Ruth Brons has generously agreed to share a Things 4 Strings® Studio Kit: Bow Hold Buddies®: Bright Blue ($285 value) with one of the Music for Young Violinists teachers.

Things 4 Strings® accessories allow beginning string players the benefits of a relaxed and effective bow hold right from their very first lesson. Eliminating the need for constant bow hold corrections, these learning aids speed players to better tone and bow control. Made in the USA, these accessories are molded of the finest medical-grade silicone rubber, are durable enough for years of use by many students, and are suitable for all bow and hand sizes.

Launched in 2009, Things 4 Strings® patented accessories have rapidly achieved popularity with studio and classroom teachers worldwide. "Your products are really wonderful. I think the fish is for every beginning student a must!" - Nadya Canahuati, MM in Performance & String Pedagogy with Mimi Zweig

Accessory inventor and studio teacher Ruth Brons has been honored for her work advancing strings education by the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) with the prestigious Kudos Award. “A Things 4 Strings accessory dramatically reduce the time it takes students to master a proper bow hold. Students' energy can be redirected towards other challenges. Better skills, greater joy!” said Brons.

To enter, post in the comments below in 10 words or less your biggest challenge with helping students master their bowhold.

Winner will be chosen at random at the end of November.

Music for Young Violinists is honored to help spread the good news about the work of Things 4 Strings LLC. Learn more about these innovative solutions to support your music making here on their website HERE.

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15 Ways to Optimize Violin Practice

10/18/2017

Download Chart on the FREEBIES Page

Learn 15 ways to optimize your practice sessions with this free downloadable chart and tutorial video.

If you have followed this project for a while you may know that one of the most profound things I ever did in my teaching career was to spend a week watching my students practice. You can learn more about what I discovered and how it was arranged here on The Practice Experiment.

The 15 Ways to Optimize Violin Practice list and correlating video was created as a response to watching my students practice. Too often students were working hard but not progressing as far as they should because they were not practicing the right way. This list and video will help any violinist make better use of their practice time and reach their goals more efficiently.

Teachers - Use this to better support teaching technique, as a reference to share with your students and for professional development to expand your skills.

Students - Use this to help you practice more efficiently. Practicing smarter will help you progress faster. My passion is taking my 20+ years of teaching experience and helping you know the fastest path to success through the trials and errors I had working with students these past 2 decades.

Parents of Young Musicians - I know that one of the hardest jobs for you is keeping momentum in your home practice routine. Peruse the ideas on 15 Ways to Optimize Violin Practice and use the appropriate ones for your child to help keep practice creative, fresh and engaging with some new ideas.

Print out the list below and keep in your violin folder as a reference.

* Please note, some things on the list may not be clear to you until they are demonstrated in the accompanying video.

1- Left hand only (finger pop the notes while placing the violin upon the shoulder or down in "rest" position).

2- Right hand only (bow in the air, or make an open string reduction of the passage being worked on and play the open strings).

3- Use the “hand bow” by playing a passage with the bow hand's pinky side to feel and analyze string crossings (this is best explained by watching the video).

4- Play "air violin" (meaning no instrument) to work on the choreography and coordination involved in playing the violin.

5- Videotape self & watch. Many students are reluctant to view themselves since they focus on the parts of their playing they are dissatisfied with, but with a healthy mindset and specific goal to work on, this is one of the best ways to use your practice time.

6- Walk while playing. This will usually be awkward in the beginning but helps the player know if their playing is easy or not. If you can walk and play, this signifies that ample practicing has been achieved. Also, this helps keep the body relaxed overall to avoid tension and overuse injuries.

7- March while playing. Metronomes are fantastic, but the beat is interpreted thru the ear to the brain and then into the violin playing. A more sophisticated way to work on rhythm is to play while marching. It can feel complicated when first integrating this into violin playing but ultimately leads to better musicianship.

8- Sing for intonation, phrasing, dynamics & memorization.

9- Use an abacus or counting stones to count repetitions & set goals. Not only does this help achieve the intended repetitions, but it also serves as a release for the arms, so that discomfort due to muscle tension does not accumulate.

10- Add in some technical exercise for 30-60 seconds (i.e., the spider crawls, bunny flips, vibrato exercises & open string warm-ups). Click here for some ideas on what these can be. Continue adding in these at various intervals in a practice session.

