Welcome back to the school year!! I hope everyone had a wonderful summer!

Jaron – I really appreciate that you practiced over the summer!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: window washer bow exercises (keep pinky and thumb curved), G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and make sure second and third fingers are squeezed together), and Perpetual Motion (play through slowly and get familiar with the notes again).

Olivia – good luck with your first day of strings class!
– Reminder: if you have school music you want to work on together, make sure you scan and upload it to the Google drive
– 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), Go the Distance (ending section bowings), Mirror duet (re-familiarise yourself with the first half and practice slurs in m. 5 and 18), and think of anything you may want to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement.

Amaia – I missed you today! Hopefully I’ll see you next week!

Preet – welcome to ABC, we are so happy to have you!
– Reminder: call the office to formally request changing your lesson time to an earlier time, purchase shoulder rest and Suzuki Violin Book 1, and get violin tuned at Long & McQuade
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: window washer bow exercises (keep your bow hold steady as you go through the exercises, for a few minutes and you can also do this with a pencil), review posture and bow hold (there are pictures in the starter packet in case you need a reminder), pluck and bow all open strings – just experiment, have fun, and get used to the instrument!

Grace
– Reminder: purchase Suzuki Violin Book 2 sometime soon
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, A, B-flat, and C Major scales (2 octaves, if it helps and you can find a tuner app with a drone, have the tonic played while you play the whole scale), Minuet 3 (watch out for intonation with the third finger and practice dynamics and crescnedo), and Happy Farmer (make sure up bows are started in the lower part of the bow).

Hendry – I hope you’re enjoying your new school!
– Reminder: set a reminder on your phone for your new lesson time, and fix the camera settings on your new camera
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, E-flat, and F Major scales (2 octaves, doing our usual bow and posture check each time before playing, and singing “do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do”in your head to make sure the notes are in tune), Hunter’s Chorus (make sure fourth finger is stretching high enough), and Catharsis (listen to music before playing as it will help with the rhythms).

Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!