by Jackie Westerduin | Sep 21, 2020 | Online Learning, Parent Corner, Practice
Organizing At-Home Practice! We’re all spending a lot of time at home these days. Practicing is a great way to keep students’ engaged and give them a break from screens. Having a variety of focused activities is important to keep all that practice interesting....
by Stephanie Ashman | Sep 13, 2020 | Parent Corner, Practice
Does your child get easily frustrated when something is hard? If the answer is yes, that is completely normal! The ability to overcome challenges is something that has to be built throughout childhood. Learning a musical instrument is the perfect way to develop...
by Jackie Westerduin | May 28, 2020 | Practice
To play on Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “One Art,” the art of listening isn’t hard to master. The Suzuki guitar teacher and Suzuki violin mom Michele Horner advises listening to the recordings of current repertoire ten times a day. That may sound like a lot, but the...
by Rebecca Silverstein | May 5, 2020 | Practice
“To make a resolution and act accordingly is to live with hope. There may be difficulties and hardships, but not disappointment or despair if you follow the path steadily. Do not hurry. This is a fundamental rule. If you hurry and collapse or tumble down, nothing is...
by Jackie Westerduin | May 5, 2020 | Practice
Even without the support of a teacher’s presence, it is important for students to maintain both healthy posture and correct hand positioning in their home practice set-up. All musicians should sit or stand with a lengthened, relaxed back. Imagine being pulled upwards...
by Elisa Muzzillo | Feb 24, 2020 | Practice
Sometimes I tell my students that their fingers have brains. They get really excited & maybe even freaked out – and the best part is that I’m telling the truth. Noelle Perrin, a Suzuki teacher trainer, uses this explanation with her students when she talks...