Christmastime = Musictime

The holidays are here -- that means it's primetime for live musical performances of all kinds! This is an especially wonderful time for students to get out there and share their gifts with the world! Who doesn't love a little live Christmas music? Below are my favorite 5 holiday performing opportunities: 5.) School music performances

For the younger students, this may be their very first performance opportunity, as students who began learning their instruments in September are ready to perform a few short tunes!

4.) Performing at a retirement or assisted living community

This is a great opportunity for kids to share their gifts and visit our senior citizens! Call around and offer to perform as a small ensemble or a group of soloists during the holidays. These facilities almost always welcome live music.

3.) In-home performances for friends and family

Chamber music as it was meant to be played: in the home! What better time to share your music with relatives and friends than when they're visiting for the holidays?

2.) Religious services

This time of year is filled with religious services of all types. String instruments are especially lovely during the more solemn occasions leading up to Christmas: Advent services, Lessons & Carols services, or Midnight Mass.

1.) "Caroling" at a local hospital

The cold wintry weather is not friendly to string instruments, so opt for sharing your musical gifts with others indoors. This is one of my personal favorite Christmas memories: During my high school years, a friend and I would get together on Christmas Day, learn melody and harmony to our favorite Christmas carols, and stroll through the hallways of our local hospital for an hour or two. The families and staff at the hospital on Christmas were always so very appreciative of the music. The feelings of Christmas goodwill and warmth were present in everyone we met.

Here's hoping you're able to share your musical gifts with the world this holiday season!

In Memoriam: Ed Johonnott

Recently,  I was deeply saddened to learn that music world lost a great man. My longtime violin teacher and mentor, Mr. Edwin Johonnott, passed away in October. He was a former first violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra, a violin professor at George Mason University and a former violin professor at the University of Mary Washington. He was an equally accomplished teacher and performer, as well as an amazing mentor and a wonderful person. I was fortunate to have studied with Mr. J. throughout high school and during my undergraduate years at Mary Washington. One of the things I really enjoyed about him as a teacher was that he truly knew when to push his students and when to hold back. He was kind and patient, but expected a great deal from his students, which can be a tough line to walk from a teachers' perspective. He knew when to make a joke with a student, and when to be serious. He advocated for his students to make sure they were receiving the best possible learning experiences. In short, I try to model many of my own teaching practices after the experiences I gained in my lessons with him. Mr. J touched many lives, and I know this loss was felt across the music world.

Buyers Beware!!

As the kids begin to head back to school this week and next week, they also may be expressing an interest in taking part in their school strings program. In turn, parents will be visiting their local music stores or attempting to find instruments online to purchase. So, perhaps you're thinking of heading to Ebay or the like to get a nice deal on an instrument for you or your child. ($25.00 or $50.00 violin, anyone?) A word of caution! There are plenty of "violins" available online which should hardly be referred to as such. These instruments may be poorly constructed or could be damaged (cracked, etc.).

One issue with many of this online-purchased instruments is that the pegs are usually poorly fitted in the peg holes and can easily take 15 minutes to tune. And then they go out of tune again 5 minutes later. You can imagine how much I get done in a 30 minute violin lesson when half the time is spent just tuning the instrument! And, you or your child will be unlikely to learn to play in tune properly if the instrument itself won't stay in tune!

Second, the overall sound of these instruments can be quite poor. It can be difficult for beginners to produce a good tone on even a good instrument, so you can imagine the challenges of a cheap violin! You'll be more likely to want to stick out those tough few months of string playing if you're playing on a quality instrument.

I'm definitely not suggested that parents rush out and spend a bundle on a violin or viola. However, I recommend sticking to reputable brick-and-mortar music stores or the outstanding online music store, sharmusic.com. Many music stores offer rent-to-own options for student instruments, where you can trade the violins in for new sizes as your child grows. Take care when looking for instruments online and know that in many cases (unfortunately) you're likely to get what you pay for.

School Orchestra

Since the school year will be starting up again, I wanted to offer a bit of information regarding how school programs and private lessons can go hand-in-hand. School-offered strings classes are a GREAT opportunity for kids to try out a new instrument and experience the performing arts! The school districts in the Northern Virginia area have particularly good strings programs. The school string teachers around here are excellent and enthusiastic about music and education.

However, it's helpful for students to have private lessons along with their school classes. As a private string teacher, one-on-one instruction gives me the chance to focus on each student as an individual. I can pinpoint specific areas (such as the bow-hold, vibrato, or shifting) where a student may need help and provide them with exercises or advice to improve. In addition, many students may struggle with learning new music in a group setting and benefit from some one-on-one time going over the music in their lesson.

School programs provide a great starting-off point for students interested in learning a string instrument. Adding private lessons to your child's musical instruction can provide the boost they need to excel, and offer an outlet to work on challenging music and improve his or her technique.

What Can Mom or Dad Do?

Since so many of my students are school-age children, I'd like to spend a little time on the teacher-student-parent relationship in music lessons. Particularly for elementary and middle school students, the parent plays a crucial role in helping their child to learn an instrument. As a teacher, I need the parent to be interested and somewhat involved in what the child is learning. After all, I only see the student for 30 minutes or an hour per week. It actually helps if the parent can squeeze in a bit of time to sit in the room with the child at home during a practice session and listen to the student, even if you have little or no musical training yourself! Students tend to work a little harder if they know someone is listening.

