violinnewb

Well played and much agreed. Again, I'm not advocating teaching chromatic scales to beginners. I am offering a solution based upon the specific issue of not teaching low 2s. I always tell my students, if you can sing the part, you can likely play it...eventually. So I do in fact advocate singing.

Isn't that what a "low 2" is? Depending on the sting, its a natural. So, my point is, if the idea is that beginners should not be limited to a certain major key that avoids the low 2s, high 3s, etc....then a chromatic scale approach fits the bill. I am not saying that is a good idea because of what Carl pointed out, but that is one solution. I personally like teaching songs in a certain key so that a beginner is comfortable with a particular pattern. Then, I use that foundation to build upon new keys and fingerings thereafter.

Woah....wut? I LOVE the cello, but "Violin was boring"????? WUT!

Short reply to this thread as I am working right now. You guys can yell at me later. Why not just teach basic chromatic scales in one and two octaves? That way, you got the low 1, low 2, high 2, high 3, low 4, blah blah.

My children took violin lessons from an Asian woman. The teacher, who I am fond of, taught some sort of hybrid Korean-European method which consisted of short melodies and lots of scales and short etudes. She would also teach theory at every lesson. Honestly, my children got really bored, really fast. I cannot tell you what the Suzuki method consists of as I am not a certified Suzuki teacher, but I can tell you, for me, it is alot like this: As children, we learn spoken language early on. We do not generally learn about the exact structure, diction, grammar, etc. until we enter g

Hi! From the many posts you have authored, I take it that you are much younger than me. If you are starting out as a new teacher for young students, I do in fact support your decision of using Suzuki. As you know by now, many of us either disagree with the Suzuki method in one aspect or another. From experience, I will tell you that if you are teaching students under the age of 10 years, you have to remember attention span. I know that there are exceptions, but most need nurturing of the art itself more so than the technique behind the art...at least at the beginning. To comment di

Philip, Overall, I agree with your perspective with the Suzuki Method. Having said that, I am a product of the method, and even though my first non-Suzuki teacher did not like the Suzuki method and told me that I had to pretty much start from scratch, the reality was that I had a solid foundation. I use the Suzuki method to get my students to a certain level. BUT--I also do alot of creative work arounds for many of the pieces because I also disagree with some of the technical aspects. The umbrella goal of Dr. Suzuki was not to make hundreds of millions of world-class viol

Damn you Carl Stross. I just bought the sheet music and am excited to try learning it after work. For some reason, I am feeling pretty good about my potential to actually play the Hora Staccato WITH the staccato!

I loved Ray Chen's performance of Clair De Lune! I love it love it love it!!! That piece is now in the running. Unfortunately I now have 3 slow pieces.

That is a great idea! I am thinking of ending with the Mozart Rondo by Kreisler though. Reason being, I play it at the Heifetz tempo (so its pretty exciting) and the ending measures are first position chords as opposed to the Bartok ending measures which require a HUGE shift to 19th position LOL. I am not confident enough that I will hit the high note before coming down. Could you imagine ending a recital with sour notes? OMG

I like! Are you suggesting in place of the meditation?

Hora staccato??? Too difficult for me lol

Venue....not sure yet. I have options. The place will likely be smaller but still acoustically pleasing. I was thinking of adding a Bach unaccompanied piece but nothing heavy or too difficult. Maybe the allegro asai from the 3rd partita? Not really sure which partita it comes from. as for modern, I am now thinking of swapping out the meditation for the Theme from Schindler’s list. I have lots of time to prepare so I will listen to other pieces for now.

I am listening now and do like it. But it is 2 minutes longer than I would like to play. Don't really think that I can do more than 6 minutes per song.

Stephen, the Mozart Rondo (Kreisler) wears out my fingers. I'm thinking less than an hour as I do not have the stamina!