Busking in Coombs

Spring Fiddle Busking Plans!

I will be giving students a list of tunes for us to work on towards creating a set list for Busking in Coombs this spring summer.

10 songs for 20 minutes of busking

Twinkle
Lightly Row
Cock of the North
Loggieville two-step
Westphalia waltz
Mary had a little lamb
ba ba black sheep
Allegro
Perpetual Motion
Coombs two step
Old Joe Clark

SPRING BREAK

Spring Break is just around the corner -- so yah kids may  not be practising... no worries, sometimes a rest is good for yah!

Patience + FUN = Success

Patience and fun is the key to success in music.  As a teacher I spend a lot of out of class time thinking of ways to help my students learn to play. Each student is different, what they want out of music and how they learn music.

But one thing I have found is that if parents do not pressure their kids to practice the child will learn. If a parent wants to be involved, I highly recommend making a game of it -- this is why I make up games for students to take home to practice their instrument.

Eventually when the child knows how to read and play their instrument the music itself will be rewarding -- For instance, playing Vivaldi is very rewarding in an of itself !! Music is magical, but getting to the place where we can play music takes time and PATIENCE.

Patience + FUN = Success

GAMES GAMES GAMES! Music Flash Cards for Kids (1)

Learning a new instrument can be difficult and discouraging for kids.
The notes are hard to find and the instrument can sound funny.

Here is the first installment of flash cards for games for kids to pick from to do their lesson practise.

These are very simple games that will give the child the basic motor skills needed to play an
instrument.  While these cards are specifically for violin, they can be easily adapted to any
instrument (for piano pick up and play might be a bit hard lol! just stand up and run around the piano stool then!)

pdf link here 

FLASH CARDS ONE 

Jump and Jam

Play any  10 notes
then Jump once

Play any 9 notes
Then jump twice

Play any 8 notes
Jump three times

Play any 7 notes
jump 4 times

Play any 6 notes
Jump 5 times

Play any 5 notes
Jump 6 times

Play any 4 notes
Jump 7 times

Play any 3 notes
Jump 8 times

Play any 2 notes
Jump 9  times

Play any 1 note
Jump 10 times


Month of MARCH Board GAME!

PDF MARCH  link  March music board game

Play music games part 2 - Three for SPEED!

 THREE FOR SPEED !!

This game is about playing with speed on your instrument.

-Play the first three notes of Mary had a Little Lamb, that would be MA RY HAD or CBA.

-Play it with short bows10 times as fast as you can.

-Start the game with one two three, GO on go start to play the sequence.

-Have a friend or parent call out each time you play one sequence.  If you make a mistake you start from the beginning again.

*Remember to laugh at this game because it should sound funny at first!  

trouble shooting: Slow down your tempo if you find you started too fast and then gradually pick up your speed.

Advancing: Now try playing it with one bow for each three notes in a slur of three notes 10 times as fast you can!  example: UP bow   cba, DOWNbow  cba, UP bow cba, DOWN bow cba.

Make it trickier!: Try this game on different strings and with different bow patterns.

You can race your other musician friends too, by timing it !   

Performance Anxiety is for the Dogs

 IF you get nervous when you perform, you are not alone. Even one of the greatest pianists of our time, Glenn Gould,  preferred to perform to a tape recorder instead of in front of an audience.

I don't know why we get nervous when we perform, but I do know under which circumstances I am not nervous.

I am not nervous to play the piano in front of my dogs.  My dogs don't judge my playing in anyway.  They are not bothered by my playing, and sometimes they even start to wrestle with each other.

So if you are nervous to play in front of people try  smiling a big grin and pretend the audience is just a bunch of cute waggy tailed puppy dogs.

Play music with games

Keeping calm when you sing or play is important, and by calm  I mean keeping your muscles relaxed.

To help get in the relaxed frame of mind I have made up a few games.

For Violin, I often find people are tense in their neck holding the violin and in the wrist holding the bow.

The game is called  PICK UP and PLAY!

So starting with you violin tucked under your bow arm you are going to bring out the violin and tuck it under your chin. As soon as your violin is under your chin you bring up your bow arm and play two DOWN bows -

that is down bow, lift down bow

on the low G string.

Then you are going to put your violin back under your arm and take two steps.

After the two steps repeat putting your violin under your chin and proceed to play 2 down bows on the
D string.

Repeat the game through the 4 stings, then go in the opposite direction.

Starting on E string play two UP bows, tuck away take two steps and then two UP bows on A string

If space is small, just tiny steps.

The idea behind this game is to get your muscles moving quickly into position but with fun and not too much thinking!

Remember to shake out your hands after you play this game!

Keep Calm and Play Music

Some kids love to practice their instrument, be it voice, violin, guitar or piano.  Getting the most out of practicing can be tricky.

For singers, we don't want to strain and over use our voice.
For musicians, we don't want to rehearse poor posture and technique.

So how do we avoid these pitfalls?

(1) Keep practice sessions short 5- 10 minutes at a time.
(2) Ask yourself if you feel pain, pain is not good. Stop if you have discomfort.
(3) Keep notes of when you feel discomfort and tell your teacher. The discomfort may be due to posture or lack of a shoulder rest in violin etc.
(4) Stretch before and after a practice session to keep your body in alignment.
(5) Relax when you are playing or singing.  Tense muscles create strain, strain leads to pain.
(6) Invent your own practice games and incentives.  


In my next blog I will suggest some games too!

Musical instruments are fun but they are not toys

In my previous post I mentioned a tip to help kids practice their instruments "(a) Leave your instrument case open and accessible, so you see it there and the instrument can be easily picked up and played."

It is important to teach young children in the family how to handle musical instruments so the instruments are not scratched or broken.  Show children the instrument and let them gently touch it.  Just like teaching a child to pet a kitten, we can guide them as to how to handle a fragile violin.  Show them that pianos are not for banging, but rather let them slowly press one key to hear the sound it makes. Children need to understand how an instrument works and that it does not need force to make it sound nice.

Exuberant young children may bang on a delicate instrument -- perhaps thinking they are playing rhythm  -- so it is always wise to store your musical instrument safely away from small children when you are not able to manage the interaction.

Children  as young as 4 can be learn how to handle a wooden violin without causing the instrument any harm.

Music Lesson Practice Tips for Kids

Practicing your  musical instrument can be a daunting task especially for young children.

These are some helpful tips I recommend to my students :

(a) Leave your instrument case open and accessible, so you see it there and the instrument can be easily picked up and played.

(b) Set a very short time to practise every day.  For example 5 minutes at 4:00 pm. Kids often do not want to be pried away from the tv shows they enjoy, but it is easy to play one exercise during a commercial break and one piece during the next commercial break.

(c) Keep your goals easy each day.  Choose one difficult part of a particular piece and go over it 10 times in a row.  The muscles in your fingers will remember even if you don't!