11- Play with eyes closed to engage other senses.

12- Vision in your imagination. One way to do this is to lay down, which will also relax some of your back muscles that tend to get tight when playing the violin.

13- Watch your sheet music while listening to a professional performer.

14- Create a practice log to set goals for the practice session and reflect on what went well and what needs more attention next time.

15. Make it personal with your idea. Adding your unique idea to a practice session empowers you and engages you in the process. If you have a unique tip for optimizing violin practice, please add it in the comments below. We would love to hear from you!

What is your favorite practice tip?
Please share with us in the comments below, thank you!

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Violin Teaching Tip

9/22/2017

Flip your instrument to the other side (violin on the right and bow on the left) to be a beginner again and truly understand what your students are experiencing. This is the best way I know of to assist in breaking skills down into micro progressions so that you can fully convey a concept to a student. This simple act of changing sides was a revolution to helping me improve how I taught vibrato to young children.

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Beginning Level Violin Scales - Bowing Studies

11/18/2016

Download a free sample here

(in the Keys of A, D & G Major)

Download samples from this collection on the FREEBIES page for a limited time.

Download this sample from 7 Bowing Studies in the Keys of A, D & G Major from the FREEBIES page for a limited time.

Download this sample from 7 Bowing Studies in the Keys of A, D & G Major from the FREEBIES page for a limited time.

I have a young student who plays with a passionate and focused tone and is very devoted in her practicing. She is progressing beautifully but after many years of lessons she still struggles to execute down and up bows correctly. Doing review pieces to fix this issue is counter-productive since she has ingrained incorrect bowing patterns into her old repertoire. Doing the same scale 20x/day would help but does not create a compelling assignment and she would likely zone out and resume playing incorrect bowings.

In an attempt to help her master down and up bows, I created the 7 Bowing Studies for Beginning Level Violin in the Keys of A,D & G Major. Since the focus of these studies is bowing they are kept to one octave and done 3 times in keys with parallel finger patterns (A, D & G Major) for ample repetition of the bow strokes and to keep the left hand as simple as possible.

These exercises can be used in two ways:
1- Individually to help with a specific technique needed in repertoire.

2- As a series for students who need more support organizing their down and up bows.

Features of this resource include:

Each measure in all of the 7 bowing studies begins with a down bow for consistent training of this motion.

The pages are designed to flow with the first exercise supporting the second on the page and so forth.

Technical elements that are covered include string crossings, slurs, rhythms, marching with feet, circle bows (lifts) and stopped bows.

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WIN THESE: a Set of Poly-Pads!!!!

10/27/2016

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The Poly-Pads by Michael Kimber are one of my favorite shoulder pads because they have an additional curve in the design that other foam pads do not include and are very economical. Michael runs a great business, they always arrive quickly and he was kind enough to donate an entire set to Music for Young Violinists for our October GIVEAWAY CONTEST!!! When I first moved to Oregon 9 years ago I bought a Poly-Pad in every size and it has been so helpful in individually fitting each student so I know these will be a benefit to 1 lucky violin teacher.

To WIN simply write in the blog comments below what your favorite shoulder pad(s) are and why. Winner will be chosen at random November 20. Thanks!

To Visit the Poly-Pad website click HERE.

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Do a Little Dance: The Spring/Summer 2016 Music Packet is Still Available and FREE

8/17/2016

Tell a friend, email the studio, post to Facebook/Pinterest or if you are like me, send a good old fashioned letter in the mail: the Spring/Summer 2016 Music for Young Violinists music packet is still available for FREE. Just fill out a contact form either on the HOME PAGE or on the FREEBIES page and bam - you will receive a link that allows you to download this packet of music teaching awesomeness.

Wow - that's pretty awesome right!

I will only offer these music packets as free seasonal downloads for 3 more seasons so don't delay in spreading the good news. All good things in life must come to an end and when I begin nursing school I will have to end this neat global music sharing project. Thanks! Heather

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Reflections from the School Year (2015-16)

7/10/2016

Scott Lake, Oregon

The school year year flew by. One week my students were walking in my studio door recharged from summer break and creating goals for the new school year and the next week we had our end of year awards ceremony and party.

