FEBRUARY Studio News

  Monday, February 1, 2021 by Cortney Baker | Uncategorized

  February tuition                                 

is due at your first lesson of the month.  Consult your monthly invoice for the exact amount. 

Ways to pay:

1. MAIL CHECK:  814 Pineland Dr, Cary, 27511
2. ONLINE PAYMENT:  PayPal (include fee) or Google Pay (no fee) 

What to do:

Reply to your invoice email on the 1st and let me know how you will send tuition this month. 

1. Check is in the mail, 

2. PayPal link on invoice (you will pay the 2.9% fee), or 

3. Google Pay (I will need to send you money request to go this route.  I will send out requests to everyone who chose this option prior)

  February Schedule                                

No Lessons are scheduled from Mon, Feb 15 to Fri, Feb 19.

Log in to your MyMusicStaff portal to see your specific lesson dates, times and location.  Also included in your account: the link to access the Zoom webpage, previous lesson notes, the monthly studio news, and much more! 

   Group Classes                                       

Group Classes will meet on Friday, February 26th.  Location: Zoom.   

Here is our schedule:

   Parent Education                                     

 I have loaded several articles to the Library & Downloads page in your MMS portal with articles and handouts for parents.  Find a title that interests you and read it!  I highly encourage you to take a moment this month to choose one and read it.  There is so much value in motivation for the Suzuki parent.  Let these articles give you that blessing!!    

This month I want to highlight an article already in the folder:  6 Words You Should Say Today by Rachel Macy Stafford,  Ideas for building confidence in our kids.  Toggle over to the Online Resources Tab>Parent Education folder to find this article.  View it online, Download it or Print it!

If you have time, send me your reaction, thoughts. etc.  I would love to know what stands out to you.    

 

    Summer Suzuki Institutes                        

Its that time of year again!  Summer Suzuki institutes have started accepting enrollment.  Due to uncertain summer COVID19 restrictions in many areas, several of the institutes have already decided to run online formats.  This might be the perfect summer to try out an institute without the added element of travel.  Here is the SAA webpage listing of all the Institute: https://suzukiassociation.org/events/institutes/

I will be on faculty at the Greater Washington Suzuki Institute again this summer.  The faculty at this camp are highly esteemed in the Suzuki community, and each summer proves to be an uplifting and motivating experience for participants.  I would love to have ALL of you join me at camp this summer.    Here is the SAA listing for the GWSI: https://suzukiassociation.org/events/loc/greater-washington-suzuki-institute/

    Studio Challenges                                   

Congratulations to the students who completed the 12 Days of Christmas practice challenge:  Glover Wilson, Timothy Baker, Luke Fox, Elizabeth Baucom, Cataleya Kelley and Divya Kancharla.  Way to go!!

2020 was a record year for practicing!  You all did a great job!!  Being stuck at home so much definitely helped - and now that these habits are established, let's keep them going!  Check out this pic of the last 3 months of practicing (and I will admit that I didn't get it all recorded - for some of you, there were many days not added to this chart.)  I think that is the fullest any of our charts have been!  I am so proud of you all and the progress you are making.  Keep up the good work!

Next up, our 2021 studio challenge is...drumroll please... LISTENING!  All of this practicing is excellent and irreplaceable in the realm of acquiring a skill.  Nevertheless, in the music world, hearing a model of what you are trying to achieve is a MAJOR HELP.  I will begin asking about your weekly listening along with # of practice days starting this week!  Get out those recordings, put on those tapping feet and let's make this a habit in 2021!

    Suzuki Book Recordings                         

New recordings of the Suzuki Books 1-3 performed by violinist Hilary Hahn have just been released!   Use this link to read more and/or purchase from iTunes, Amazon Music or Alfred websites: https://www.alfred.com/suzuki-violin-overview/ 

   
   Special Listening                                       

Just a reminder that wonderful videos and audio recordings of professional performers can be seen/heard on YouTube.  Use this as the Special Listening assignment for each week.  This month's highlighted violinist is Pablo de Sarasate (see notes below).  Moving forward chronologically, this is one of the first recorded violinists in history.  The recording is definitely different in quality than what we have to listen to today.  Even so, how amazing it is it to be able to listen to a recording that is almost 120 years old?!

There are other recordings - enjoy looking around and learning more about this great artist of our time.

Enjoy!

Pablo de Sarasate (1844)

Beginning to play at the age of five and giving his first public concert at eight, de Sarasate won broad recognition as a virtuoso. He won the Paris conservatory’s highest honor at aged 17 and was largely responsible for popularizing Spanish music among some of the leading composers of the late 19th century. Considering that he was born in 1844, it is remarkable that we do have audio recordings of his work. Here he is in a _{recording from 1904.}

George Bernard Shaw once said of Sarasate that “he left criticism gasping for miles behind him.” He lived from 1844 to 1908, and we should consider ourselves supremely lucky to have some of his wax cylinder recordings, from around 1904, including his own piece, Zigeunerweisen (recording link above). The recording capabilities back then were terrible for anything other than percussive sounds, like a piano or drums, unless the sound was directed straight into the megaphone. A violin can do neither very well, and it is difficult to hear all the passages of the piece, but they are there, and he doesn’t miss a single note.

His technique is actually a little more crystal clear than Heifetz’s, without so much as one fuzzy or scraped note, but with all the emotion and speed up to par and brilliant. Any violin virtuoso is inevitably compared with the next entry, and almost always somewhat unfavorably, but Sarasate was one of the rare exceptions whom people can actually hear perform.

A repeat of the link above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC64hVc8ZI0 (you may have to cut and paste this link)

Some of his other compositions: 

Malaguena, Op. 21 No. 1 performed by Rachel Barton Pines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNSeceitjBQ

Habanera, Op. 21 No. 2 performed by Yehudi Menuhin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAf1__vmyak

Carmen Fantasy, performed by Chole Chua, age 12,  https://youtu.be/pNGoAUz0nhE

And a fun video of Chloe and TwoSet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slrHpGlxHQA

   ZOOM Virtual Lessons                         

Here is the link to use for online lessons: https://zoom.us/j/9799595937

Password: cbviolin

Thank you all for continuing to work on establishing lesson etiquette online.  A few reminders:

• Set up your lesson space with ample time to log in 5 minutes before your lesson time.  (music stand, music, tuned instrument, etc)
• Please have the video in landscape (horizontal) setting so I can see both arms.  Test out your bow arm at the tip...can you see your bow hold in the picture with your arm extended?  I do not need to see your music stand, that can be off to the side of the camera (your left side when you are facing the screen).
• Turn off as many Wi-Fi devices in your house as you are able.  The more devices you have accessing your router, the more delays and cut outs happen when you are playing.  I will have most everything here at my house removed from our router during lesson times to help us out.  
• Mute yourself and even turn off your video to be less of a distraction to the lesson in progress.
• Feel free to experiment with speakers or mics on your end to be able to hear me / make your audio sharper. 
• Turn ON original sound, so that Zoom will relay your instrument's sound without delay. If you need help with this setting, please ask.

You can also access the Zoom link through the MMS website.  Log into your user account and click on the link associated with the event.