Friday, May 30, 2008
Riverton Metropolitan Orchestra
The group I play with is performing at the Riverton Arts Festival on Thursday, June 5th at approximately 8:00 p.m. I recommend you arrive around 7:30. We will be playing many favorite Patriotic Tunes, as well as a few fun Swing Numbers. Concert will be held at Riverton City Park. The address is 12800 South 1400 West. Hope to see you there!
Institute Guest Artist Performances
All concerts held at Juan Diego High School
11800 South 300 East, Draper Utah
Monday June 16th
5:00 p.m.
Jenny Oaks Baker - Violin
Tuesday June 17th
5:00 p.m.
Jesus Morales - Cello
Wednesday June 18th
1:00 p.m.
The Fry Street Quartet
I'm not sure if the concerts are supposed to be only for Institute Attendees or not. Last year my husband came and met me and my daughter. So, I think it should be ok. I especially recommend seeing Jenny Oaks Baker play... it will be very inspiring for the students.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Meeting Recaps
Hello Everyone!
Here are a few of the things that we talked about in our meetings this week. We mostly focused on practice ideas, and how to keep your child motivated as they learn the violin/viola. If you haven't filled out a feedback chart for me yet, please do. It gives me a lot of good info to work with as far as how I can help you in your home practice, and how I can help your child to achieve their musical goals.
Practice Ideas:
1- Have a 3-ring binder or other folder to help keep track of assignment sheets. It's important for your student to review their weekly sheets and use them in their daily practice. You can also include things like Note FlashCards, the Suzuki book, and any other non-Suzuki songs I give you copies of. This helps the student to remember what they need to practice each day, and it creates a good system for Review. Just have them play through everything in the book every day, and Review is easy!
2- Draw faces on the practice chart to tell me how that day went. This is especially effective for younger students. A smile means good practice, no fighting. A frown means the practice was a struggle. Eyes with a straight line means it was somewhere in between. This way I can see what areas of practice your student enjoys, and where you might need ideas to help practice be smoother.
3- Remember that Review and Listening are THE MOST IMPORTANT parts of daily practice. If you don't have much time some days, or if it's not a happy practice day, just do the Review and Listening. These days are okay periodically. Try to let your child have some control over what they're practicing- as long as they do what's on their chart, it doesn't matter too much what order they do it in. I recommend saving their "favorite" thing to do at the end of practice... it's the dessert, the reward for practicing well. Also, remember to use those practice charts and ideas I've given each of you. If you don't have any more, or never got them, let me know.
Motivation:
In the packet I give out when you start with me, there is a sheet called "Fun Practice Ideas". This has lots of good motivating ideas on it for you to use with your student. I will be incorporating some of the Practice Charts into our lessons and offering rewards for them.
Another great way to motivate students is for them to see musical performances. I will be posting information about the concerts available at Institute in a couple of weeks. I believe they are available to the public, and are free. I would especially encourage you to take your student to the Jenny Oaks Baker concert. She is an amazing and very accomplished violinist.
Whenever I hear about good performance opportunities for your students to see, I will let you know.
I will also be giving out Christmas music to start learning over the summer. I would like to have a Christmas Concert in December after I have my baby. So, we need plenty of time to practice before I take maternity leave.
We will not be having group lessons during the summer. I will let you know how group classes will be in the Fall.
Also, remember that the SLC Area Violin Graduation is in January. You must be a member of SAU to participate. The fee is $30 for the whole year. There will also be an activity in the fall, and I'll let you know when I get info about that.
Happy Practicing, Keep up the good work, and Remember your goals as you work with your child! Harmony in the parent-child relationship is one of the most important aspects of the Suzuki Method, so keep that in mind.
Here are a few of the things that we talked about in our meetings this week. We mostly focused on practice ideas, and how to keep your child motivated as they learn the violin/viola. If you haven't filled out a feedback chart for me yet, please do. It gives me a lot of good info to work with as far as how I can help you in your home practice, and how I can help your child to achieve their musical goals.
Practice Ideas:
1- Have a 3-ring binder or other folder to help keep track of assignment sheets. It's important for your student to review their weekly sheets and use them in their daily practice. You can also include things like Note FlashCards, the Suzuki book, and any other non-Suzuki songs I give you copies of. This helps the student to remember what they need to practice each day, and it creates a good system for Review. Just have them play through everything in the book every day, and Review is easy!
2- Draw faces on the practice chart to tell me how that day went. This is especially effective for younger students. A smile means good practice, no fighting. A frown means the practice was a struggle. Eyes with a straight line means it was somewhere in between. This way I can see what areas of practice your student enjoys, and where you might need ideas to help practice be smoother.
