How are strings made?

Students often ask what their strings are made of. Watch this short video to follow the process of making a stranded-steel core string. 

Outreach performance at Brookdale Plaza

We will be performing at Brookdale Plaza Hawthorne Lakes on Saturday, November 8 at 2:30pm. Please arrive by 2:15pm to set up and tune. We will be performing as a group, with opportunities for solo performances as well. I would like for students to wear their Adler polos with nice pants or a skirt- no jeans, please! If you do not have a polo, I have some extras in my studio. Or if your polo no longer fits, you can trade it in for a different size. 

Brookdale Plaza is located at 10 East Hawthorne Parkway, Vernon Hills.

Please make sure your child is prepared to play the following pieces: 

Bach Minuet (Book 3)
Lully Gavotte
Witches' Dance
Long Long Ago (Book 2)
Musette
Chorus from Judas Maccabaeus
Minuet 1
Andantino
Allegro
May Song
O Come, Little Children
Go Tell Aunt Rhody
Song of the Wind
Lightly Row
Twinkle Variation A and Theme

Spooky Suzuki Play-In

Spooky Suzuki Play-In

Saturday, November 1 @ 3PM

Wear your Halloween costume and join your violin friends in playing your Suzuki repertoire!

Following the play-in, we will enjoy treats and pumpkin decorating!

Sign up sheet in the studio!

 

Libertyville Festival of the Arts

Adler violin students had a great time performing at the Libertyville Festival of the Arts on Sunday! Thanks to all who participated!

Ravinia

We had a great studio outing to Ravinia to see Joshua Bell and the CSO. Thanks to everyone who attended! 

2014-2015 Suzuki Program Calendar

We have so many fun concerts and activities planned for the upcoming year! Please take note of all the events and mark them in your calendars. Participation in studio recitals is required for all violin and viola students. All other events are open to violin and viola students enrolled in the Suzuki Program. In addition to the events on this calendar, all students are encouraged to participate in the Adler Center's monthly Performance Night series held on the 3rd Friday of each month at 7pm. 

• Spooky Suzuki Play-In: Saturday November, 1 @ 3pm
• Fall Studio Recital: Sunday, November 16 @ 2pm
• Holiday group concert: Saturday, December 6 @ 5pm
• Spring group concert: Saturday, April 11 @ 5pm
• Spring Studio Recital: Sunday, May 3 @ 2pm
• Popcicle Play-In and potluck: Saturday June, 6 @ 3pm
• Outreach performances (tbd)
• Make Music Chicago: Sunday, June 21 @ tbd
• Libertyville Art Fair: Sunday, August 2 @ tbd
• Ravinia field trip (summer)
• Parent meetings (one per session, tbd)
• Graduation recitals

New Graduation Recital Procedure: 

Upon completion of a Suzuki book, students may give a graduation recital for friends and family in celebration of their accomplishment. In order to give a graduation recital, students must be able to perform every piece in the book at a high level. Students should continue to review older pieces as newer pieces are learned. Upon approval from the private instructor, parents may contact Heather Williamson at heather@adlercenter.org to reserve the ballroom for a graduation recital. Students are expected to perform the entire book at the recital. You may host your own graduation recital or partner with another student who is also ready to give a recital. Parents may want to create invitations to hand out to friends and family and host a reception following the recital. A graduation certificate will be presented to all students who complete a graduation recital. 

Festival of the Arts

All violin students are invited to perform as a group at the Festival of the Arts in Libertyville on Sunday, August 3 @ 1pm. Please arrive by 12:45pm to get set up and tuned. Attire is casual. 

Please make sure your children are well prepared to perform the following pieces: 

Bach Gavotte 

Bach Minuet 

Martini Gavotte 

Lully Gavotte 

Witches' Dance 

Long Long Ago Bk. 2 

Chorus from Judas Maccabaeus 

Minuet 1 

Andantino 

Perpetual Motion 

Allegro 

May Song 

O Come, LIttle Children 

Go Tell Aunt Rhody 

Song of the Wind 

Lightly Row 

Twinkle 

Canon (will be handed out in lessons)

We will be rehearsing for this performance during group class, which meets Mondays at 6:30pm. Please try to attend 1 group class during July if you are able so we can all rehearse together. 

Ravinia Trip

Please join me for a concert and picnic at Ravinia on July 26! 

Joshua Bell will be performing Bruch Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Full program below: 

Smith:		“The Star-Spangled Banner” 2’
Mozart:		Overture to The Impressario 4’
Bruch:		Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26
Dvorak:		Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 35’

Lawn tickets are $10 for adults and free for children under 15. Purchase your tickets here. 

We'll meet at the park around 6pm and find a spot to sit together on the lawn and enjoy some food before the concert. 

Parent Meeting Minutes

We had a successful meeting on June 17! Thank you, everyone, for your feedback and suggestions. Please see the minutes below if you weren't able to make it. 