In addition to spending some time listening in on the practice sessions, it's also very helpful for parents to remind and encourage their children to practice. Unfortunately, not many kids will voluntarily skip over to their instrument cases after completing their homework in the evenings. They might need a gentle push to practice (more on this in a later post). This is where an encouraging parent can be a real gold-mine in terms of a student's progress.

So, parents, you are a key player in helping your child succeed on their instrument. Support, encourage, ask questions. Do whatever you can to let your child know that you're interested in their progress, and  you're listening!

The Dreaded Metronome

I'm sure everyone who has played music has experienced this: You're working your way through a new piece of music. You struggle to stay in the key signature, trying to remember the correct articulations and fingerings. Meanwhile, you may be completely disregarding the rhythm, thinking: "Ah, I'll get to that later." Occasionally my students will admit to me that they're not counting. And I have not-so-fond memories of myself as a young student learning a piece, merely "guestimating" the rhythm. Eek! Stop! Put down your instrument.

Times like these are a perfect opportunity to pull out the metronome. Turn it on, setting it on a nice slow tempo. Set it at half the normal tempo, if you need to. Sometimes it helps to set the instrument aside and simply clap out the rhythm of the music with the metronome on. Try speaking the rhythm (i.e. "1-e-and-a 2-and...), and make sure you know exactly how long or short each note is.

Any basic metronome will work. Most run around $20-30. If you can afford it, the Dr. Beat (DB-90) is the current grandfather of all metronomes -- it actually counts out loud for you in a human-sounding voice. If you happen to practice near a computer (and it has nice loud speakers), you can use an online metronome.

A lot of the time, students who only play music by themselves tend to let their rhythm and counting go by the wayside. That makes it extra-difficult when you attempt to play in an ensemble or with an accompanist! Spend some time with the metronome. It may be frustrating at first, but you (and your teacher) will be glad you did.

Playing By Heart

Memorizing music is an important aspect of learning any musical instrument. While I personally don't require students to memorize every single piece they learn, I do feel that memorization skills are necessary for any aspiring musician.  Everyone who plays music should have some solos in their memory vault that they can pull out at a moment's notice - we don't want to go through our performance careers tethered to sheet music. Teaching students exactly how to memorize can be challenging, as each person learns in a unique way. Shadow practicing is one way to rehearse the music from memory without your instrument. Martha Beth Lewis provides some excellent tips on memorizing music as well. (Although written for pianists, the techniques can easily be applied to string players!)

Again, everyone learns differently, so it's important for individuals to figure out what methods work best for them.  Also, it's never too soon to begin memorizing music. It's easiest to practice these techniques on simpler pieces first rather than pulling them out when tackling your first concerto.

These are a few of my favorite strings.

Over my 20-plus years of string playing, I have had the opportunity to try quite a few different varieties of violin strings, and have found that some are better (much better) than others. Violinist.com offers an excellent breakdown on types of strings. As the article mentions, string preferences can vary by player and instrument, so it's really best to try out some different types on your own. From my experience, my personal favorites are...(drum roll)...Evah Pirazzi strings. Usually coming in at about $70.00 per set,  they're a bit expensive, yes. But I've found them to have an unusually rich sound that really improves the tone of my instrument.  The only downside is that the beautifully rich sound does not last forever, and they can begin to sound dull after a few months. For students or intermediate players, I find that Dominant strings have a nice warm sound, are durable, and are fairly reasonably priced.

While it can be fun to experiment with different varieties of strings, it's important to remember that quality, mindful practice is the surest way to a beautiful sound. Lovely-sounding strings are just the icing on the cake.

The Importance of Ensemble Playing

I sometimes hear that students who are participating solely in private instrumental lessons will become bored and disinterested.  Admittedly, playing music all by yourself can occasionally become lonely, and, let’s face it – boring. I encourage all of my students to become involved in some ensemble music-making, whether it’s in school, in an Area Orchestra, a youth orchestra program, or a little chamber music! Some  excellent local youth orchestra programs I recommend are the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras, Youth Orchestras of Prince William, or The Youth Orchestras of Fairfax.

Ensembles give students a chance to improve all aspects of their playing, including rhythm, intonation, and sight-reading. It’s a great way for students to meet peers with similar interests and enjoy a whole new aspect of learning an instrument. Music isn’t just about playing in one’s own practice bubble – it’s about listening, communicating, and interacting with others via your instrument.

Top 5 Favorite Summer Music Programs

As a student, I was personally quite fortunate to attend some amazing summer music camps. They spanned from small-scale, rustic operations to international festivals, and all of them offered unforgettable musical and social experiences. I recommend these whole-heartedly to my students as a means of improving technique, expanding musical knowledge, and meeting other like-minded folks. They can become expensive (thanks Mom and Dad!), so some programs offer financial aid or work-study programs – they are well worth the cost! The following are five of my favorite programs – including some that have received rave reviews from some of my colleagues. 5. Shenandoah Performing Arts Camp, Winchester, Virginia

4. Point CounterPoint Chamber Music Camp, Leicester, Vermont

3. Killington Music Festival, Killington, Vermont

2. Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Boston, Massachusetts

1. Brevard Music Festival, Brevard, North Carolina