polishing pieces

In my practice sheets, I have a section for 

a "polish piece." 

I wanted to go into more detail of what that means and what 

I consider a polished piece. 

A polished piece is:

musical: dynamics, phrasing, etc.

memorized

played correctly: notes, rhythms, etc. (duh!) 

I want my students to have a handful of solid pieces at all times. 

They have to be able to play a song memorized and to start at any 

point that I pick. :) 

I try to make it fun, but they can't pass off a song until 

it passes my "polished" standards. 

Occasionally I will have a student that is stuck on a piece for a very long time.

Not able to memorize it or play it very well.

This is frustrating for me and my student who wants to learn new things too.

Be patient with them, but I think there comes a time when 

it is OK to move on.

We often come back to old pieces in a few months with renewed perspective and 

then my once struggling student can play it!

For younger students, rewards and fun games tend to help with motivation.

Parents can help as well.

Good luck!

My Motto

Just my little practice motto.

I think I say this to my students EVERY lesson.

It doesn't count for a student to just play a piece correctly once.

They have to practice it perfectly over and over and over in order to have it 

perfect. 

What are your important sayings or mottos for your students?

my teaching style

I've been teaching private violin lessons for about 5 years now, 

and I think that I've officially figured out what works for me as a teacher.

A few years ago, a violin teacher at BYU taught me that the best way to teach a student is 

for them to teach themselves. 

I don't mean that they should be sent home with all new material to learn all on their own, 

but that the student should use their own problem solving skills to fix 

whatever they might be playing incorrectly.

How I do this is by asking my students questions.

Instead of just telling them what they played wrong,

I ask them to look closely at the music and to tell me what was played

incorrectly.

Then they have to play it right! 

Its not a perfect science, but I have found a great deal of success with

this method of teaching.

My students fix mistakes almost instantly if they find the mistakes themselves.

Teachers, try it out and see if it works for you!

There is usually a bit more "silence" during lessons when my students are thinking.

But I think it is SO good for them to teach themselves.

Good luck!

Let me know what you think!

practice sheets

I use practice sheets every week with my students.

They are meant to help them remember what to practice when they get home, 

but, let's be honest, they are also for me.

As a teacher, when I have a full studio, 

if I don't make notes of what all my students are doing, I will forget. 

All of my students have a "practice binder" that they bring to their lesson each week.

Inside we keep a monthly calendar, usually 2 months at a time, 

my policy manual, their practice sheets, and any other worksheets I throw their way.

I think its great to keep everything in one place.

Organization is important in teaching any students, and I have found that this system 

is working wonderfully for me.

Here are the practice sheets that I use:

I will go into more details in another post about how I use these

and what I expect from each of my students.

As usual, if you would like the full PDF file of this, 

just send me an email at rebeccalewisviolin@gmail.com

I'd love to share! 

I am willing to take my logo off as well. It will just be $5 for the file 

without the logo. Then you can have it and print as many as you want. 

Thanks for visiting! 

Keep checking back for more great ideas for teachers and students.

Beethoven Worksheet

Here's my Beethoven worksheet. 

I try to give my students a composer worksheet every other week, 

and other worksheets on the off weeks. 

Here is the Beethoven one.

Click to see it full-screen or to print. 

As always, if you would like the original PDF file sent to you directly, 

email me at rebeccalewisviolin@gmail.com

I also have other worksheets available to you.

Email me if you are interested in my practice sheets, rhythm worksheets, 

and other theory worksheets.

Good luck and thanks for visiting!

interesting article

Hey All! 

I just found this great article on the Suzuki Method of teaching in the NY Times.

Check it out here!

I use a lot of the Suzuki Method in my teaching and I love it.

It is how I started as a student and I think it is a wonderful program. 

I like to use a combination of things with my studio, 

but I love the first few books of the Suzuki Method.

Composer Worksheet: Bach

As a teacher, I think that the most important thing I can do for my students 

is to expose them to as much musical knowledge as possible. 

