by Thomas Schoen - Edmonton, Alberta The Schoen Duo Studio celebrated Bach in the Subways on March 23, 2019. There is no subway station in our neighbourhood, but there is a new LRT station under construction! TransEd gave us permission to play some Bach on the actual construction site. Here is Thomas and a group of his students serenading the construction workers. After a minuet or two, we moved into the Bonnie Doon shopping mall where we were joined by Kathleen Schoen’s flute and recorder students and cello students of Janet Dougan for a flashmob and more music at the LRT presentation centre.
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by Kathleen Schoen - Edmonton, Alberta
Borealis Suzuki Winds Institute will be hosting Creative Ability Development (CAD) Teacher Training with Alice Kanack, August 19—23, 2019, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alice is the author of the Fun Improvisation books for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Improvising String Quartets, Musical Improvisation for Children, and Baselines & Fantasies. She is currently developing a new book in the series for young flute players. Her approach uses musical improvisation to develop full engagement in the creative process with students (and teachers!) of all ages and levels. Not only do the students enjoy her improvisation activities very much, but the freedom and ease that they develop through this work carries over into the standard repertoire. My students are now quite happy to improvise baroque ornamentation or a cadenza to a classical concerto. This CAD Teacher Training course is open to teachers of all instruments. Register at this link: https://suzuki-flute-recorder.ca/registration/teacher-registration-form/ by Merlin B. Thompson - Calgary, Alberta
Have you ever noticed that around the time your students are in Junior High School, they seem to reach a threshold in their music studies? After years of consistent progress throughout elementary school, they seem satisfied with their music studies and want to continue, yet they’re often content with just working on one piece even over very long periods of time. So, what are the options? Composition, improvisation, ensemble music? How about something that will amplify every one of your preteen/teen students’ relationships with music!! Beginning in January 2018, I decided to respond to the Preteen/Teen Threshold by doing something completely new – engaging my preteen/teen students in examining their own Everyday Musical Connections through a Project-Based Learning approach. Everyday Musical Connections (EMC) is the descriptor I use to capture the breadth and depth of every person’s unique relation with music. At times, music is a companion, diversion, interruption, refuge, catalyst, and reminder. Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an established educational approach widely used in classroom settings. PBL is all about organizing learning experiences that prompt students’ active participation in their own learning, rather than giving students a series of facts to learn for an exam or tasks to master for a performance. Over the past year and a half, I have included EMC projects with impressive results for my preteen/teen students. Each week, we spend 5-6 minutes of our lesson time in fine-tuning their investigative process. Students present their finished projects at informal home concerts and formal public concerts. Parents are typically blown away by the insight and sophistication of students’ presentations. Thus far, students’ explorations have included analysis, video creation, audio presentations, PowerPoint, transcription, personal anecdotes, and live demonstration. The topics they choose are as varied as their own personalities. Everything from – what makes a good song good, to the evolution of the Batman musical theme, to how does music affect work habits. Comments from students after they finished their projects – “I learned that I know more about music than I thought.” “Now, when I need to make an analogy at school, I take examples from music.” “I loved working on something that actually belonged entirely to me.” I appreciate the way EMC explorations serve to amplify students’ own musical persona, to shine light on the depth of their relation with music, and highlight music as an important part of their lives. Students also exercise their disciplinary knowledge of music and strengthen the higher-order skills of critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, analysis, communication, and reflection. In a nutshell – using EMC projects is positively the most exciting and music-affirming activity I’ve ever employed with my preteen/teen students!! It’s completely transformed my studio! To find out more about Everyday Musical Connections and Project-Based Learning – please visit merlinthompson.com and click on Everyday Musical Connections (https://merlinthompson.com/project-based-learning/). by Mélanie Grenier - La Jacques-Cartier, Québec