One reason that I look forward to a lighter summer teaching schedule is that I am able to have the space to reflect on everything from the previous year. I try to evaluate what was successful and what I would have done different. I also think about the needs for my studio for the upcoming year and how I can create a program and curriculum structure to best support my students.

In reflecting, I also like to make a list of what made my year distinct. The time goes by so quickly that this helps me organize my memory and feel proud of my teaching. This also literally makes me slow down to create structure for the reflection process. Below is a list of events related to my music teaching that shaped my past school year.

Hosting a masterclass with a special colleague new to town as a guest teacher.
Not accepting any new students due to a reduction in studio size.
Creating a new collection called Holiday Joy! Traditional Holiday & Christmas Music for Violin (eBook) and performing our December outreach concert at a new and larger location where we reached more people.
Adding a Fiddle and Folk music component to every group class.
Writing special solos for my younger students for our group performance of Boil Them Cabbage Down.
Performing Copeland's Hoedown with my most advanced students and adding in choreographed marching to emphasize the rhythm.
Performing the Cup Song as a surprise encore at the end of a recital.
Printing S. Suzuki quotes and sharing a collection of these with each student in a hand addressed card of encouragement (available on the FREEBIES page).
Continuing the Honors Program for the second year.
Having students write feedback for each other in the solo portion of our group classes.
Having my older students pair up with my younger students in some group classes for mentorship.
Doing Bow Hold Boot Camp at the last 2 group classes of the year.
Healthiest year I can remember with almost no absences due to illness (what a blessing).
Hosting a mock audition with colleagues to help prepare my students for the local youth orchestra auditions.
Teaching many students in my studio vibrato.
Ending the year with a composer workshop for a student interested in writing music.
Creating special summer events with my local colleagues: Advanced Review Party + Ice Cream Bar and Festival in the Park.

I recommend every teacher create an annual list like this to reflect and feel proud of your work.

What are some of the highlights from your school year? Please share in the comments below.Thank you!

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Motivate Your Child to Practice

4/19/2016

Thank you to TakeLessons.com for including me in this neat infographic.

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Words Are Not Our 1st Language

4/18/2016

(7%-38%-55% Rule)

From the 1-Minute Pedagogy Series

1 - Minute Pedagogy is a series of 6 short videos that share my favorite "pearls of wisdom" I have received for violin teaching from colleagues and teacher trainers over the past 2 decades. Think of these little videos as us having a cup of coffee together and sharing advice and perspectives to support the work we do as teachers.

Please feel invited to continue the dialogue with your own ideas in the comments on the blog or youtube channel below. I apologize for the silly grin in some of these videos. I could not help but have a gigantic smile on my face when I filmed these because I was remembering so many special people that deeply you touched my life.

To view all 6 videos in this series click HERE.

If teaching were just a matter of downloading information we could send our students an email and concepts would be understood. However, teaching is the art of communication and words are not our first language. In research studies the communication that happens between the words is referred to as meta-communication, nonverbal communication or paralanguage.

One of the preeminent researchers and authors of nonverbal communication, Albert Mehrabian, asserts that in some cases only 7% of communication is contained in the vocabulary words, 38% in the body language and the remaining 55% expressed in the "liking" or attitude of the sender. The 7%-38%-55% Rule is contextual and DOES NOT apply to every communication scenario but is useful to bring up because it helps us think about communication as being a composite of vocabulary, body/facial motions and our inner attitudes and beliefs imprinted on the message.

In the video above I share some of the ways that I communicate non-verbally with my students. I would love to hear about what special non-verbal ways you have developed to communicate and connect with your students. Please share in the comments below.

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Tips for Performance Anxiety

4/10/2016

Download the free chart here.

Butterflies in your stomach?

Try this little trick of saying the alphabet backward in your head to re-route your mental circuits and steer away from the uncomfortable experience of performance anxiety.

One of the ways this works is because a backward alphabet is an unknown pattern to the mind. This also means it will become ineffective if used too frequently. If that is the case, then start spelling other words in your mind backward like: Violin Concerto and Johann Sebastian Bach:

Scroll down for a short tutorial video I created for this same performance anxiety trick.

Try this trick before your next performance to help alleviate performance anxiety.

How do you help your students alleviate the stress of performance anxiety? Please share in the comments below.

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Do We Talk Too Much When We Teach?

