Hello, everybody! I hope you’re all having a great week so far. At this point, I have spoken to each of you regarding the recital on May 1st. Please take a week or so to think about whether you would like to participate, and if so, what piece you may like to play. I will not force you to perform if you have strong feelings against it, but I do encourage it and think it will be lots of fun! Parents, please check your emails for further info on the recital and how to register!

Jaron – congratulations on finishing May Song!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing your usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and also make sure your fingers are not stretched too far from each other), Long Long Ago (you have the notes down now, so focus on rhythms long-short-short patterns), and look ahead at the next song in the book if you wish!

Olivia
– Reminder: print out Go the Distance for our next lesson
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave major and minor scales (try to memorise fingering patterns for each scale), Mirror duet (focus on keeping eighth notes even and shifting phrases), A Thousand Years (look out for C# at the beginning), and look ahead at Go the Distance if you wish!

Amaia – congratulations on finishing your first song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!
– Reminder: your violin is still out of tune, so if you can, please get it tuned at a music store like Long & McQuade, or perhaps see if your music teacher at school knows how to tune it. I understand this is still a difficult time to do this, so no rush and no pressure, and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: bow hold window washer exercises, G, D, and A Major scales (doing a posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and make sure your bow is in the middle of the bridge and fingerboard), and Lightly Row (play through the whole thing and get familiar with the notes).

Crosby
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day
– Practice: 0-1-2-3-2-1-0 fingering patterns on each string (remember to adjust your bow hold to the frog and keep an eye on your bow to make sure it’s in the middle of the bridge and fingerboard), A Major scale (going up and down the scale), Twinkle (theme and variation A “pepperoni pizza” pattern), and Lightly Row (first line, and look ahead if you wish!).

Hendry
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (1-octave), C and E-flat Major scales (2-octaves, and make sure to keep doing your posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Minuet 2 (remember the G# high third finger in the second section and practice rhythms in m.25 phrase), Starting the Case (continue playing E-flat Major each time before the second section, and look out for low first fingers in the whole piece), and Question (we haven’t played this together in a while but try to revisit this once in a while so you don’t forget how to play it!).

Grace – congratulations on finishing Go Tell Aunt Rhody!
– Reminder: if you can, please purchase Suzuki Violin Book 1, or print out the pdf I sent you, hopefully it’ll be easier on your eyes!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (with both short and long bows, and making sure your bow stays in the middle of the bridge and fingerboard), and O Come Little Children (practice up-up bowing and make sure each phrase starts with an up bow).

Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!