In May 2018, 50 violinists and cellists from the Suzuki group, “Jeux d’archets”, experienced their first flash mob. Participants included beginners to very advanced students between the ages of 3 and 20. The idea of giving them such an experience comes from my philosophy of always seeking to provide my students with stimulating, varied and rich learning experiences. Having participated in a group of artists in my region, I realized there was great potential for a flash mob in a variety of locations, and that it would be a great way to integrate with the cultural and economic activities of the region. I started my efforts by asking my city for support. The regional county municipality of La Jacques-Cartier provided us with funding for two buses. We used the first bus all day for the older ones, and the other one in the morning for the younger ones and their parents. I spent a lot of time and effort preparing for the event. I had to contact all the schools, take note of the space and time restrictions, make an itinerary, contact everyone again, organize the logistics with the students and families, and choose the repertoire that would need to be played from memory. And we desperately hoped for a sunny day! We played at different places: a church square, an environmental fair, a grocery store, a golf course, a bakery, the grounds of an estate, a restaurant famous for brunch, a hotel, a park. At some locations, I separated the larger group into two or three smaller groups. The older students had some flexibility in their repertoire when they played without the younger ones in the afternoon. They were at their most energetic and enthusiastic, and could almost play without me by the end of the day! The people we surprised were moved, attentive and still wanted more… Almost all the merchants were accommodating and embarked on this wonderful adventure with great interest. The students, especially the older ones, had a blast! They liked it so much that they didn’t bother putting their instruments away between one place and the next. They played non-stop on the bus; somebody would start playing and the others would follow! They played through the entire Suzuki repertoire as well as other repertoire, such as Pachelbel’s Canon, Tzena and their group repertoire. All told about 6 hours of violin playing that day, and they didn’t want to stop! We broke up the day into two parts, with a stop at a picnic area. The parents had prepared a lunch, and we ate, had a rest, and relaxed by playing a friendly soccer game. What a great musical day for these Suzuki families! I am going to organize a second flash mob, which will take place on May 25, this time in the old quarter of Quebec City. We will prepare some very nice surprises for the public and for the students who will participate! To be continued! by Laurie Mitchell - Durham, Ontario There are advantages and disadvantages to living outside of a big city. Fewer opportunities without long drives is definitely a disadvantage, so the teachers east of Toronto have worked together to create an affordable summer program in our own neighborhood. The amount of learning that takes place (for students and teachers alike) in one week is amazing and that is partnered with long-lasting gains in motivation! http://www.durhammusiccamp.com The Suzuki String School of Guelph will be offering long-term teacher training at Wilfrid Laurier University again this coming school year. The offerings for 2019-20 are:
Violin Year 1: ECC and books 1 to 4 Teacher trainer: Elayne Ras Cello Year 1: ECC and books 1 to 4 Teacher trainer: David Evenchick Violin Year 2: books 5 to 8 and Practicum Teacher trainer: Paule Barsalou
For more information about the program visit: http://artset.net/sssg/program/program/teachertraining.html or contact: Paule Barsalou paule@artset.net or 519-836-3798 In January 2019, Alfred Publishing released a new publication specifically designed for Suzuki Piano students. Merlin B. Thompson created PLAY & READ to introduce Suzuki Piano students to the music reading process. PLAY & READ builds on Suzuki Piano students’ experience of playing their Volume 1 repertoire. Each of the six lessons in PLAY & READ is based on a Volume 1 selection. What’s remarkable about PLAY & READ is that students learn to “read by ear”. That means students know what each bar sounds like before they play it and they read in groups of notes rather than one note at a time, similar to the way reading words relies on reading groups of letters rather than one letter at a time. Students are encouraged to sing, say, and write throughout PLAY & READ as a way of getting them holistically involved in the reading process. PLAY & READ has received glowing support from Suzuki Piano teachers all across Canada. It is available directly through Alfred Publishing’s website and also through your local music dealer.
by Alexandra Lee - Nanaimo, British Columbia I had the enormous pleasure of doing my teacher training at the Chicago Suzuki Institute. There, the Suzuki community is thriving and constantly expanding. The number of Suzuki families at the CSI was staggering. It was an amazing experience to be able to see firsthand how successful a Suzuki community can be. After my training, I moved to British Columbia and I now teach cello at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music. Here, as in many communities outside of larger urban centres, the Suzuki programme is still quite modest. I often find myself acting as an “ambassador” for the Suzuki method—educating and advocating for the method and, in some cases, debunking myths. Many people in our community are still unfamiliar with the Suzuki method, so it’s no surprise that they are often unaware of the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music’s Suzuki programme. One of my goals since joining the faculty has been to give the Suzuki programme more visibility. I have started with an initiative I call “Suzuki Music at the Library”. (Since the other famous Dr. Suzuki—Dr. David Suzuki, famous for his work as an environmental conservationist—hails from British Columbia, I deliberately put “Suzuki Music at the Library” to avoid confusing local environmentalists!) Our event is a mixture of part-recital, part-lecture, and part-group class. Our students (violin, viola, cello, flute, and piano) have the opportunity to perform solos or ensemble pieces. In between performances, the Suzuki faculty give short talks about different aspects of the Suzuki method—philosophy, benefits, and practice. Most of all, “Suzuki Music At The Library” shows examples of group class games. The group class element to Suzuki is one of my favourites. It’s such a joyful way of learning