Grades 4-6
Grades 4-6
Latest Homework
13 February 2016
Cornerstone Homework February 7th-13th
Hello Cornerstone Students!
Good job on your exam! Thank you for preparing so diligently. If you wish to sign up for the talent show please confirm with myself and your parents for Tuesday. Solo pieces have been chosen by some of you. In the coming weels I will be introducing practice sheets. These need to be filled and signed by your parents each week to ensure optimal practice times are being achieved. Please if you have not done so already have your own copy of the materials we are using in class: Suzuki books, Suzuki Supplemental sheets that can be found and printed from the ABC website, rosin, shoulder rests and necessary maintenance or repairs. Thank you!
Grade 1:
What we did this week:
Introduced Mary.
What did we listen to or watch, that you can watch at home?
Live examples of Mary in-class.??Try to find different versions online with kids playing, and maybe a ‘Theme and Variation’ to show how simple music can be made fancy. Please download and print off Mary Had a Little Lamb from ABC website.
What work is to be done this weekend: Review 1st and 2nd division, and learning and working on 3rd/4th division. Try to put it together.
What are we doing next week? Refining Mary and playing all divisions together.??Introducing G Major Scale.
How much time should your student be practicing each day? A flexible 15 minutes.
How can you help your child? Missing equipment to be secured: Shoulder rests, Stands, Books.??Aim for the same time each day for habit and consistency.??Practicing in front of mirror: Posture/Bowing.??Ensure child loosens bow after playing.??Be sure to review the Homework Helper together.
Grade 1/2: What we did this week: We learned a new song! Go Tell Aunt Rhody in the Suzuki Book One. We also reviewed the G major scale in eighth notes.
What did we listen to or watch, that you can watch at home? We listened to a live example of the complete song Go Tell Aunt Rhody.
What work is to be done this weekend: Reviewing the A section (first part of Go Tell Aunt Rhody) and reviewing of the G major scale.
What are we doing next week? We will add the middle section (B section of Go Tell Aunt Rhody as well as introducing second octave of G major scale.
How much time should your student be practicing each day? How much time should your student be practicing each day? A concentrated 20 minutes of practice should be tried for over the weekend.
How can you help your child? You can sing along the song with your child (with lyrics) and you can also clap through the rhythm of the scale with them, Be sure they spend some practice time in front of the mirror to perfect their posture and bow grip.
Grade 3: What we did this week: We learned a new song! Frere Jacques can be found as the Suzuki Supplemental #2A on the ABC website. We also reviewed the A major scale in eighth notes and two note slurs. Please ensure your child has a copy for Tuesday.
What did we listen to or watch, that you can watch at home? We listened to a live example of Frere Jacques as played by the teacher. We sang along with the song lyrics.
What work is to be done this weekend: Please review all of Frere Jacques and sing along with your child including the lyrics. Review the A major scale in eighth notes
What are we doing next week? We will be introducing the first octave of A major scale and running through Frere Jacques with piano.
How much time should your student be practicing each day? Two concentrated 15 minutes in front of the mirror. Make sure you spend even amount of time on the scale and the Frere Jacques piece.
How can you help your child? Please ensure your child their own copy of Suzuki Book One. You can make sure focus is maintained during the 15 minutes. It ok for your child to make mistakes! Please try and let them play through a whole song without stopping even if its not completely secure. Your encouragement as an audience member makes a huge impact!
Grade 4-6: What we did this week: We learned the B major scale both octaves. We also began the Theme from Long Long Ago.
What did we listen to or watch, that you can watch at home? We listened to a recording of the Theme from Long Long Ago.
What work is to be done this weekend: Please review the finger patterns for the two octave B major scale only in quarter notes. We will begin slurs next week.
What are we doing next week? We will be introducing the Variation from Long Long Ago.
How much time should your student be practicing each day? Please ensure your child is practicing at least 30 minutes and paying special attention to rhythm and intonation of the material introduced this week.
How can you help your child? Please ensure your child has their own copy of Suzuki Book Two for class next week. Please ensure your child is maximizing their practice time and if concentration is not optimal encourage them to take a break.
Grades 7-12: What we did this week: We learned about third position and shifting. We also learned the A section of the Gavotte by J.S. Bach in the Suzuki Book Three. Please ensure your child has a copy of Suzuki Book Three
What did we listen to or watch, that you can watch at home? We listened to a live example of the Gavotte by J.S. Bach.
What work is to be done this weekend: The work this weekend should emphasize shifting, intonation and third position. Also please work on the rhythmic and bowing patterns in the Gavotte.
What are we doing next week? Next week we will be learning the B section of the first Gavotte as well as the C major arpeggio two octaves in third position.
How much time should your student be practicing each day? 30 minutes of concentrated and uninterrupted practice time is suggested.
How can you help your child? Please ensure your child pays special attention to the shifting and bowing pattern exercises in the Gavotte as well as the scale. Please ensure your child has their own copy of Suzuki Book Three.
Violin Update
Hello Cornerstone Families,
Welcome to those of you that have joined our lists!
How the Lists Work
If you only subscribed to the list for your child’s grade/class, then you will not receive the general updates. We will send these initial notes out to each list, but it will primarily be to get you on the general update list. You can still subscribe to the general news by clicking here. You can also always visit the main page of the Cornerstone section of ABC’s website to scroll back through the general news.
Test Requirements are Posted, 3 Weeks of Planning – too!
As you will recall from our letter of last week, we will be adding an mid-term test to the cycle of exams to increase the number of songs played, to increase skills at a higher rate, and to maintain interest by keeping music fresh.
The spring test requirements are now posted and you can view them here. We have also listed 3 weeks of planning as a one-time sample to give you some idea of the specific day-to-day work that students will be doing. Your help in structuring practice time from Friday through Monday, every week, will be necessary if your child is in Grade 3 or younger.
Spring exam requirements will be announced sometime near the end of March, or early April.
What happened to the Grade 4-6s?
We received some feedback that the 4-6 class was not mentioned in the letter we sent home, and wanted to let you know that this was because this group had no stand-out issue that warranted mentioning. They are a good group (as are all the students), but had a dynamic that was most likely to benefit quickly from the changes that are being made in general.
Posture and Physical Space
One of the primary concerns expressed to us by parents has been that of posture. We have – as of February 4th – equipped the school with enough music stands to be used by every student during their class, which was a primary culprit of poor posture. Your assistance in assuring that the same conditions exist at home is vital. Posture is a habit that requires ongoing support. We hope to have a music stand available for purchase from a third party via our Equipment page in the next few weeks, for those of you that are looking for one for your home.
Classes will also be arranged physically to be more conducive to musical development.
Survey Update
At this time we have no news to offer you, as we are at roughly 10% parent response for the survey. This is not enough to give you a good statistical overview of the general state of each area that the questions addressed. We hope to have more for you in a week or so. There has already been some interesting information from it, and I have spoken to 1 parent about their experience (including that of their children). Two things we will be doing as a result of this conversation are a regular set of reminders on instrument maintenance (roughly every 8 weeks) for younger children, and an instrument care video which students and their parents can be directed to watch on an as-needed basis.
Out-of-office
I will be out of the office from February 5th-15th, inclusive. I look forward to returning your calls or inquiries after this time.
B.Kerekes
Director
Annual Requirements
TEST: Autumn – Past