Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Molly Ballet Exam Grade 1

 
Posted by Picasa


Molly has passed her Ballet exam with a "Pass Commended." She started studying grade I when she was 7 so she could get an early start and now at age 9, she has passed. Now on to grade II ! We are so proud of you. Keep up the hard work! It will pay off.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Dr. Suzuki on Raising Your Ability to Play (summary by Margaret)

If you asked a musician what their favorite part of learning a new song was, their answer is most likely to be performing for an audience and then being done with that song. When this happens, they are not learning to raise their ability in the piece they are working on. Here are two of the most important things for you to work on so that you will learn and never forget your pieces.
One of the biggest things to help you remember a song is reviewing it every single day. Most of us don’t like review at all, but once you have done it, you will raise your ability in playing the piece more emotionally. When you review, always make sure you are playing the piece correctly, that you are using the correct fingering and dynamics, and that you are confident in the music you are playing. By reviewing, you will help your brain to be able to figure out harder music that comes in the future. “Sometimes we think moving on is advancing, but getting better is really by reviewing,” said Dr. Suzuki. I hope you will consider this everyday as you do your review chart.
Secondly, you need to listen at least 15 minutes to your review songs. By doing this, you will cause yourself to remember what comes next in that song. Listening can also help you discover notes that you are playing wrong and then you will hopefully be able to figure out the correct one. Often our excuse is that we don’t have any time to listen to our cd, but if you have time to practice, you can make time to listen. You might even want to put a cd in the car and listen to it on the way to lessons. As you listen, think deeply into the song and ask yourself questions like, “Am I playing that note the way it should be played?” You will find that the song becomes easier to play after you have thought deeply about it and asked yourself questions.
I hope that after you review and listen to your songs, you’ll be able to play them more emotionally and show others the never-ending excitement of playing your instrument. Remember to listen and review your songs every single day.