together. The classic group class games such as “Pass The Note” or “Follow The Leader” are illuminating to the non-Suzuki audience members. I feel that by witnessing these children having fun with sophisticated musicianship skills, the public will have greater appreciation of the benefits of the Suzuki method. The response from existing Suzuki families about the new library programme has been lovely; they appreciate their child having new experiences and new opportunities to perform. The library staff rave about the public’s feedback and appreciation of live music in this communal space; seeing children enjoy and create music adds so much to the spirit of a community. I’m sure that every teacher has their own way of incorporating community visibility in their hometowns. My partnership with the Nanaimo Harbourfront Library has certainly been a huge success and I encourage you all to make music wherever you can. By Pierre Yves Gagnon - Oakville, Ontario
Earlier this year, Carmen Evans and Susan Beth Barak and I were discussing organizing a Viola Day to gather Ontarian violists in one place where they could enjoy the rich sound of their instrument together. We agreed that this year’s Suzuki Association of Ontario Conference in Etobicoke would be an ideal time to host such an event. Viola group lessons can be a challenge to organize. Outside of larger programs, there are often only a handful of violists within a school or a studio. As a result, they often have to join a cello or a violin group class, which can be awkward for them. Viola Day offers these isolated violists an opportunity to meet fellow violists and discover what their instrument truly sounds like. Our first Viola Day took place on Saturday, November 10 at Humber College in Etobicoke as part of the SAO Conference’s Student Day. Fifteen violists, ranging from Twinkles to Viola Book7 and beyond, attended this event. This number allowed the organizers to offer three different groups: a viola play-in, a Book1-3 session and a Book4 and up session. The conference orchestra was very pleased to have such a large influx of violists. We brought together such a large range of abilities by offering the participants a viola choir repertoire that could cater to the junior students while satisfying the advanced students. I arranged a few pieces that included open strings and easily played accompaniments for the pieces performed. Ensemble for Viola, Volumes1 and 2, provided duet parts to accompany the early Suzuki viola repertoire. On behalf of the Suzuki Viola community, we would like to thank the organizing committee of the SAO Conference2018, and in particular Margot Jewell, for having accommodated our event. This was an important step in promoting a collaborative community of violists in Ontario. We are planning to host another Viola Day at the next SAO Conference on November 2–3, 2019 in Guelph. By Jennifer Johnson —St. John’s, Newfoundland
author of What Every Violinist Needs to Know About the Body and Teaching Body Mapping to Children Musicians Move! There is a story about Jascha Heifetz being greeted backstage by an admiring fan after a performance. She gushed to him “Your violin makes such a beautiful sound!” Still holding his violin, Heifetz held it up to his ear and said “Funny, I don’t hear anything!” His point, of course, was that regardless of how wonderful a violin is, no sound will emerge from it at all until the player sets the strings vibrating, and that it’s ultimately the skilled movements of the player that make it sound beautiful or not. As a movement specialist for musicians, I love this story. As obvious as it may seem, some musicians miss the point that the skilled movements we perform in order to create sound is of the same category as that of dancers or other athletes. The vibrations that we call music can only be created through us moving our bodies. Furthermore, the quality of our movement will determine the quality of our sound. Body Mapping My research found that recent studies showed that as many as 75-90% of all professional musicians are regularly playing with some kind of pain, injury, or discomfort. To address this high rate of injury, Alexander Technique (AT) teacher Barbara Conable, founded and developed a method of teaching healthy movement through developing awareness of accurate anatomical information. For the last 30 years, professional musicians studying Body Mapping have recovered from injury by learning to move according to the true anatomical design of their bodies. Our world needs great beauty and artistry now, perhaps more than ever; we can’t afford to keep losing musicians to injury, especially when those injuries are preventable through putting good information into action! Suzuki Method and Body Mapping Because Suzuki teachers start children at such young ages, we have the unique opportunity to protect a young child’s natural-born movement patterns and prevent injury from ever happening! Suzuki was one of the world’s greatest pioneers in early childhood education; he helped to unlock human learning potential. Until his theories of Talent Education were shown to be universally successful, it was widely believed that some people were born talented and some were not. In scientific terms, Suzuki found a way to train the auditory cortex from a very early age, to prevent his young musicians from ever feeling limited in their talent. Teaching Body Mapping in the Suzuki studio is the next logical step in removing limitations from young musicians. Body Mapping provides a systematic way to train the motor cortex from a very early age so that young musicians never feel physically limited in their talent. By giving our students a firm understanding of how the body is anatomically designed to move, we can improve our students’ motor capabilities and prevent limitations and injury from developing. |