Suzuki Violin - Discussion

[quixation]

chamonix:

Hi quixation,


One mother shared earlier on that her child (who started off with Suzuki violin) had no problem with note reading when he took up classical violin at 5 years old. I would like to think the majority will have no problem if they put in effort to learn the notes. Both my kids are also learning piano (for leisure) concurrently. They have no problem with reading and playing the piano via sight reading.

For Suzuki teaching, there's no one way fixed way of teaching the kids. As most of these kids started off very young, some teachers may prefer to use the fingering or DoReMi methods to make learning simple. As for my kids' teacher, he started off with the note names instead. At the same time, he would advise me to show my son the scores when he practices at home. I suppose that will help in smoother transition later on.

hi chamonix,
thanks a lot for the response ! I guess everything depends on revision, practice and home training too..

[OCEAN]

Hi Chamonix


Is your son taking group lessons? It sounds awfully long for Book 1.
His group started off with 8 students. But now has a total of five only. One girl having sibling in the same class and mommy too stress, so dropped out. One boy unable to take the criticism of the teacher and stopped coming after he broke down and cry. Another boy, dropped out last Dec probably because unable to catch up and every week got scolding from the teacher.

My son started 1-1 lessons last June and finished Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the 4 variations within 4-5 months. He just performed Twinkle Twinkle in the Suzuki Students' Graduation Concert yesterday. Perpetual Motion will be the next song he's learning. (The teacher has been focusing on Twinkle Twinkle practices for the last 3 weeks). For him, the teacher expects him to learn a new song every 1-2 weeks. As for note reading, his teacher has yet to start teaching him. At the moment, he prefers his students to concentrate on learning to play by hearing.
Oh! I now understand why he suddenly started teaching this group by reading musical notes already. Probably because most of them still unable to play the whole song correctly even the teacher had already taught them. Teaching by hearing will not be suitable for this group of children any more as the song has became more difficult to play.

If your son is keen in learning violin, I suggest you to enrol him for 1-1
lessons.
He is not keen at all though he was the one who requested for it. What interest him is fun. Group lessons are fun, esp. involving all parents. In fact I have stopped him from going to violin lesson for one month since Jan this year, and after that he was the one who refused to go for the lesson. It was about coming to the middle of 2nd month after he stopped attending the lesson that one day, I dragged him into the class while we were in the vicinity, without bringing the violin along. Then he realised the teacher has changed his method of teaching that he became interested and hence back to the class again.

Learning and progress will be much more in line with your son's ability. Although my daughter started just 1-1 lessons last oct, the teacher actually wanted her to participate in the Twinkle Twinkle performance yesterday. (Too bad my girl isn't the hardworking sort, so I didn't train/drill her hard enough to match the CD speed in time for the concert
My boy had his Twinkle performance last year, It was a good experience. But this year I didn't want him to perform because he would be back to the twinkle group again.
As for 1-1 lesson, I do not want to stress up myself as I have no more stamina due to health reason. While other children are still struggling, his is able to catch up easily for the time being, at least for book one, but will need to work hard again when he proceed to book two, if he is still willing to continue.

Don't give up hope on your son yet. Find a good teacher and things might
change for the better.
As you have mentioned earlier, this teacher is great but very strict! By now you should have already know who the teacher is :). It was because of his strictness that my boy try to excel previously, and it was also because of his strictness that my boy refused to turn up for the class again. It was because of his strictness, the girls in the class took turn to cry almost every week. In fact two of the parents in his class has elder siblings taught under him, and because of his strictness, they put their younger one under him again.

Last but not least, if I have chance to go back to the past, I will put my boy under him again. It is a great lesson for us parents too.

And yes, the rosin we are using was made in Germany, cost about $5.50.

[mommyNg]

Hi Ocean, wow, the teacher is sure strict! :shock: Your son sounds pretty motivated and has the aptitude for learning the violin. Give him your utmost encouragement and support, and I'm sure he'll be an outstanding violin player!


One good thing about concentrating on learning to play by hearing is perhaps the child can focus on mastering the techniques rather than keeping track of the notes? But Ocean, how old is your son (and his group)? I still don't understand why he would suddenly teach the group by reading notes for Minuet 1? Yes, Minuet 1 is more difficult than Etude (more complex fingering, \"slurs\" - two notes to a bow, etc.), but wouldn't suddenly learning to play by reading notes present a more difficult task for the children? IMHO I think that perhaps what makes teaching the group now a challenge could be the different learning pace each child is at. When songs get more difficult, individual learning pace would differ even more, so a teacher should \"tailor\" the session/teaching to each child, so 1-1 should be more helpful than group class in this case. Group class should still be on-going on top of 1-1 lessons though (for reasons based on Suzuki philosophy).

Hi charmonix, from Lightly Row onwards to Etude, I think kids can learn a new song every 1-2 weeks (depending also on various factors, such as age of child, and how much time parent is willing to work with the child). From then on, each song seems to have a new different technique to master, e.g. Etude is a longer song and has a new fingering (\"low-two\") and Minuet 1 has \"slurs\", etc. My daughter learnt the earlier pieces pretty quickly but reached a bump at Minuet 2, which took her almost 3-4 weeks before she could play it reasonably well. Sometimes I think Minuet 2 is more challenging than Gossec Gavotte!

