American Suzuki Journal 39.4

by Christie Felsing, Linda Perry

The SAA would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Carolyn McCall for her many years of service to the organization and Suzuki community at large. Read more ▶

Human Interest, Viola
ASJ 39.4, page 19

by Carolyn McCall Catalano

For thirty-four years, I spent hours each day teaching children to play the violin. The violin lessons were more than music; we worked with one another’s spirits. Read more ▶

Human Interest
ASJ 39.4, page 21

by Libby Felts

Growing up in the rural Kithoka community in central Kenya, Bishop Lawi Imathiu didn’t have the opportunity to go to high school. Until 2005, when the bishop founded the Bishop Lawi Imathiu Secondary School, a step in fulfilling the bishop’s vision of bringing education back home in Kenya. Read more ▶

Africa, Human Interest, Kenya, Outreach
ASJ 39.4, page 32

by Mark George

Board, Chairs Message, Parents, Suzuki Advocacy, Teacher Development
ASJ 39.4, page 2

by Kelly Williamson

I made sure all my students had specific goals to work on during the week I would be away, and as part of their practice projects, I gave them a questionnaire on the subject. Read more ▶

Flute, Practicing, Students
ASJ 39.4, page 15

by Jeremy Chesman

I remember growing up as a young pianist always being fascinated by the gigantic pipe organ in my church. The pipes that were taller than a house always impressed me, and the many keyboards and buttons on the console intrigued me. Read more ▶

Organ
ASJ 39.4, page 17

by Diana Galindo, Heather Watson Hardie, Jane Kutscher Reed, Jessica Meyer Foskitt, Alicia Randisi-Hooker

This new column features a variety of brief tips for Suzuki teachers. Read more ▶

Grace Notes, Performance, Practicing, Suzuki, Teachers, Teens, Tips, Tone
ASJ 39.4, page 24

by Benjamin Hunter Wyatt

We’re all on the lookout for good ideas to use in practice. I discovered the idea of using counting beads a short while back from the incomparable Carey Beth Hockett on her website. Read more ▶

Practicing, Review
ASJ 39.4, page 49

by Merry Bing Pruitt

For some teachers and musicians, money can be a sensitive subject that was never discussed when we took pedagogy classes in college. Many of us went to college back in the times when few musicians ever took a business course of any kind. Following are some basic ideas that might help teachers amend sensitive financial issues in the studio. Read more ▶

Business of Teaching, Studios and Programs
ASJ 39.4, page 56

by Carolyn McCall Catalano

Listen regularly to the type of music your child is studying. Include recordings of pieces on upcoming concerts. Attend concerts to learn standard concert behavior. Seek out free concerts with open seating, at least at first. Sit quietly in the back.… Read more ▶

Performance
ASJ 39.4, page 57

by Jessica Jenkins Davis

Positivity is a fundamental of the Suzuki philosophy of education, and it is believed to be part of the success of the approach. Recent discoveries made by positive psychologists confirm that Suzuki’s philosophies on education are not only effective, but they encompass the ideals of this innovative movement taking place in the field of psychology. Read more ▶

Suzuki Philosophy
ASJ 39.4, page 58

by Justin Craig

During the most recent Virginia Suzuki Institute I was lucky enough to hang out all week with Teacher Trainer Bill Kossler and guitar instructor Fred McKinney. After the long days of teaching and observation, we had some great brainstorms on a variety of Twinkles we use to teach different skills. We even came up with some new ones. Read more ▶

Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5, Books, Guitar, Pedagogy
ASJ 39.4, page 62

by Elizabeth Guerriero

For the past few years, I have been informally experimenting with the use of video recording technology in the Suzuki private lesson setting. Read more ▶

Practicing, Technology, Video
ASJ 39.4, page 64

by MaryLou Roberts

There are many ways to involve parents in the Suzuki experience—the first step is to help get them interested and involved. Read more ▶

Ideas, Parents
ASJ 39.4, page 65

by Michelle Chinn Cannon

With great vigilance, families affected by autism search for places in the community where they may find acceptance and support. Read more ▶

Autism, Special Needs, Students, Suzuki Philosophy, Teaching
ASJ 39.4, page 66

by Luke Piscitelli

Sweat slowly slithered down my torso. Years of performing experience has taught me the art of maintaining a constant outward calm (even in the most stressful situations), but this trickle of sweat now revealed my true emotions. Read more ▶

Inspiration, Performance, Student Perspectives, Violin
ASJ 39.4, page 25

by Nancy Reynolds

I am an adult violin student studying at the Suzuki Institute of Boston. Since I started taking lessons, I have dutifully reviewed pieces because it is expected as part of the Suzuki Method. Now I think I know why. Read more ▶

Review, Student Perspectives, Violin
ASJ 39.4, page 31

by Leslie Mizrahi

Practicum Un gran medio para afilar tus herramientas de enseñanza. Con comentarios de Etna Diemecke y Fabiola Sigala Este extraordinario taller nos ha llevado a apreciar aún más el arte de enseñar. Este arte involucra el instrumento, la música, el alumno y los padres… Read more ▶

Espanol, Harp, Latin America, Piano, SAA Practicum Unit, Teacher Training, Teaching, Teaching Tools
ASJ 39.4, page 72

by Joanne Martin

When I arrived at St. Joseph’s National School in the north of Dublin, Ireland, early one morning about five years ago, I had very little idea what to expect. Dorothy Conaghan, whom I had met a few years earlier while… Read more ▶

Ireland, School
ASJ 39.4, page 27

by Jentry Barrett

The title of Kay Collier Sloan’s fantastic book They’re Rarely Too Young and Never Too Old to Twinkle was put to the test in January 2009. I was working as an administrative assistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of… Read more ▶

Human Interest, Teaching Adults, Violin
ASJ 39.4, page 30

by Kennedy Munn

If my violin could speak it would say, “My Kennedy you make lovely music when you focus and play. When my strings are in tune with rosin on my bow, I’m ready to perform with you at your recital show. Please be gentle and try not to… Read more ▶

Poetry, Students, Suzuki Student Writing Contest, Violin
ASJ 39.4, page 69

by Nicky Williams

When someone asks me what is in my instrument case, they would think I would say my violin, but I answer, something I love to do. Read more ▶

Students, Suzuki Student Writing Contest
ASJ 39.4, page 69

by Ellis Miskell

It was late when I got home, and I knew I would stay up late trying to finish my mountains of homework. But, if I could redo the events of that evening, choose a different path that would have allowed me to get home earlier, and complete my work by eight o’clock, I wouldn’t. Read more ▶

Students, Suzuki Student Writing Contest
ASJ 39.4, page 70

by Sara Kuhns

It is dusty. There is a strong smell of pine coming from the rosin lying next to me. My velvet blanket covers me as I wait for my owner to take me out of this dark, musty coffin. Read more ▶

Students, Suzuki Student Writing Contest, Violin
ASJ 39.4, page 71

by Marilyn Kesler

Meet newly-appointed SAA Board of Directors Chair-elect Marilyn Kesler. Kesler begins her two-year term as chair-elect on August 1, after which she will become board chair. Read more ▶

Board, Cello, Interview, Teachers
ASJ 39.4, page 14

by Susan Baer, Sally Gross, Gail Lange, Deborah Moench, Patricia Purcell, MaryLou Roberts

S—T—R—E—T—C—H It’s been a long time coming. I hadn’t even considered the possibility that I might be one until relatively recently. And to actually take on the role and don the mantel, to embrace the responsibility was like diving into the… Read more ▶

Leadership, Leadership Retreat 2011
ASJ 39.4, page 42