One of the ways I like to do this, is by having them write composer reports,

or do composer worksheets.

They are fairly basic, but will give them a little knowledge of the different composers

whose music we are learning. 

Below is an image of what my worksheets are like. 

You can print this off on your own, 

or shoot me an email and I can send you the .pdf for free.

rebeccalewisviolin@gmail.com

More worksheets and things will hopefully be posted by the end of the week!

 

tips for finding a teacher

I believe that the most important thing for any violin student is to find the right teacher. I thought that it would be good if one of my very first posts address that very issue. I, personally teach more adults than children. So the following list is geared a little more toward adult students, but most of the tips apply to any student.

Here is what I recommend when looking for a violin teacher, or any music teacher:

1. Look for someone you can reach easily. A teacher that provides an email and responds quickly will be helpful for you.
2. Find a teacher that has some experience teaching adults. Teaching beginning adults is different than teaching children.
3. Look for a teacher that has a great deal of experience performing and playing in various groups and settings.
4. Find a teacher that will start right away. If they expect you to wait too long to start, that is not worth your time.
5. Find someone who is affordable and fits in your budget. Some teachers can be pricey!
6. Look for a teacher with expectations and a pretty solid set of policies and plans. An organized teacher is very important for your learning potential.
7. I recommend looking for a teacher that can offer a wide variety of styles of music.
8. I also recommend finding a teacher that will have an adult student begin playing their violin right away. For most children it is common to wait on actual playing for a few weeks, or months depending on the child. With adults, I feel this is not necessary and they should be ready to start playing right away.

I like to offer a first lesson for free, that way my potential students can make sure they are finding someone who is a good fit for them. Some students like a more strict environment than I offer, or sometimes we just don't entirely get along. If you can find a teacher that offers this, it can be helpful as well.

Good luck with your search to find a teacher! It is not always an easy task, but hopefully these tips will help.

tips for dealing with nerves

Every music student will be forced to deal with some nerves and anxiety for performing or even just playing for lessons. It can be really nerve wracking to play in front of other people in any type of setting. Here are some of my tips for dealing with those nerves:

1. Yoga/stretching. I do some sort of yoga or stretching before I practice every day. I find it relaxing which helps with my playing as  a whole, but it can also be calming and can help with any anxiety.

2. Breathing Exercises. Similarly with yoga, this can be extremely calming and can help. I have one student in particular that has a difficult time with her nerves before and during lessons. We always do some slow, controlled breathing to help her relax and calm down.

3. The 100 count. I love this. I do this anytime I am nervous before a performance. Lay flat on your back with your eyes closed. Count down from 100 slowly, breathing with every count of 5. Repeat as necessary until you feel under control.

4. Visualization techniques. It can help to visualize your performance. If possible, a practice session where you will be playing can help with later visualizing.

5. On the day of your performance, don't play the song! I know! It sounds crazy, but I swear it works. Whenever I have a big performance coming up, I play a bunch of other things. Anything except the song I'm going to perform. For me, it kinda takes the extra pressure off.

Well, that's about it. If you have any ideas to add, please comment or send them to me. I would love to get a nice big list!

new plans

Well, here it goes!

I'm starting this new site to help other teachers and music students everywhere. I have had the hardest time finding the teaching and practice materials that I want to use for my violin students. So, I have decided to make my own. I think other teachers and students will be able to use these as well!


I will be posting practice helps, worksheets, and other things that will help with learning music well and quickly.

Worksheets will be available in the following areas of music: Theory, rhythm practice, practice charts, and composer biographies.

Some things will be available for free, but there will be an option to subscribe for all the worksheets or workbooks. As things progress, I hope to have a book, or a few, available for purchase as well.

I think this is going to be awesome! I believe that these worksheets and practice helps will be able to help students of all ages learn the many important aspects of music.

Look for updates and the beginnings of things this week!