3- Remember that Review and Listening are THE MOST IMPORTANT parts of daily practice. If you don't have much time some days, or if it's not a happy practice day, just do the Review and Listening. These days are okay periodically. Try to let your child have some control over what they're practicing- as long as they do what's on their chart, it doesn't matter too much what order they do it in. I recommend saving their "favorite" thing to do at the end of practice... it's the dessert, the reward for practicing well. Also, remember to use those practice charts and ideas I've given each of you. If you don't have any more, or never got them, let me know.
Motivation:
In the packet I give out when you start with me, there is a sheet called "Fun Practice Ideas". This has lots of good motivating ideas on it for you to use with your student. I will be incorporating some of the Practice Charts into our lessons and offering rewards for them.
Another great way to motivate students is for them to see musical performances. I will be posting information about the concerts available at Institute in a couple of weeks. I believe they are available to the public, and are free. I would especially encourage you to take your student to the Jenny Oaks Baker concert. She is an amazing and very accomplished violinist.
Whenever I hear about good performance opportunities for your students to see, I will let you know.
I will also be giving out Christmas music to start learning over the summer. I would like to have a Christmas Concert in December after I have my baby. So, we need plenty of time to practice before I take maternity leave.
We will not be having group lessons during the summer. I will let you know how group classes will be in the Fall.
Also, remember that the SLC Area Violin Graduation is in January. You must be a member of SAU to participate. The fee is $30 for the whole year. There will also be an activity in the fall, and I'll let you know when I get info about that.
Happy Practicing, Keep up the good work, and Remember your goals as you work with your child! Harmony in the parent-child relationship is one of the most important aspects of the Suzuki Method, so keep that in mind.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Parent Meeting
Don't forget- Parent Meeting this week!
Tues. 27th at 7:00 p.m. OR Thurs. 29th at 10:00 a.m.
At my house. Feel free to bring children with you if needed. Come excited to get to know each other and with any questions you may have for me about lessons or the Suzuki Method!
http://suzukiassociation.org/about/suzuki/
See you soon!
Tues. 27th at 7:00 p.m. OR Thurs. 29th at 10:00 a.m.
At my house. Feel free to bring children with you if needed. Come excited to get to know each other and with any questions you may have for me about lessons or the Suzuki Method!
http://suzukiassociation.org/about/suzuki/
See you soon!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
A Neat Concert to Attend
Rocky Mountain Strings 2008 Concerts
Rocky Mountain Strings is an advanced performing group of 45 young violinists directed by Deborah Moench and Ramona Stirling. At the invitation of the Wieniawski School of Music in Lodz, Poland, the students and their directors introduced the Suzuki Method of music education to the people of Poland and the Czech Republic during a tour in October 2000. In 2003 the group gave performances throughout Italy. In 2005 they performed at schools and the Tabernacle in St. George, Utah. The group has also performed at the International Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference in Chicago (1998) and the Conference in Minneapolis (2006). In August of 2008 they will tour Argentina as part of an international Suzuki Violin method exchange.
Locally, Rocky Mountain Strings loves performing at venues such as Libby Gardner Hall, The Assembly Hall on Temple Square, First Night, Gala Fundraisers, Utah Symphony Lobbyfest, weddings, conventions, churches, private parties, and schools.
Benefit Concert
May 21, 2008
7:00 p.m. Libby Gardner Hall
Tickets are $10 and available from Rocky Mountain String Members
or call 599-4021
Other Performances:
Sunday August 10th
Cordoba, Argentina
Saturday August 16th
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rocky Mountain Strings is an advanced performing group of 45 young violinists directed by Deborah Moench and Ramona Stirling. At the invitation of the Wieniawski School of Music in Lodz, Poland, the students and their directors introduced the Suzuki Method of music education to the people of Poland and the Czech Republic during a tour in October 2000. In 2003 the group gave performances throughout Italy. In 2005 they performed at schools and the Tabernacle in St. George, Utah. The group has also performed at the International Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference in Chicago (1998) and the Conference in Minneapolis (2006). In August of 2008 they will tour Argentina as part of an international Suzuki Violin method exchange.
Locally, Rocky Mountain Strings loves performing at venues such as Libby Gardner Hall, The Assembly Hall on Temple Square, First Night, Gala Fundraisers, Utah Symphony Lobbyfest, weddings, conventions, churches, private parties, and schools.
Benefit Concert
May 21, 2008
7:00 p.m. Libby Gardner Hall
Tickets are $10 and available from Rocky Mountain String Members
or call 599-4021
Other Performances:
Sunday August 10th
Cordoba, Argentina
Saturday August 16th
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Summer Lessons
Welcome to Spring! I wanted to give you a heads up about things to come. First of all, I will be teaching regular lessons the last week of May, so please let me know if you won’t be able to come.
Summer lessons be will scheduled a few weeks at a time. We will not necessarily have a set time from week to week, since everyone’s schedule seems to change so much during the summer. Rather, everyone will have TEN lessons to spread out in June, July and August to schedule at times that are convenient for everyone. Please plan to either pay for 2 ½ months of tuition up front in June, or to leave postdated checks for July and half tuition for August when you pay your June tuition.
