Suzuki Violin - Discussion

[sylpha]

Older kids pick up faster too. My DD (3 yrs) is in Kinderviolin class and it takes a term just to pick up playing "AAA EEE" in a group and shaping the bow hand. Her current term is holding the violin w left hand and moving her fingers.Sometimes, we expect too much too fast from the children. Violin is not an easy instrument.

[phankao]

sylpha:

Older kids pick up faster too. My DD (3 yrs) is in Kinderviolin class and it takes a term just to pick up playing \"AAA EEE\" in a group and shaping the bow hand. Her current term is holding the violin w left hand and moving her fingers.Sometimes, we expect too much too fast from the children. Violin is not an easy instrument.

Yes, being developmentally ready physically - and coordinated. I used to wonder about that when I was thinking whether to let my youngest son learn violin at such a young age. I was wondering how those little kids I saw on Youtube videos could possibly be so coordinated to actually play those Suzuki songs at 3yrs old. When my son didn't even seem to be able to manage handling the bowing properly then (he was only 2.5yo then).

When we started violin lessons formally just after he turned 3yo, his Suzuki violin teacher started teaching him the twinkles right at the start. So by 2nd lesson she'd taught him fingering, and lo and behold, to my surprise, he could actually do it under her guidance. I guess teacher has more trust and confidence bc they are so experienced and have taught many kids of that age and know what they are capable of!!!

[sylpha]

chuckle he is super smart and picks up fast


Missy A is just learning to tap her fingers. Her first finger exercise was… "AAA, A2A2A2". Now, she has to learn the art of holding the neck between finger and thumb properly…

no reading of notes in Kinderviolin. Mrs Lee drills the songs till its part of their memory pattern.

PS: checked w Mac but no Sun class. Btw, Missy A is moving on to a 1/10 violin.

[phankao]

sylpha:

*chuckle* he is super smart and picks up fast


Missy A is just learning to tap her fingers. Her first finger exercise was... \"AAA, A2A2A2\". Now, she has to learn the art of holding the neck between finger and thumb properly...

no reading of notes in Kinderviolin. Mrs Lee drills the songs till its part of their memory pattern.

PS: checked w Mac but no Sun class. Btw, Missy A is moving on to a 1/10 violin.

But I see many 3 year olds on Youtube all over the world playing violin that way, so nothing very unusual I'd think.

So it's More like teacher has a way of guiding - simple but fun ideas. Also once he can get it, he realises that he *Can Do it*, so he is more motivated to try more.

Can practise finger tapping on the violin sound box first, then on the fingerboard. Tap 3 fingers to \"3 monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped his head, then left 2 monkeys on bed\" (you can check the lyrics or probably you know it). Then followed by tapping 2 fingers \"2 little monkeys jumping on bed, one fell off\", then tap 1 finger (bc left 1 monkey on bed). That would increase the strength of the fingers when they transfer it to the keyboard. That's how my son's teacher teaches.

So when you put onto the fingerboard, you can also do likewise with 3 fingers down \"3 monkeys on the fingerboard\" - 1 fell off -, then \"2 monkeys on the fingerboard\", then \"1 monkey on the fingerboard\", and then \"No more monkeys on the fingerboard\" ----> and you realise what???? That is the fingering of the 2nd line of Twinkle! (The line where you sing: \"How I wonder what you are\").

We do these games during practice. The actual exercises are actually incorporated all in \"games\". That's why I like Suzuki. All the required exercises are incorporated in the Twinkle Variations and all the other songs. You can't tell just by looking at the scores. You have to experience it through a trained teacher.

another example of going back to the twinkle basic song - my son trains his righthand bow-wrist flexibility and straight-bowing by doing slow upbow twinkles. I would never of thought of this if not introduced by teacher. Such a simple exercise.

Wah, so fast your girl going onto 1/10th violin!!!! My boy at 4yrs 3mths still on his 1/16th violin. I think we change to 1/10th only in 2nd Quarter of next year when he's 4.5yo lah.

[sylpha]

she needs a violin with the shoulder rest. no more play play liao. Wolfgang focuses alot on shaping the bow hand. Now left hand position is comin into play. chuckle I do see some progress now that the RH and LH are both in the pic. Slowly but surely. After 2 terms in Wolfgang, I’m guilty of not making her practice that often.

[phankao]

sylpha:

she needs a violin with the shoulder rest. no more play play liao. Wolfgang focuses alot on shaping the bow hand. Now left hand position is comin into play. *chuckle* I do see some progress now that the RH and LH are both in the pic. Slowly but surely. After 2 terms in Wolfgang, I'm guilty of not making her practice that often.

So get a shoulder rest lor. LOL - why need a 1/10th just to use shoulder rest?!

My son has been using shoulder rest since he was using his 1/32-violin. He doesn't like sponge.

[phankao]

phankao:

sylpha:

she needs a violin with the shoulder rest. no more play play liao. Wolfgang focuses alot on shaping the bow hand. Now left hand position is comin into play. *chuckle* I do see some progress now that the RH and LH are both in the pic. Slowly but surely. After 2 terms in Wolfgang, I'm guilty of not making her practice that often.

So get a shoulder rest lor. LOL - why need a 1/10th just to use shoulder rest?!

My son has been using shoulder rest since he was using his 1/32-violin. He doesn't like sponge.

KUN mini can be used for 1/32 violin onwards even tho it says from a larger size, but can fit. We used that initially, but then tried a few others. The one we finally settled with is the Viva Shoulder Rest.

http://www.young-musicians.com/viva-la-musica-shoulder-rest-1-8-1-16.html

It's feet has good grip on the violin while the Kun Mini sometimes slips off. The Viva shoulder rest is also broad and stable.

[empressplace]

Even the best teacher who only spends 6 minutes per week on a child can't do magic!

phankao:

Koolmama:

(a friend of mine had a child who took half a year in suzuki group class just to learn how to hold the violin properly! :yikes: )

I think this depends on your child's teacher?!!!

[Koolmama]

Yup!! If you attend Suzuki group classes at Mac's School (and other schools like Mandeville), all your child will get to learn after one year of expensive lessons is how to play the first song of Suzuki Book 1!


(that being said, Wolfgang Studio told me my child would be able to play Twinkle Twinkle after one term of Baby Beats but that absolutely did not happen!! :rant: )

empressplace:

Even the best teacher who only spends 6 minutes per week on a child can't do magic!

phankao:

[quote=\"Koolmama\"](a friend of mine had a child who took half a year in suzuki group class just to learn how to hold the violin properly! :yikes: )

I think this depends on your child's teacher?!!!

[/quote]

[Koolmama]

In other words, it was rather deceptive marketing as my child was absolutely nowhere near mastering even the first 5 notes of Twinkle Twinkle by the end of 10 lessons of Baby Beats!!