Institute Day Five

Friday morning at Technique class, Mrs. Keddington taught the kids to say hello in Japanese- if I could spell it I would, but it sounds like "Ohio Gozaimos". They said this as they bowed. Warm-up time with Twinkles, as the kids practiced the bow hand specifics- rainbow pinkies, flat knuckles, and bent thumbs. Out came the Magic Drum, and the children practiced clapping, stomping, and tip-toeing to the beat, depending on the sound the drum made. Macy had a GREAT time with the hand-slapping game. We paired up with our children, and listened as Mrs. K. played a song. Taking turns, if one person heard a wrong note they got to slap the other persons' hands. Then we switched. Macy just laughed and laughed. Professor Doggy visited us and he checked the children's posture while they played through some more songs. Then they got to practiced feeding a "Marshmallow" to "Little Foot" who lives in the screw of the bow. This helps coordinate which direction the arm should go while bowing.

In Rep class, the kids first practiced singing "A", "D", "D goes up to A", and "A goes down to D". Then they got to play "Suzuki Says"... just like "Simon Says". The cup game was next- passing the cup down the line with bows while teacher plays a song to see who is faster. Mrs. White talked about watching the leader at the concert, and following whatever she did, whether it was to point the scroll a different direction, or turn around in a circle, etc. Then they practiced heavy heads, and Magic Bow- teachers' bow can magically make the students bow copy what it does. Some children played Allegro while others did the actions- kind of like "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". Then we got to play the slapping game again- Macy was thrilled. :) Kids took turn rolling the dice to see how many times to do certain Circle Bows. They worked on dynamics and echoes in Song of the Wind. Then they did a harder version of the cup game, using ponytail holders. After that, she divided the room, and half played Var. A, while half played Var. B. That was sort of tricky at first, but they got the hang of it. The last thing was the Perpetual Motion game- kids did a different action on the last two beats of each phrase.

Macy finished a couple more lessons and games in theory, but not enough to get more treats. She is doing really well with the pitch games, and finding the notes on the staff and on the piano. The rhythm games are harder. I really like the program we used.

In Master Class, Mrs. Yong started out with a Tuning Bar. Each child got to take turns hitting the bar and singing what their favorite food was. She talked about hearing the sound waves when you hit the bar, and trying to hear them when you play your violin. All the kids played Song of the Mosquito- every time there is a circle bow, you slap your leg or tummy, or other shoulder. Then Mrs. Yong played, and the kids just practiced doing the circles on the shoulder, without violin. I bought a little bunny puppet to use with my students, and Macy was excited to show Mrs. Yong, so she used it during Macy's private lesson. We did 4 long bows, with the goal of stopping at the frog tape, and if Macy went past it, the bunny nibbled her arm. If she stopped at the tape, bunny would kiss her cheek. Macy loved that!