Blog : Practice Tips & Resources

Suzuki Benefit and Practice-A-Thon 2022

Suzuki Benefit and Practice-A-Thon 2022

Before our Mid-Winter break (no classes Sunday, February 20 – Saturday, February 26) please register for our upcoming Suzuki Practice-A-Thon, which begins the day we come back from the break, Sunday, February 27, and culminates with the outdoor Suzuki Benefit on Saturday, March 12!


The two-week period of the Practice-A-Thon and Suzuki Benefit is an incredibly exciting and important time for the Suzuki program. This period is a chance to encourage and celebrate our students for their admirable growth and unparalleled commitment. It also allows us to raise financial aid for the program, so that a wider range of students might experience the benefits of the Suzuki method.


The entire Suzuki program will work together this year with two goals in mind: first, to beat last year’s Practice-A-Thon participation rate, then, to practice a certain amount during the two-week period in order to unlock perks for the in-person Suzuki Benefit on March 12. 


We’ll be tracking student participation with a Cooperative Sundae, and there are exciting perks at each level! The more participation, the better the party (and the more ice cream)! 


So, download the Suzuki Practice Tracker, register for the Practice-A-Thon on Do-Jiggy, and invite your friends and family to sponsor your child’s work! You can also visit the event website to make a donation, access a social media toolkit and more. 

Happy practicing!

Practice Strategies- A Virtual Parent Conversation

Practice Strategies- A Virtual Parent Conversation

Nora Friedman led an insightful Practice Strategies conversation with parents on Zoom on Wednesday, February 2nd.

One of the main topics discussed included doing your best to find empathy for your child when they’re having trouble with something. It can be tough at the end of a long day, when you’re trying to squeeze in a practice session to try to empathize with your child and how they might be feeling. We also discussed ways to show more empathy during practice time, and how to navigate times when kids are feeling anxious about doing something that seems challenging. Parents shared experiences with their children, and teachers offered advice and insights.

One idea that seemed really helpful: During practice time, imagine that your child is a friend who is telling you about an important experience they just had. Imagine what your reaction would be with a friend. This will most likely lead to a less critical perspective, and a friendlier demeanor than we might fall into with close family members, with whom we might feel frustrated or have very high expectations and hopes for. Sometimes an enthusiastic “WOW!” or “Do that again!” is a great way to buy more time. 

There were also a number of resources that came up that might be useful:

Daniel Pink’s book, Drive
Effortless Mastery, Kenny Werner
Inner Game of Music/Golf, etc. 
Carol Dweck video on the importance of the TYPE of feedback we give to children to help them develop a growth mindset and cope with perfectionistic tendencies. Nora shared this alongside a caveat that one should view it with a grain of salt, and to keep in mind that we are all on a lifelong learning journey. 

We were so happy to have the parents and teachers who joined us, and are looking forward to continuing the conversation to discuss other facets of practicing in the near future!

On Suzuki method and methodology

It’s important to remind ourselves of these core teachings from Dr. Suzuki (courtesy of suzukiexperience.com).

http://suzukiexperience.com/2018/01/07/What-the-Suzuki-method-means/

The following article outlines some things to keep in mind within the Suzuki Triangle (teacher, parent, child)

https://www.wsste.com/single-post/2017/11/06/Triangle-Communication-Lines

 

 

Suzuki Recordings

iTunes

Suzuki Bass School, Vol. 1 by Gary Karr

Suzuki Cello School, Vols. 1 & 2 by Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi

Suzuki Guitar School, Vol. 1 by William Kossler

Suzuki Piano School, Vol. 1 by Seizo Azuma

Suzuki Violin School, Vol. 1 by William Preucil

Amazon

Suzuki Bass School, Vol 1: Bass Part, Book & CD Revised Edition by Shinichi Suzuki (Author)

Suzuki Cello School Cello Part & CD, Volume 1 (Revised Edition)by Shinichi Suzuki (Author), Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi (Author)

Suzuki Guitar School, Vol 1: Guitar Part, Book & CD Revised Edition by Seth Himmelhoch (Author), Andrew LaFreniere (Author), Louis Brown (Author)

Suzuki Violin School Revised Edition Violin Part Book & CD Volume 1

Other

An online resource for Suzuki recordings:
http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20145/15813/

 

Original source material for the Suzuki Violin School

http://www.markpolesky.com/suzuki/