Students who plan to continue lessons with me in the fall are required to have summer lessons. I find that students who don’t have lessons over the summer take months in the fall to return to the same level they were at the end of spring. This is discouraging for everyone. There is a lot of flexibility during the summer- we can even do more than one lesson in a week if you want. Please take a look at your summer calendar and plan on scheduling lessons for June before group lessons in May. If you want to increase your lesson time from a half hour to forty-five minutes, summer is a good time to do it. I recommend 45 min. lessons starting early to mid Book 2.
Summer lessons will be especially important, as Rob and I are expecting a baby due September 18th. My Macy was born a week early, but as birth is unpredictable, I have a tentative plan set up. I would like to continue teaching in September until the baby is born. You can pay for one lesson at a time. That way we’ll be able to keep going as long as possible. If for some reason I am unable to teach and you’ve already paid for lessons, they will either be credited or made-up if possible.
I would like to resume lessons mid-October or at the beginning of November, depending on my recovery time. I will definitely keep you posted. I’d like to do a group recital in the beginning of December. It will be sort of like a group lesson, where all students will play the songs that they know all together, rather than a solo recital. I’d like to incorporate some holiday music into this recital as well. I will try to have music for this ready before I have the baby so that you can continue to practice with your child during the break.
I’d also like to start having quarterly parent meetings. We would get together for about an hour, here at my house. I would give a short presentation about a particular topic, then the remainder of the time will be used for mingling/questions/giving each other encouragement as we discuss each of our musical journeys with our children. Of course, refreshments will be provided, and you are welcome to attend as a couple or an individual- whichever is better for you. Our first meeting will be held the last week of May. Please let me know which date will work better for you- either the 27th at 7:00 pm or the 29th at 10:00 am. I am willing to do a meeting both days to accomodate everyone. Also, if you need to bring children with you, that is fine.
Thanks for all you do as parents, and for the chance to work with your students. As always, let me know if there are any questions or concerns.
Summer lessons be will scheduled a few weeks at a time. We will not necessarily have a set time from week to week, since everyone’s schedule seems to change so much during the summer. Rather, everyone will have TEN lessons to spread out in June, July and August to schedule at times that are convenient for everyone. Please plan to either pay for 2 ½ months of tuition up front in June, or to leave postdated checks for July and half tuition for August when you pay your June tuition.
Students who plan to continue lessons with me in the fall are required to have summer lessons. I find that students who don’t have lessons over the summer take months in the fall to return to the same level they were at the end of spring. This is discouraging for everyone. There is a lot of flexibility during the summer- we can even do more than one lesson in a week if you want. Please take a look at your summer calendar and plan on scheduling lessons for June before group lessons in May. If you want to increase your lesson time from a half hour to forty-five minutes, summer is a good time to do it. I recommend 45 min. lessons starting early to mid Book 2.
Summer lessons will be especially important, as Rob and I are expecting a baby due September 18th. My Macy was born a week early, but as birth is unpredictable, I have a tentative plan set up. I would like to continue teaching in September until the baby is born. You can pay for one lesson at a time. That way we’ll be able to keep going as long as possible. If for some reason I am unable to teach and you’ve already paid for lessons, they will either be credited or made-up if possible.
I would like to resume lessons mid-October or at the beginning of November, depending on my recovery time. I will definitely keep you posted. I’d like to do a group recital in the beginning of December. It will be sort of like a group lesson, where all students will play the songs that they know all together, rather than a solo recital. I’d like to incorporate some holiday music into this recital as well. I will try to have music for this ready before I have the baby so that you can continue to practice with your child during the break.
I’d also like to start having quarterly parent meetings. We would get together for about an hour, here at my house. I would give a short presentation about a particular topic, then the remainder of the time will be used for mingling/questions/giving each other encouragement as we discuss each of our musical journeys with our children. Of course, refreshments will be provided, and you are welcome to attend as a couple or an individual- whichever is better for you. Our first meeting will be held the last week of May. Please let me know which date will work better for you- either the 27th at 7:00 pm or the 29th at 10:00 am. I am willing to do a meeting both days to accomodate everyone. Also, if you need to bring children with you, that is fine.
Thanks for all you do as parents, and for the chance to work with your students. As always, let me know if there are any questions or concerns.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Recital
We had our Spring Recital on April 26th at Herriman City Hall. I was a little stressed out, as I forgot to pick up the key, and request a piano for it! Thankfully, my mother bailed us out- she had a key and was able to find the piano for us.
Everyone did such a great job performing! I'm so proud of all my students and all that they are accomplishing. I love teaching and I love getting to know new people. I have a lot of new students right now, and it's so fun to see them grow and progress in whatever they're working on.
Here's to many more fun musical experiences together!
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