Today’s post is by my sister and fellow Suzuki violin teacher, McKenzie Clawson.
Mckenzie:
7:20 Breakfast is wrapping up. I remind the nine year old violinist that it’s her turn to practice first and she has ten minutes until we start. There is eye-rolling and general chagrin. We chat for a few minutes and then discuss which instrument to play this morning. I want to do piano because we practiced violin together yesterday. She’s in the mood for violin. I don’t care enough to create a huge argument so we start with violin, using the practice plan she wrote down the day before.
7:30 She warms up by playing her G Major three octave scale and arpeggio with a drone and then improvises with that drone until the end of the track. We are working on posture lately so I warn her ahead of time that I’ll hold my finger above her scroll and she has to bring her scroll up until it touches my finger.
7:37 Next we practice an exercise from Melodious Double Stops by Josephine Trott. I literally have to bite my lip to not remind her of the B flat but after a few moments of playing she remembers and goes back to the beginning to fix it.[Note: If I had reminded her of that note she probably would have gotten mad and refused to play for ten minutes.]
7:42 It’s time for Bach Double. Our practice plan reminds us that we are working on the last two pages today and we both get to pick two spots to drill. She plays through and we both keep mental notes of what needs more practice. She gets on a side topic about the Taliban and Afghanistan (she’s writing a book report about Malala Yousafzai.) She has lots to say but we eventually get back on track. I pick a rhythm spot, she picks an intonation spot, I pick a shifting spot, then she picks a rhythm spot. For each one, we roll an eight sided dice to decide how many repetitions we’re going to do. She’s getting mentally tired and breaks down before the last excerpt. We agree that the spot was too big. Instead of two measures, we decide to drill a half of a measure.
8:00 She heads into my bedroom to practice for another fifteen minutes on her own. She’s working on Andantino by Kreisler to prepare for her performance class at the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute this summer. Then she practices “The Entertainer” and “Chocolate Drops” from Music by Black Composers that she’s reviewing for her Book 3 Recital.
After school she will practice piano at her grandparent’s house while I’m teaching violin. Piano practice usually goes a little smoother because she has a teacher who is not her mom. If there’s a disagreement about a fingering or practice activity, we can look at lesson notes and see what her teacher told her. If she’s still arguing about it, I write down her complaint so she can tell her teacher on Friday at her lesson. She is rarely still mad about that particular choice by then.
8:00 The seven year old cellist has forgotten that we practice every day before school and is SHOCKED that it is his turn. I drag him out from behind the couch and we have a cuddle while he writes his order of practice for the day. His practice chart is in a plastic sleeve and he uses a wet erase marker to write one through five next to the practice activities he’s doing today. He’s still struggling and does not want to sit on his stool to get started. I pull out the chocolate chips for some much needed short term dopamine.
8:10 He plays his shifting exercise. After each successful repetition he gets a chocolate chip, then the three year old gets a chocolate chip, then the dog whines so he gets a dog treat. (The dog treats and chocolate chips are in similar looking jars and he gets very jealous when everybody else gets a treat and he doesn’t.)
8:15 After some left hand exercises, the little cellist plays a few folk songs I typed out for him inspired by the Wee Violin book. He loves them so much and this is the happiest part of his practice.
8:20 I suggest we play our Book 1 Review pieces with the piano so we can get ready for his Book 1 Recital. There was a miscommunication about what song we were going to play so when I start playing the introduction his emotions completely break down. He wasn’t ready for that song and feels betrayed that I would play the wrong introduction. We have a cuddle, do some breathing exercises, regroup, and decide to play May Time two times before he heads to school.
8:25 He’s still having a hard time getting his bow on the string and is giving me a death glare. I suggest he play May Time with a “pirate sound”- kind of gruff and scratchy for fun. I sing the opening line with pirate words, “It’s time to walk the plank and you’ll soon be eaten by sharks.” He is very upset. Don’t I know that sharks are not mindless killers? (He is very passionate about ocean life.) We agree that we’ll pretend that there are sea monsters not sharks and he plays a very gruff May Time. Success.
8:30 It’s a flurry of action to find backpacks, library books, and helmets and we head out the door to school. Like most mornings, it was more talking and emotional management than actually playing the instruments. I often feel frustrated with that at the moment; but for the most part, I’m okay with it. This is a big part of why we’re doing instrument study in the first place. It is difficult to learn an instrument. Practice brings up feelings of overwhelm every single day. If all we accomplish through learning music is the knowledge that when things are hard, we have to both take care of our emotions and break down the problem, this whole experience will have been worth the time and tears.
Brecklyn here: This is so relatable to me! Practicing with my kids always ends up being more about feelings and our relationship than actual music practice. It’s frustrating sometimes, but it’s nice to know that we’re not alone! Please share your practice routines or logs in the comments.