Article: Want to 'train your brain'? Forget apps, learn a musical instrument

"Music reaches parts of the brain that other things can't."
--Catherine Loveday, University of Westminster

Please read the article here:

Want to 'train your brain'? Forget apps, learn a musical instrument

The happy-learner

Today I saw my happy-learner 6 year old student.  She is in kindergarten.  She can play up through Long, Long Ago in book 1. I asked her what she'd like to start with and she said "Schradieck". On Friday I'd sent her a recording of the first 3 lines of the first page, and she had learned them. She was getting a little confused with how many repetitions of C# D on the second line, so I explained how to think in groups of four, and she listened and said, "so six times, then." I told her that she thinks in patterns, which is something that I really relate to.

Her recital piece is going to be O Come Little Children. But today she played Long Long Ago and May Song so well that I said (without leading) "The plan is for you to play O Come Little Children on the recital. How do you feel about that?" She thought a bit and said "That sounds just right!"

I asked to make a video. I explained that I like to send videos to my mom to show my grandmother. I explained that my grandma is 100. She said "Is she alive?" "Will she be 101, then?" I also said that older people sometimes get forgetful. She said "can she hear?" She was very happy to send a video to my grandma.

They're going to Paris on spring break. I said that sounded like so much fun and I would like to go to Paris. She said "I want you to come with us! You could come with us!"

I asked if the violin was going with them. She said "I want to take the violin!" Her mom said no, so I tried to make it a little lighter. "If you took the violin, you could play it under the Eiffel Tower. Maybe people would give you money for playing."

We then started to play through O Come Little Children, and she got the giggles so hard that I had to hold her violin so she could wipe her eyes.


I made the the video after that, and in the video she is still smiling the whole way through O Come Little Children because she's thinking about playing the violin under the Eiffel Tower, and that people would be giving her money.

8 TRUTHS ABOUT LEARNING AN INSTRUMENT THAT ALL PARENTS SHOULD KNOW, from Christine Goodner's blog The Suzuki Triangle

It seems to me that March and November are the hardest months of the school year for inspiration, and the time that parents and students and teachers all need a boost.  Hang in there, it's almost spring!  

Here is an article from a fantastic blog by another Suzuki teacher.  You should follow her blog, as it's got some great information on it!

8 TRUTHS ABOUT LEARNING AN INSTRUMENT THAT ALL PARENTS SHOULD KNOW

http://www.suzukitriangle.com/learning-an-instrument/

13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don't Do

Please read this article (click on hyperlink):

Forbes Article: 13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don't Do

This article is certainly an important reminder about ways you can help your child that may not feel easy.  As a teacher, I certainly have seen my share of these behaviors from parents and children, and when these types of behaviors become habitual, they often lead to quitting the instrument, and even bigger problems later in life.