If you’re anything like me, you like the idea of teaching your violin students composition, or at least encouraging them to compose on their own, but you’re sometimes unsure of where to start.  This printable Mother’s Day Composition Activity (for violin students, or other treble clef instruments) is perfect for beginning to intermediate readers.

The printable is an adaptation of this composition activity by the folks at Teach Piano Today.  I arranged it for violin, and changed it to the lovely and violin-friendly key of A Major.

Here’s how it works:

• Download and print the pdf for each of your violin students.
• Explain to your students which notes they should use to create their “motive.”  (The first five notes of the A Major Scale beginning on open A.)
• Have them pick their sentence listed in step 1 and clap its rhythm.  Then write that rhythm down.
• Then they choose any arrangement of notes from the first five notes of the A Major Scale to fit the rhythm they wrote down.
• Combine that rhythm to create their “motive.”
• Fill in the motive in measures 1, 3, 5, 7, 13, and 15.
• In the B section, have them pick any of the first five notes of the A Major Scale using the rhythms written above the staff.

Voila!  A Mother’s Day Composition by your violin students.  I can’t think of a better way to let your Suzuki parents know how appreciated they are!

I’m planning on using this with my group lessons on Saturday, but you can still try it out today or tomorrow before the big day.  I will be emailing it to the students who I won’t be seeing before Sunday so they can complete the assignment on their own.

Download Your Printable PDF Here…

What composition activities do you like using with your violin students? Let me know in the comments, I’d love more ideas!