Taking violin lessons for myself
August 16, 2012
I have decided to continue to improve my own playing and therefore, I will start taking lessons on my own next week at University of Pacific with Prof. Ann Miller.
I look forward to learning more and finding ways to get an even better sound from my violin:)
Cheers to continuing education:)
15th SAA Conference in Minneapolis, MN
May 3, 2012
I’m super excited for this month!!:) Not only am I having my 1st Annual Summer Recital with my students that I have taught for the past year here in Mountain House, but I was asked as a volunteer to introduce my violin teacher since I was 12 years old, William Starr at the SAA Conference coming up at the end of this month. This will be my first time attending a SAA conference, but already I am looking forward to the many sessions they are providing and the amount of information I will be getting from them. You can check them out on this site: http://suzukiassociation.org/conference/
~ Keep Violinin’
Mountain House Suzuki Strings
May 2, 2012
For the past year I’ve worked closely with another Mountain House Suzuki teacher as we combined our students and performed in various local events. We decided to form our very own Mountain House Suzuki Strings and hope this group will grow as we continue to make our presence known in our community and our schools. We’ve come up with a logo that both of us think can be long lasting. Our next event that we will be participating in is the 7th Annual Mountain House July 4th Parade. Come check us out!!!
Go MHSS!!:)
~ Keep Violinin’
Austin Reviewing All Twinkle Variations
April 12, 2012
We decided to review and record Austin playing all of the Twinkle Variations, sorry for my horrible piano accompaniment:(
I think playing review pieces is very beneficial for anyone that’s playing an instrument. Austin really enjoyed playing old pieces and it’s becoming a habit of his to review an old piece every time he picks up the violin to practice:)
Practicing Gavotte by F.J. Gossec
April 11, 2012
Austin has started the last piece in Suzuki Book 1, which is probably the most difficult piece in the entire book with lots of new techniques, such as grace notes, accidentals, and slurring 16th notes, which means a much faster finger action is needed on the violin hand.
My suggestion for practicing this piece is focusing on one line a day. So far, Austin has done very well with this, but boy is it hard to stop him when he wants to go forward and onto the next line. Patience is needed for the both of us in this piece. I told him I will be recording him on the entire Suzuki Book 1 after he is finished with Gavotte. I think he is looking forward to making this video and sharing it on youtube:)
~ Keep Violinin’
Austin Playing Minuet 2 by J.S. Bach
March 12, 2012
Austin memorized Minuet 2 without the repeats because he’s still getting used to having a camera in front of him while he’s practicing the violin..hehe..
Enjoy!!!
Mar.3rd, 2012 Play-In @ Yogurt Pizazz in Brentwood
March 6, 2012
My students and I joined Julie’s Strings in Brentwood for a Suzuki Play-In on Mar.3rd. It was a lot of fun!!! Hope you enjoy the photos and the video!!!
Parents as Partners Online
February 2, 2012
The time has started for the parents to plug in and check out the videos online.
http://suzukiassociation.org/ppo/
Most of my students’ parents have registered to Parents as Partners Online where they will have access to videos from Jan.30-June 30 and they will learn so much from each other by the meetings I am planning to set up for them once a month.
I appreciate how the parents are being so cooperative and supportive of my teachings and I am truly blessed to have these wonderful parents by my side working together to help their children become wonderful human beings.
~ Keep Violinin’
First Rehearsal in 2012
January 3, 2012
I went in for our first rehearsal of the year tonight with the Livermore-Amador Symphony and I’m already faced with some challenging music!
Here’s the list of music we will be performing on Feb.11 in the Bankhead Theater in Livermore, CA:
– Saint-Saens’s Danse Macabre
– Smetana’s Moldau
– Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2
– Debussy’s Rhapsodie
– Maxwell Davies’ An Orkney Wedding With Surprise
For this concert, I’m sitting right behind the concertmistress and I think the pressure’s definitely on…AND…I’m making all my students attend this concert…so what will I be doing for the next month? PRACTICE, LISTEN TO THE MUSIC, PRACTICE, LISTEN TO THE MUSIC, AND PRACTICE SOME MORE:)
An update on Austin’s progress – He’s been practicing Perpetual Motion with 4th finger on A&E strings as well as D&A strings, and I will post a video of him playing these soon:) He struggled with the 4th finger for a few days, but his left elbow is now more closer to his tummy, which is making the 4th finger reach much easier now than before:) Video will come SOON…
Then it’s time to learn the D Major pieces in Suzuki!!YAY!!
~ Keep Violinin’
Reminding myself to be patient with my son!
September 11, 2011
About 3 weeks ago I started teaching my son Austin the violin. We’re now working on the Monkey Song, which is just getting the feel of placing his 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers down on the string. I was hoping to get him on all the twinkle variations by now, but I’ve realized he needs to take things one step at a time. While I was giving him the lesson today, I said to Austin,”You’ve got to have more patience for yourself Austin. You may need to work 10 times harder than others because you have to take things one step at a time. There are other students of mommy’s that can pick up the violin really fast, but everyone is different. You have to go at your own pace, and that is one step at a time.” While I was speaking to him, I realized I was talking to myself at the same time, because I was becoming quite impatient with him on his posture already.
I’m glad I’m teaching Austin the violin and the piano now, because I am learning so much since I teach him everyday instead of seeing my students once a week. It’s quite a challenge, but I think I’m becoming more and more patient as we speak:)
I tried to upload a video of my performance out in the park this past Saturday for the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration in our community, but the file was too big for me to upload. We had an eventful weekend!! Austin’s soccer team also won, which we are all so proud of the team work they had going on. Time for a brand new week and I’m performing in a pre-school tomorrow morning here in Mountain House…that should be FUN!!!!!:)
Keepviolinin 