O’fish’ial Suzuki Book 1 Review

It's been a while (almost two years!) since I last posted.  Life gets busy and some things drop off.  However, this week our family got COVID and that means we get to stay home for at least 10 days.  We can't go anywhere, or do anything.  I've felt too sick to clean my house or do laundry, but not sick enough to stay in bed all day.  The result is a lot of new printables created.  Yay!  

Here is a great review game.  In my experience, just about all kids love a good fishing game.  I've been wanting to make a fishing review game for a while now.  I don't have any kids in Suzuki Violin Book 1 anymore, but I have students and I plan to lend this game out. I used brass brads for the eyes that connect perfectly to the magnet fishing pole.

While I had the fish graphics ready I also made an easy chart with all the Suzuki Book 1 pieces.  The idea is to mark off the piece when you play it.  You don't erase the chart until you've played every piece.

Lastly is a blank chart with 60 fish.  Color or cross out a fish for every review song you play.  Have a celebration when you complete the chart.

There you go, folks.  Three games in one printable.  I hope you enjoy it!

Recipe for a Successful Practice

A few weekends ago I got the privilege to present at a Suzuki Piano workshop for parents.  As I was thinking of ideas of what to present I decided that we were (mostly) all moms and we do a lot of cooking and can relate to recipes.  Therefore, the title of my presentation was "Recipe for a Successful Practice."

Nothing I said was new or scientific, but rather a fun way to reinforce some basic qualities of a successful practice.  I've included my handout here and hopefully, you can get some ideas on what you need to improve to make your practicing more successful. You could give a presentation like this to parents of your music students.  It's good to hear the same things over and over!

2023 update: Here is an updated handout.

The Playlist

I love my iPod. What I love most about my iPod that wasn't as easy or convenient with my good ol' portable DVD player or walkman is the PLAYLISTS. Since the Suzuki method is so focused on listening it becomes a daily part of my life. My playlists makes it easier to listen to the Suzuki music over and over and over and over and over again....




Here are some examples of playlists you can have on your iPod:

• Put your whole Suzuki book on and add the next three songs 2, 3, 4, or more extra times so it gets extra listening.


• Include different versions of the pieces you're learning. In the upper books there are multiple versions - often in an orchestral setting or with a different instrument.


• Include outside pieces your teacher is having you learn. Most of the time there is a recording.


• Make a playlist of only accompaniment songs. This is great for kids in the upper books to use for review.


• Put all the pieces from every Suzuki CD you own on one playlist for background listening.


• Insert some of your child's favorite songs as well as the Suzuki pieces on the playlist so they can do some fun listening as well as the Suzuki listening.


• I make a car playlist with songs for each of my children. This includes Book 1 songs, Book 5 songs, nursery rhymes, and some Kids Bop (from McDonalds) for my son.

Experience

I was thinking yesterday about how I'm trying to give advice about practicing on this blog and yet I really don't have the amount of experience as so many moms out there.  I have one child doing violin and piano and that's it.  My son was doing piano but we had to quit (but I'll talk about that later.)  However, I feel that if I chronicle my ups and downs perhaps someone can get some inspiration, advice, or even comfort knowing that practicing with a child is hard.