Meeting minutes from June 17
* Parent education topic: Importance of review and daily listening. (2 articles provided)
* Listening: Learning by ear approach only works if you are doing the daily listening. Two types of listening: Passive and Active. Passive listening can be done in the car, during meals/snacks, at bedtime, while doing homework, ect. Active listening is when you listen for specific details in the music: articulation, bowings, accidentals, dynamics, tone, ect.
* Review: Review is an essential component of the Suzuki Method. Skill is developed through continued repetition of that skill. The Suzuki repertoire is designed as building blocks, each piece building on skills that have been learned in previous pieces. Each new piece is made up of about 80% of previously learned skills. By building skill through review, you are ensuring success at learning the new piece.
* Open discussion of successes and struggles of violin study/practice.
* Amy spoke about the vision for the Adler Center and how we can better serve the community, how we can get parents more involved in the center, and how we can create more of a community between families, teachers, and staff.
* Changes to the Suzuki Program and proposed Suzuki Calendar.
* Starting in the fall, we will be offering a Suzuki Package. Enrollment in the Suzuki Package will include a weekly private lesson and a weekly group class, as well as all Suzuki related concerts and activities. You can still choose to enroll in lessons as traditional student. Accompanist fees will now be included in your enrollment fee. You will receive a 15 minute piano rehearsal for all studio recitals.
* Group class schedule TBA. Discussed weekday evenings or Saturday mornings.
* Proposed 2014-2015 Suzuki Program Calendar
Spooky Suzuki Play-In (October)
Holiday Group Concert (December)
Spring Group Concert (April or May)
Popcicle Play-In and potluck (June)
Outreach performances (tbd)
Make Music Chicago (June)
Libertyville Art Fair (August)
Ravinia Field Trip (summer)
Parent meetings (scheduled Quarterly)
Graduation recitals (tbd)
Fall and Spring Studio Recitals (tbd)

Upcoming Holiday Concerts

I will be performing in a couple holiday concerts in the next couple weeks and wanted to share the details with you in case your families are interested in attending. Please follow the links for more information and to purchase tickets.

Sing-Along Messiah- December 15 @ 4pm Raue Center for the Arts

Amahl and the Night Visitors- December 21 @ 3pm and 7pm; December 22 @ 3pm Winnetka Community House

Landfill Harmonic

Landfill Harmonic- The world sends us garbage... We send back music. from Landfill Harmonic on Vimeo.

Save the date: Studio Recital

Our studio recital will be held on Friday, December 13 at 6pm and 7pm. Please mark the date in your calendars! 

Balancing homework and practicing

Photo by Phil Roeder

As school is back in full swing, It can be overwhelming to balance homework and practicing responsibilities. This article offers some helpful tips on how to tackle the challenge. 

Sherwood Summer String Camp

Summer camps are a great way to keep your child motivated over the summer. More information on the Sherwood Summer String Camp here. 

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra

The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, written by Benjamin Britten in 1946 is an excellent introduction to all the instruments in an orchestra. Take a listen!

Defining Progress

"Of Course our purpose does not lie in a movement to create professional musicians, but to create persons of a beautiful mind and fine ability." 

-Shinichi Suzuki

Ed Krietman gave a wonderful talk about defining progress as part of the Parents as Partners online program. His talk alone is worth the $8 of the program! He begins by recounting how he asked a group of parents how many of them had signed their children up to take music lessons to become professional musicians; no one raised their hand. Why then? Here are some of their reasons: 

• To develop poise and the ability to present themselves in public whether speaking or playing music
• To gain a lifelong love of music
• Develop problem solving skills and healthy confidence in the face of struggles
• Learn to break complex problems into small, achievable steps
• Develop fine motor skills and good eye-hand coordination
• Learn to strive for excellence
• Transfer musics unique learning skill set to other subect matters
• To build confidence
• Learn to create something beautiful
• Develop sensitivity to beauty in the world
• To share a positive emotional experience with their parents around the study of music
• Learn to manage their time effectively
• Choose a social circle of friends who enjoy making music together
• Enhance memorization skills
• Become calm and centered

If these are the primary reasons for enrolling in music lessons, then what we are really doing is teaching life skills through the study of music. The by product is learning to play an instrument well. Despite this, it is easy to fall into the trap of measuring progress based on where the child is in the repertoire. Knowing how to play a lot of pieces is not skill. Krietman defines skill as being able to "do the task consistenly with ease" or the 3 C's:
Comprehension-basic knowledge of the notes, how a piece sounds
Cooperation- physical, technical aspects of being able to achieve the above
Constructive Repetition- repeating the task 10,000 times
"Transformation comes from skill, not knowledge."

Lava, Saryu's mother, sent me this wonderful email after watching this video: 
I just watched Edward Krietman's Defining Progress class. It was very informational. There were many take aways for me from this class. I always wondered how progress in violin should be measured and like others fell for the wrong measurement of counting the number of pieces they learn. Since the love of music and the skill to play an instrument are the objectives for us to teach Saryu violin, we will have to realign our path to these goals and not get caught up in the number of pieces she learns. :)

I'd love to hear some of the reasons you all decided to sign your children up for violin lessons and some of the positive changes you have seen in them since starting music lessons. Please comment on this post if you have anything to share!

Rockin' Rosin

Rockin' Rosin owners, Chris and Katie, create rosin in fun shapes wrapped in unique fabric.  Check them out here! 

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suzuki!

"My dreams are for the future of mankind. And I will keep on trying to fulfill them, plodding along patiently, ernestly, and with a singleness of purpose. Almost anything is possible to achieve in this way."

Practice Tip!

Focus on quality rather than quantity. 

More is not always better. It is better to play fewer pieces and play them well. Working in small manageable sections ensures success and mastery of that section. Suzuki said that little children should "practice three minutes, five times a day, with joy." Instead of trying to practice for a set amount of time, work towards a goal for that practice session. End the practice session with an accomplishment. Keeping practice positive will make your child want to play again the next day. 

Parent Meeting Feedback

Thank you to all the parents who attended the parent education meeting last Friday! I'd like to get some feedback from those of you who attended:

Would you be interested in having another meeting which would be more of an open discussion?

Are there any components of the Suzuki Approach you'd like to learn more about?

Are you interested in supporting the Adler Center by helping with marketing, fundraising, or outreach?  If yes, please let Amy or myself know.

Any other comments, questions, or ideas?

Feel free to leave a comment on the blog, send me an email, or give feedback in person at your lesson. Thanks!