This week, I received an e-mail from a mother looking for practice advice for her almost-5-year old son, who has been in Suzuki cello classes for about a year. She writes, “I know he likes to play, once he gets going and concentrates and is playing. However the practices are becoming a power struggle; he […]
Teaching
TCW Resources Workshop
This weekend is our Kansas Music Educator’s In-Service Workshop here in Wichita, so I’m attending a couple of the sessions by Charlene Zundel, of TCW Resources. In addition to having a lot of fun, I’m also picking up some fabulous new game ideas! Charlene played Wacky Wanda with some of the attendees. I got in […]
Fresh and Fun! Idea – Key Signature-Scale Matchup Music Worksheets
For the month of March, our theme is Know Your Signature – That’s the Key! My goal is to help students not only memorize their key signatures, but also understand the concept that key signatures indicate which scale forms the basis for a particular piece of music. In order to reinforce that concept, I’ve created […]
Progress Report on Feeling the Pulse
This is an open post for anyone to share. Have you incorporated any of the Feeling the Pulse activities in your studio this month? How did they go? What worked or didn’t work? Have you seen improvement in your students?
Monday Mailbag – Studio Communications
Do you send out any kind of newsletter or communication to your students besides your blog and web site? For many years I created and sent out a really nice printed newsletter called “Noteworthy News” with info about upcoming events, pictures and recognition of students, a question of the month, trivia tidbits, etc. Once I […]
Fresh and Fun! Idea #4
My students did much better with the “Rhythm Runs” than I expected. A few of them struggled, but most of them caught on pretty quickly. It proved to be a very effective way of getting them to really feel the pulse, too, which is great! This week will be our final week focusing on Feeling […]
