2/23

Course requests input for sophomores and AP registration.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

11/14

Teaching the left hand: Focus on the contact points: on the right side, hold the neck right above the base knuckle joint of first finger. On the left side, hold by the pad of the thumb. Thumb should be relaxed and straight, there should be a U-shape under the neck between thumb and first finger, there should be no squeezing. Wrist should be straight, fingers always curved. The challenge is in placement; learning the correct placement of the notes without markers takes time. Intonation is tricky because there is no visible marking of where to press. I could have students sing the scale on each string using a tuner, then have them match the note on the violin. Students should place all fingers down at once to secure the position. https://teachsuzukiviolin.com/the-violinists-left-hand/ Imagery helps in performance anxiety: A way to prevent memory slips and redirect focus onto music is to create a story or imagery that is associated with the piece. Noa Kageyama's blog has articles...
Read more

3/22

Wesley rankin: I taught a complete beginner today, giving a total crash course on the violin. After going over the anatomy of the violin (strings, neck, fingerboard, pegs, bridge, etc.), I taught her how to support the violin on the shoulder, then demonstrated the proper hand position. Like most beginners, she had a tendency to prop the violin up with her wrist, which should be flat and straight. I emphasized the importance of developing a good foundation to not get held back. Starting from the beginning of essential strings vol 1, we did pizzicato of open strings first, then moved on to first, second, and third fingers. Although she had larger hands, it was still hard for her to do 4th finger, so I just told her it was necessary to keep it curved but did not do too much 4th finger. At the end, I did an introduction to the bow hold, demonstrating a relaxed hold with a curved thumb and fingers. I also reviewed how to read music, since she knew a little about music but didn't remembe...
Read more