If you would like some music accompaniment while your child is playing the violin, check this site for some MIDI files:
http://www.suzukiviolin.com/music/volume1.html
Not all of them have the melody (e.g. song of the wind, go tell aunt rhody, minuet 2, minuet 3, gavotte) , so keeping up with the accompaniment can sometimes be challenging, but I think it is good place to start!

[metz]

Hi Quiaxtion,


You are welcome.

Yup, a lot hinges on practices, practices and more practices in learning an instrument, so I realized. Besides parental support, a good teacher is also crucial. Sometimes the first teacher a child has will determine the level of interest. So, take time to look for a good teacher who can work well with your kid’s temperament.



Hi Ocean,

Ah, so our kids shared the same teacher. :celebrate: I must admit it’s not easy to be his students (or the parents sitting in). He takes music seriously and expects his students to adopt the same attitude too.

Maybe you can seek the teacher’s advice on what can be done to help your son to sustain his interest? Btw, even for 1-1 lessons, the kids will have 1 group session for every 3 lessons. But it's a lot more work on the parents.

In any case, it’s a good thing you exposed him to music since young. Even if he decides to stop, it’s likely he might pick up the instrument later on. Such is the case with my friend’s sons. So, all the past training do not necessary come to naught.



Hi MommyNg,

I also noticed the earlier pieces are much shorter and repetitive. Probably, the earlier songs are just training and preparing them for the more difficult pieces later on. Thanks for sharing your girl’s experience. Looks like I need to start learning the pieces myself soon. Ever since the graduation concert, my son has been asking when he can start learning Gavotte :roll: . Were you there at the graduation concert? A 4 year old girl performed Gavotte on solo. She's really cute, especially when she did the pizzicato!

Thanks for the MIDI files. Ever since he got over the previous bump, he now practices playing along with the CD music. So far he has no problem keeping up with it. It will be great if he can also practice along with a slower accompaniment, something we lacked of. It certainly makes practices more fun. Thanks!

[quixation]

chamonix:

Hi Quiaxtion,


You are welcome.

Yup, a lot hinges on practices, practices and more practices in learning an instrument, so I realized. Besides parental support, a good teacher is also crucial. Sometimes the first teacher a child has will determine the level of interest. So, take time to look for a good teacher who can work well with your kid’s temperament.



Hi Ocean,

Ah, so our kids shared the same teacher. :celebrate: I must admit it’s not easy to be his students (or the parents sitting in). He takes music seriously and expects his students to adopt the same attitude too.

Maybe you can seek the teacher’s advice on what can be done to help your son to sustain his interest? Btw, even for 1-1 lessons, the kids will have 1 group session for every 3 lessons. But it's a lot more work on the parents.

In any case, it’s a good thing you exposed him to music since young. Even if he decides to stop, it’s likely he might pick up the instrument later on. Such is the case with my friend’s sons. So, all the past training do not necessary come to naught.



Hi MommyNg,

I also noticed the earlier pieces are much shorter and repetitive. Probably, the earlier songs are just training and preparing them for the more difficult pieces later on. Thanks for sharing your girl’s experience. Looks like I need to start learning the pieces myself soon. Ever since the graduation concert, my son has been asking when he can start learning Gavotte :roll: . Were you there at the graduation concert? A 4 year old girl performed Gavotte on solo. She's really cute, especially when she did the pizzicato!

Thanks for the MIDI files. Ever since he got over the previous bump, he now practices playing along with the CD music. So far he has no problem keeping up with it. It will be great if he can also practice along with a slower accompaniment, something we lacked of. It certainly makes practices more fun. Thanks!

Hi,

Can you recommend any good teachers?

[metz]

quixation:

Hi,

Can you recommend any good teachers?

Hi Quixation,

My kids' teacher is famous for his strictness but he's in the West. Maybe MommyNg can help? Otherwise, you might want to try Mac's school at Forum. Heard they have one teacher who is pretty good with young kids.

[mommyNg]

ha ha chamonix, I know this question will pop up sooner or later!


Actually I am also looking for a good Suzuki violin teacher in Singapore for my 6-year-old daughter, and so I can't really recommend one for you, quixation. Reason being my daughter's current violin teacher is not in Singapore - we are returning Singaporeans from overseas - not yet, but soon to be, and I'm a super KS mom (don't I feel a sense of belongingness in this forum?), so I already want to start looking for information...

I also heard Mac's school has pretty good reputation too! Keep the recommendations coming!

[quixation]

Anyone has any comments about Mandaville ?


And particularly any teachers besides Sylvia Khoo for suzuki violin?

[metz]

Oh, when will you be returning? At the pace your girl is progressing, she might be in time to perform the Book 2 song in the Graduation Concert next March!

[ChiefKiasu]

quixation:

Anyone has any comments about Mandaville ?


And particularly any teachers besides Sylvia Khoo for suzuki violin?

Do a search in the search box on our http://www.kiasuparents.com. There are some comments on Mandeville spread across our site.