Music and More: Sara Penny Blog

Broken thirds are a useful way to tackle Allegretto.  Helping the students to see the scale patterns of adjacent notes and the triads of skips make the pieces easier to understand.  Where is the scale?  Where is the skip?   Video to help with Allegretto and Andantino Poole's Poems are from teacher training from Lorraine Fink at teacher training at Intermountain Suzuki Strings Institute.  I highly recommend the teacher training available through ISSI and other institutes. (I was unable to find the author for the poems. If you know I will add to this post.) Singing helps with pitch and rhythm.  If a child can sing in tune they can play their instruments in tune.  Encourage singing.  You can have the students make up their own words to a piece or even a tricky passage.  Having a song helps some students memorize more easily.  Others don't like having any words associated with the music so be sensitive to the individual student. Index of more teaching videos desi

Articulate passages are a challenge.  Here are some ideas from John Kendall and other workshops. Dissecting the passage with variations usually cleans up even the most difficult passages. Variations are the key to articulation video   Tone is compromised by using the phone for video, but hopefully, this gives you some good practice ideas. This video includes a history of how the Suzuki method evolved and includes the crucial role of John Kendall, William Starr, and Louise Behrend as well as many other prominent Suzuki teachers. Overview video of Suzuki Method and Dr. Suzuki's History Index of more teaching videos designed for students Index of blog posts

Many students get confused by the ideas of basic theory because the same notes can have different names.  Hopefully, this helps clarify the triad, 1 3 5 of scale. Modes help you understand scales. It is the relationship between the whole and half steps that change the mode or scale. This page is from my university theory book. Triads and how do we use them video Index of more teaching videos designed for students Index of blog posts

A favorite piece is the Gavotte by Lully in the 2nd book of the Suzuki repertoire.  Terry Durbin's story is of a camel crossing the desert and coming to an oasis to slurp up the water at measure 8, back to the desert at 13 and then the snake scaring the camel at the trill.  At 21 the confusion about high and low fingers is difficult for most students.  Using the Aunt Rhody variations helps get the proper pitch. Slowly using the finger patterns for better intonation video The Barbara Barber finger patterns are very useful: Finger patterns and exercises short video Article link:  Marais was Lully's student and actually wrote the Gavotte Index of more teaching videos designed for students Index of blog posts

Shifting is best accomplished with balance and relaxed hands.  The ideas on the video are from teacher workshops, institute classes, and my own private lessons. Shifting exercise video The exercise below was given to me by Eduard Schmieder when I studied with him in Beaumont, Texas.  It is very useful because of hearing the resonance of the open string with the finger shifting. See more about this remarkable teacher at  website for Eduard Schmieder   I feel very fortunate to have had a chance to work with him.  You can also read about his extraordinary musical journey in the Two Second Advantage .  As a prominent musician in the Soviet Union he was targeted in an attack that left him paralyzed for two years and he had to relearn the violin. His natural talent and ability to anticipate the sound and style he wanted gave him unusual musicianship.  He is now a prominent teacher and has served on numerous international competition juries. More videos available that I did for Suzu