Keepviolinin

These are some of the songs I would teach my pre-twinklers taken from my Book I training with Dr. Sue Baer:

1. Wheels on the Bus with bow movements

2. Pop Goes the Weasel with pizzicato on E and A by plucking E on ‘pop’ and A on ‘goes’

3. String names: Ant poem with violin on floor. Eek!(EE) Look at all the ants. (AA), Digging in the dirt. (DD), Going under ground.(GG)

3. Finger parade: 1, 2, 3, lift

4. ‘Mississippi Stop Stop’ on E String

5. Monkey Song with MSS rhythm

6. Flower Song with the MSS rhythm

Enjoy your time with your Pre-Twinkler:)

I’m challenging myself on a pretty difficult task of trying to teach my own son how to play the violin.  Even though I’m a violin teacher myself, I’ve always been hesitant to teach my son how to play. I’m afraid of the conflicts we may be faced with when he gets stuck on a technique or even a small measure.  I’ve decided to take on this challenge for one year and see how it goes.  I’ll post some videos of our progress on here as we begin this journey:) Good luck to me!

Click here!!!

This video was shared with all of my students because sometimes it’s just too difficult to explain to the students how to relax and just use the wrist. When I watched this video, everything just made a lot of sense:) Hope it’s helpful to you as well!

I’ve waited for these T-shirts, Buttons, and Bags for 3 weeks and they’ve FINALLY arrived in my place!!! I’m sooooo excited to share these with my students and with anyone else that’s interested in purchasing them from me.  I’m going to try and figure out how to set up Paypal on this site so people can order directly from me online, instead of emailing me for their orders.  If you are interested in ordering now, please email me at keepviolinin@gmail.com.

T-shirts are $15 each, Canvas bags are $10 each, and Buttons are $1 each.  I will have some of my students wear these shirts so I’ll be posting those pictures on here at a later date.  Sizes range from XS for kids all the way to XL in adults.

*Shipping fee will vary depending on your location.

These are some photos of the items that came in today:

I wanted to write about vibrato today because so many of my students just can’t wait to master vibrato so they can sound good. However, they  must be very patient with trying to master this technique.  Acquiring a fine vibrato may take a long time, but the student and the teacher should be convinced that he/she can acquire it.  I remember when I was studying vibrato from Dr. Starr, he told me I had to control my vibrato, it shouldn’t control me.  I didn’t quite understand it until I started teaching vibrato to a student of mine who was already doing well with his vibrato.  The same phrase came out of my mouth as I was teaching him vibrato, because his speed of the vibrato was not steady and sometimes the first finger would have a better vibrato sound than the second finger.  Basically, he wasn’t taking control of his vibrato.  I think these three physical requirements are really important for a nice vibrato:

1. Proper support of the violin

2. An even, relaxed hand oscillation

3. Flexibility in the finger joints

I suggest all students who are currently learning vibrato to have lots and lots of patience and practice 5-10 minutes a day just on vibrato and remember it is a slow progress, but never give up on it:) Show your teacher what you have accomplished every time you have a lesson and that way your teacher can tell you if you are going in the right direction or not.

Have fun and Keep Violinin’ ^_^

I’ve been teaching private lessons for more than 13 years now.  Through the years of teaching students from the age of 4 all the way to the age of 18 has been quite challenging, but also the most rewarding experience.  I remember when my violin teacher, Dr.William Starr, told me that the only way I can become even better is to start being a violin teacher myself.  What he really wanted to me to understand is in order for me to become an even better player, I’d have to spend lots of time practicing.  However, he didn’t directly just tell me to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Instead, he wanted me to realize it by obtaining students of my own and telling my own students the only way they’d become better players is if they PRACTICED on a regular basis.

You see, I started learning violin from Dr. Starr when I was 12 years old.  My previous violin teachers were all very strict and they all used the Russian traditional method of teaching me how to play the violin.  It wasn’t until I began studying with Dr. Starr that I found out there is actually a fun side to learning the violin.  I remember I always looked forward to our violin lessons together.  Dr. Starr encouraged me to audition for all sorts of ensembles and orchestras.  As I began to become more involved in different ensemble groups, I found more joy in playing the violin.  I think my personality also became alive after being in groups and seeing others who played much better than me on the violin with their hearts out during rehearsals.  Not only did attending different ensemble groups encourage my daily practice, it also helped me understand how to appreciate music and make friends with other students that had similar experiences like myself.

I want to dedicate this blog to the people that helped me KEEP VIOLININ’ throughout these years.  My parents are the first ones I have to thank, because they are the ones that kept me going on the violin even though I wanted to quit so badly.  They are the ones that rode their bikes for an hour to bring me to group lessons every Sunday while I was little.  Now that I am a parent, I can only imagine what I put them through by fighting with them and complaining to them how much I disliked the violin.  Although I wanted to quit, they never once told me it was OK for me to give it up.  Secondly, I want to thank my violin teachers, even the ones that hit me, yelled at me, and made me cry during our lessons, because they made me a stronger person and they did what was best for me as a violinist.  They didn’t teach me the wrong posture, they saved me at an early age and they all believed in me!  Thirdly, I want to thank my students for allowing me to have so much fun with them during our lessons.  I love their curiosity, their enthusiasm, and their humor in appreciating music.  If it weren’t for the students, I would have no fun teaching by myself, AND…my job would not be rewarding, since I wouldn’t be able to see steady progress if I didn’t have any students:)

Finally, I want to thank God for allowing me to enjoy teaching violin wherever I am.  Whether it was living in California, China, or Taiwan. God has allowed me to teach students every time I moved to a new place.  He also has allowed me to develop strong relationships with my students and their families, which I have enjoyed thoroughly.  Now I have friends allll over the world:) This year, He has allowed me to teach the orchestra class at a Christian Academy in Taipei, Taiwan, even though the school knew I was leaving in June of this year.  I have truly been blessed by my Father in heaven.  I have to remind myself to always be thankful for what He has given me and be glad in it:) AMEN!

In order to give my students another challenge, I’ve decided to invite them to my 100 day practice journey.  If they are able to complete this 100 day practice journey without missing even one day of practice, they will get my newly designed tshirt FOR FREE! I have many students that are going to participate in this challenge, and I’m going to be very excited to announce their names in the end of May 2011:)

~Keep Violinin’

Music Best Understood By Children...Keep Violinin'