A Little Practice Buddy

Sometimes it's just a little buddy that will kickstart practicing again. In my case, it's this little Practice Monkey that I got for my Shoppe but any stuffed animal would work.

We use our practice monkey as an audience, a critic, an object for concentration, and a reward for good practicing. This little guy is always sitting around watching for good tone and happy playing. 

Today this little guy is making practice fun. 

Check out this video of our practicing today complete with chocolate on the face. It's over six minutes long. That's with all the parts I edited out. Caroline practiced this section for at least 20 minutes. It was really a tough one for her, but notice she is still smiling at the end of practicing. We also included another little guy we like to practice with. 

Multi-Mouse Making Our Practicing Fun!

This past weekend I had the fun opportunity to attend the ASTA Conference in my hometown.  I met a lot of great people who stopped by my Shoppe as well as others who were selling their own products.  One such product I invested in is the Rockin Rosin which is so fun to give away to my students.  They love rosining their bow with a fun-shaped rosin!

My biggest find, however, was a cute little mouse slap bracelet called the Multi-Mouse.  We call him Mr. Mouse over here and he's been a constant tool in our practicing this week.  I think this is a great little toy that can be used in a variety of ways from the smallest little pre-twinklers to the older students learning shifting and vibrato.

According to the creator, the multi-mouse has many wonderful uses:

1. Bowing arm path

2. Left wrist position

3. Left-hand shape

4. Introduce Shifting

5. Vibrato Technique

 I decided to test this out with my own kids and here are some of the pictures!

What really intrigued me was using this to help keep my daughter's wrist open when she plays.  She often plays with a "pancake hand" and I'm constantly reminding her to open her wrist.  Mr. Mouse is a fun way to practice with an open wrist.  What I've also noticed this week is that because she's not collapsing her wrist her low 2s are MUCH better in tune!

Mr. Mouse sits on the chair and waits his turn.

Even my 2-year-old who is doing pre-twinkle exercises is having fun with Mr. Mouse.

I thought it might give you a better idea of how I use this little guy if you saw him in action!

Here's a link to the video that the creator, Sharon, put together.

P,s, thanks to my 2-year-old, 5-year-old and 8-year-old for demonstrating in the video!