3/27/2016

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From the 1-Minute Pedagogy Series

1 - Minute Pedagogy is a series of 6 short videos that share my favorite "pearls of wisdom" that I have received for violin teaching from colleagues and teacher trainers over the past 2 decades. Think of these little videos as us having a cup of coffee together and sharing advice and perspectives to support the work we do as teachers.

Please feel invited to continue the dialogue with your own ideas in the comments on the blog or youtube channel below. I apologize for the silly grin in some of these videos. I could not help but have a gigantic smile on my face when I filmed these because I was remembering so many special people that deeply you touched my life.

To view all 6 videos in this series click HERE.

Do we talk too much when we teach?

I once had a colleague tell me that teachers here in America tend to talk too much when we teach and for the most part, I agree. Words are not our first language and the unique nature of our work as violin teachers invites us to integrate physical sequences with cognitive patterns. We then wrap this all up in the magical expression that is music itself. Such a unique combination is difficult to contain in verbal instructions which is why I suggest we do an inventory of how much talking we do when we teach and assess if this amount of language is as necessary as we may be in the habit of doing and also consider what options we have instead of words to communicate our teaching point.

Words go through our ears and into our brain where they can be interpreted in a multitude of ways which may not even match the intent of the instructor. Touching a body part relevant to the technique being studied, modeling with our own playing and reserving enough space in the lesson time to accomplish enough repetitions so the student can synthesize the information and correctly repeat in their home practice are integral to a successful learning experience. Certainly language is helpful in the process but if we talk too much we are not as effective as if we balance our teaching with training the muscle memory and inflecting meaning into the music. Additionally, we can use the tone of our voice, the spacing between words and facial gestures to communicate a sense of awe and wonder for this incredible process of learning music and stress the priorities of our teaching points.

SILENT TEACHING CHALLENGE: If you really want to have some fun with this, take out a timer and have a playful challenge with your student or class to see how long you can go without speaking. You will be amazed at how this captivates your students while preserving your energy and best of all this is very effective for getting focused work accomplished.

How do you communicate with your students in your teaching? What are some ideas you have for non-verbal teaching techniques? Please share in the comments below.

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Spring Break = Restocking the FREEBIES Page

3/23/2016

This is me, "hi" and I am smiling because I just added even more free printable sheet music for violin to the FREEBIES page. I also added new practice charts to help make violin practice fun.

Hello M4YV Peeps,
It is my week off for Spring Break and has been an absolute constant rainstorm here in Oregon. This means I have time off & time inside to have too much fun with my MacBook photobooth feature and I have gone nuts restocking the FREEBIES page.

Head on over to the FREEBIES page & enjoy some awesome new downloads to help you bring out the best in your teaching. I rotate my FREEBIES on a regular basis so many of these resources will not be up for long.

Happy music making!
Heather

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Third Position Study Sheet for Violinists

3/20/2016

Please note this resource is now available as a part of The Violin Teacher's Toolkit.
Learn more HERE or click on the image below.

The third position study sheet helps young violin students gain confidence and fluency in their new technique.

The THIRD POSITION STUDY SHEET is part of the free Winter 2016 music packet available only from Music for Young Violinists. This worksheet has been such an empowering resource for my students who are just beginning third position and they often progress thru these short studies much faster than we expect. Although I could assign each of these passages by ear, I find that it creates more clarity and organization to have the expected assignment clearly notated on a piece of paper. I designed this worksheet to combine multiple learning channels into one experience:

EARS - Using review pieces to learn third position serves as guard rails to keep a student on track. They already know what the tune should sound like so there is clarity from the start.

EYES - I remember when I first started reading on the G string and high on the E string how difficult it was to discern with all the additional staff lines. If a student and teacher prefer, this worksheet allows for writing in fingerings and half/whole step markings. Eventually the consistency of playing in the same range will help your young musician develop fluency for playing in this new higher range.

HANDS - I kept all of the studies in the same range on the E string to give students enough repetition of the new skill set to truly grow confident in this new skill. If a student only practices third position in a single piece they will likely struggle for a while due to not receiving enough support to master this new and fun skill.

How do you help your students with third position? Please share in the comments below.

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It's Official: I LOVE GIVING THINGS AWAY!!!

2/25/2016