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One of the most important principles of the Suzuki Method is listening, which is why Suzuki teachers ask students to purchase the cd or digital album with their Suzuki books. Whenever I introduce a new piece, my first assignment (and many other teachers’ too) is to do marathon listening–listening to that piece two hundred times […]

Celebrating small successes on the tough days… I’ve written about minimum baselines before, but since I’m in the midst of a particularly trying time (Depression and anxiety, y’all.) I wanted to revisit the topic. Since building up and celebrating small wins is an important strategy for managing my mental health, I need to make sure […]

Hello my friends, I’ve taken a break from the podcast and blog for a couple months due to the demands of our new family schedule and routine, but I wanted to hop back on to tell about a new resource for young violinists. I love teaching my students note reading and music theory, but it […]

Brecklyn chats with six year old Gideon about his favorite song, Allegro. Brecklyn talks to four year old Evangeline about what her mom and teacher does to make things fun. Practice Tip: Keep your practice recordings to 30 seconds or less. Listening Tip: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85 by Edward Elgar. Recorded by […]

Brecklyn talks to Rita about the difficulty of starting something new and the pride of accomplishing it. Practice Suggestion: Isolate the rhythm. Practice the rhythm on one note or string. Listening Suggestion: Little Women soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat Here’s a link to Rita, Martin, & Emily’s family band on Youtube! McKenzie Clawson is a Suzuki […]

I can’t believe we’re starting a new school year, summer went by way too quickly! We took a couple months off the blog, and while that was nice, I’m  anxious to be writing, learning, and sharing ideas and strategies for Suzuki teaching and parenting with my readers again. I’m especially excited to announce the 2019-2020 […]

Staying in peak physical condition is very important for musicians, we are athletes, in a sense. The physical demands of playing an instrument are significant, and building muscle and staying healthy can make performing and practicing much more enjoyable. Here are 10 Essential Fitness Exercises for Musicians from TakeLessons.com, check out their post for more […]