We hope you had a wonderful and relaxing summer. Our Suzuki lessons and classes begin on Sunday, September 15. Have a great year!
Johnson String Instrument this Thursday
Johnson String Instrument is scheduled for this Thursday, March 14, to deliver/ pick up any exchanges, returns as well as drop off any orders that have come in. If you need an exchange, let them know by Wednesday, March 13th at the latest.
The next two visits will be Thursday, April 11th, and Thursday May 9th.
Two Exciting Suzuki guitar events
Violin Listening: A FREE GIFT From German violin teacher trainer Kerstin Wartburg
Violin Listening
A FREE GIFT From German violin teacher trainer Kerstin Wartburg,
to all Suzuki violin teachers, their students and their parents.
During the last four decades I have been working with great interest and passion to create materials that support the learning of music according to the philosophy of Shinichi Suzuki. Dr. Suzuki showed us that children learn music in the same way they learn language—by listening! I have personally believed for a very long time that it would be extremely helpful for children and their parents to have a variety of listening sources available to enrich their learning environment.
ARTISTS’ RECORDINGS of the violin repertoire can serve to inspire and demonstrate the highest levels of expression, tone, and interpretation. However, it is also necessary to model and demonstrate (through recordings) the PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH TO LEARNING, and clearly demonstrate the steps a student might progress through on their first learning of the repertoire.
Suzuki himself had planned to make a written version of his entire violin school along with practice cassettes. Because of the work involved in continuing to develop his method, as well as his involvement in the world-wide spread of his ideas, he was only able to accomplish this for the beginning level. These works were published (in Japanese) in 1953 under the titles: “How to Study the Violin” (book), and “Practice with me” (cassettes). Suzuki asked me to continue with this important work and adapt it for present-day students and teachers.
During the last two months there have been several articles published in international periodicals such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Strad about the violinist featured in all volumes of the Revised and International Suzuki violin recordings.
https://www.thestrad.com/news/cleveland-concertmaster-accused-of-sexual-harassment-in-washington-post-expose/8041.article
On social media and also on the SAA website, I have recently observed a very important conversation taking place about additional recordings for the Suzuki Violin School.
In the light of the actual situation, I would like to share with all of you another resource for violin recordings of the first FIVE VOLUMES. These recordings present a clear PEDAGOGICAL EXAMPLE of the violin literature and their learning steps. These recordings were made during the testing phase of my Step-by-Step and Recital Training series, and I would like to now share some FREE EXAMPLES from the first, second and fourth volumes with any interested teachers, parents, and students.
The complete repertoire of VOLUMES 1 – 5 are available for download in the IMTEX Media Library for all members at a very low and reasonable cost.
Happy Listening! Happy Practicing!
—– Kerstin Wartburg —–
Here you find our personal FREE GIFT with more than 100 MP3 files with Play Lists (PDF)
https://www.imtex.info/istex/mediathek/
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EXCERPS of Violin Books 1 / 2 / 4
Edited by Kerstin Wartberg
Rudolf Gaehler, violin
Gino Romero Ramirez, djembé (african drum)
David Andruss, piano and piano arrangements for all recorded pieces
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EXCERPS of
Violin Book 1, Part A, Play Along in 3 Tempi
The Tuning Notes
Lightly Row
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
The Grasshopper Exercise
Song of the Wind
in performance tempo (viola & piano)
in slow practice tempo (viola & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Go Tell Aunt Rhody
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Oh Come, Little Children
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
May Song
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Long, Long Ago
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Play List (English/Spanish/French/German)
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EXCERPS of
Violin Book 1, Part B, Play Along in 3 Tempi
The Tuning Notes
Minuet 1
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Minuet 2
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Minuet 3
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Happy Farmer
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Gossec Gavotte
The Rapid Passage in the Gossec-Gavotte
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Play List (English/Spanish/French/German)
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EXCERPS of
Violin Volume 2A (Pack 1)
EXCERPS of The Tuning Notes
Chorus from “Judas Maccabaeus”
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Musette
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Hunter’s Chorus
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Long, Long Ago
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Play List (English/Spanish/French/German)
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EXCERPS of
Violin Volume 2A (Pack 2)
The Tuning Notes
Waltz
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
Exercise for crescendo (violin & piano)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Bourrée
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
The Two Grenadiers
in performance tempo (violin & piano)
in slow practice tempo (violin & piano)
in medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
in performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Play List (English/Spanish/French/German)
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EXCERPS of
Violin Volume 4A (Seitz 1)
Friedrich Seitz, Concerto No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13, 3rd Mvt.
Tuning notes
Slow practice tempo (violin and piano)
Medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
Performance tempo (violin and piano)
Performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Preparatory exercise
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EXCERPS of
Violin Volume 4A (Seitz 3)
Friedrich Seitz, Concerto No. 5 in D Major, Op. 22, 3rd Movement
Tuning notes
Slow practice tempo (violin and piano)
Medium practice tempo (piano accompaniment)
Performance tempo (piano accompaniment)
Performance tempo (violin and piano)
Preparatory exercise 1
Preparatory exercise 2
Preparatory exercise 3
Preparatory exercise 4
Preparatory exercise 5
Sheet music

Suzuki students participate in Make Music New York
Jenna Girone-Virgilio led a lively group of Suzuki string students in the 12th annual Make Music New York city-wide music event, held on Thursday, June 21, 2018. http://www.makemusicny.org
How Suzuki changed music teaching paradigm
This interesting article discuses how Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s approach changed the paradigm of music teaching. Did you know that before him, it was considered a standard that they children should play “childish” music only? Or that all the teaching was left to teachers?
Are we ready?
This article can help you decide if you and your child are ready to start your joint musical journey.
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

Guitar students busking for hurricane relief!
We are proud of our BKCM guitar students who raised $600 for a Houston Suzuki guitar family displaced by hurricane Harvey! Our students played outside for two hours, giving the gift of music to make a difference in this family’s life.
It took a long time to get the check to them because they don’t have a mailing address since their house was destroyed! The family drives an hour to get to their Suzuki lessons. We wish them all the best.
Suzuki Early Childhood Education: What About the Parents?
This article outlines some thoughtful concepts that parents can keep in mind as their child begins music instruction in Suzuki Early Childhood Education.