Fiddle Fair

Summerhays Music has an annual Fiddle Fair where they have good prices on instruments, strings, bows, rosin,etc. This will be held at the Murray store this coming week end, March 18-20. The address is 5420 Green Street, phone 801-268-4446. 10 am - 7 pm (6 pm on Sat.)

The Fiddle Fair at the Orem store will be March 25-27 at 1006 South State, phone 801-226-1760. If you are in need of anything, this is a good time to look:)

Practice, Practice, Practice!!!

The way you play is directly linked to how and how much you practice! If you practice mistakes, you will play mistakes. If you practice perfect just two measures at a time, you will play perfectly. We have some performances coming up so we need to improve our practice sessions to perfect our numbers. Regular practice is essential. Suzuki said, "You only have to practice on the days you eat."

Always play a review song that you already know how how to play. This boosts confidence and improves playing skills. Play scales. This teaches finger patterns. Fiddle! This gets our fingers moving. Remember, we are the Fantastic Fiddlers!

A Fun Website

I came across a very fun and educational website that teaches musical concepts through games and quizzes. I encourage all music students to do these quizzes. Print off your scoresheet and bring to teacher for extra credit. These are a GREAT learning tool! Just go to www.musictechteacher.com/musicquizzes.htm

And We Have A Winner!

Actually, we had three winners of our Count the Beats! Contest. Ashlie, Tyrus, and Braxten all counted 49 1/2 beats, which was correct. Very tricky. At Group Lesson we again worked on our counting and understanding of rhythm. We also went around the world with note flash cards and KATELYN remains the champion!

We also played holding our bows upside down to help improve our bow hold and tone. Yes, you CAN DO THIS AT HOME! Please do!

Count the Beats!

We have one more week to count the beats on the poster to win a prize. Winners will be announced at Group Lesson on February 24th. If you have a guess, write it on a paper and give it to teacher. You will find out at Group Lesson if you are right or not.

Keep working on the 21-day Vibrato Challenge. So far, onlyAshlie has completed the 21 days without a miss!

Spring Recital Set

The date for our Spring Recital has been set. It will be Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at the Piano Gallery just off 10600 South and 300 West. Many of our students are learning new songs for this recital so it should be very entertaining with some new and different songs. Put this date on your calendar and be sure to invite whomever you would like to hear you play! Time will be 6:30 P.M. sharp. (The store closes at 7:30.)

Listen, Listen, Listen

I would like to encourage everyone to listen a LOT to their Suzuki CD's and other good classical and fiddle music. Listening to our songs makes our progress go much faster. Students do not have problems with the rhythm, intonation, tone, and memorization when they listen on a regular basis.

Two kinds of listening are Passive Listening and Active Listening.
Passive Listening is hearing what is in our environment. We do not consciously respond to it, but it streams into our subconscious. Your child masters the skills of passive learning very early in life. Even when you think he is sleeping or doing another activity his ears are taking in information in the passive mode. Putting on music when your child is doing homework or sleeping will store it in the subconscious brain for later retrieval.

Active Listening involves a more concentrated effort. Listening actively helps us correct mistakes, figure out how to play a difficult section, and pay particular attention to how we want the finished piece to sound. Active Listening causes a conscious awareness of the music that creates a response in the body. We may want to tap our toes, fingers, clap, or dance. Watching the music while listening connects our visual and auditory senses. A child who listens learns to read music easier than those who do not listen. Let's get listening!!