General Information

GETTING STARTED


Learning the violin is a major commitment for the Suzuki child and parent. Practicing is something that the child must incorporate into his or her daily routine, just like eating, homework or bathing. Dr. Suzuki used to say "Only practice on the days you eat." 
Violin skills must be practiced regularly so that the muscles can be trained in order to develop "muscle memory". We are like athletes; we must condition daily or else we lose what we gained that week and have to start all over.
It requires time, discipline, motivation and the proper mindset to be a Suzuki™ parent and student. Students of the Violin Artistry studio are expected to maintain a regular practice schedule. Serious inquiries only please.

Parent Education

Parents play a very important role in the child's music education, especially when the child is young. Dr. Suzuki believed that music instruction forms a triangle between the student, parent and teacher. If one is off-balance - either from lack of communication, support, etc. - the triangle is no longer stable.

At home, the parent is the "home teacher." He or she must play an active role as the helper while maintaining a nurturing environment for the child. I thus require parents of young students to read the following books to better understand the philosophy of the Suzuki Method and to know HOW to practice effectively with the child. It is essential that the parent/guardian also follow and comprehend what is going on in lessons, which is why I absolutely require note-taking. If you want your child to succeed, then you must also do your homework and understand what your child is going through. Feel free to videotape, tape record or take photos if it helps you remember.

Please read the following two books before your child begins lessons:

 Nurtured by Love: The Classic Approach to Talent Education by Shinichi Suzuki  
Nurtured by Love (Kindle e-Book version)

 Ability Development from Age Zero by Shinichi Suzuki
Ability Development from Age Zero (Kindle e-Book version)


Please visit the Recommended Books page for other great titles.


Books & CD

For the first several lessons I do not use any textbooks; we learn about the violin parts, maintenance, the Suzuki philosophy, posture and basic violin technique. It will be a while before students get to play their first real piece. Until then, we just learn how to make sound out of the instrument with good tone. Young students will not use a real instrument but rather a make-shift foam cut-out instrument for training until they are ready to use the real one.
I require students to listen to the CD everyday.



For the Young Beginner (age 3-6)


Every child is different, so while one 3 yr old may be ready to start, another 3 year old is not, and I cannot base it on age. Age is just a number. Many teachers follow these minimum guidelines:

In some circumstances, I will agree to teach a 2 year old if they seem ready. I require that your child have an attention span of at least 10-15 minutes in a lesson and meet the above requirements but we will do a 30-minute lesson. Most of the time is used to educate the parent on how to practice with the child at home. Some parents take private lessons concurrently. 

I highly recommend enrolling in Kindermusik™ or Music Together© for young children, classes available for ages newborn, toddler up to age 7. Both programs are offered here in Honolulu.

Purchase the Suzuki™ Violin CD Volume 1, as well other other classical violin CDs, and even other volumes of the Suzuki Violin CDs if you like. It is essential that your child get used to hear the good tone of the insturment. Listen to the CD actively (with the intent to listen) and passively (in the background, while doing other things).

Purchase the FOAM violin. I require all young students to start out with a foam violin (see "Foam-A-Lin" ™ below) and fake wooden bow for the beginning stages of violin lessons. Children tend to drop, throw and bend the fake violin. They like to believe that the bow is a sword or a cane so we have to make sure they also respect their "fake" instrument so that they don't do this sort of thing when they get the real thing. I do not use a real violin until they are ready.

You can purchase everything you need for violin lessons in one place now, at a new website called www.TwinkleMat.com --- just purchase the "Starter Kit". The starter kit contains everything your child needs for their first class. The items in bold are what I require for lessons, other items are optional.

A Twinkle Mat™ (in their size, opt for smaller size) -- I do use this in my studio room.
A Foam-a-lin™ & Bow (in their size)
Suzuki Violin Book 1 and CD
Nurtured by Love by S. Suzuki
A Complimentary set of Which Hand?™ Temporary Tattoos
My First 100 Days Practice Chart (with stickers)  and Completion Award Certificate
All contained in a lightweight carry case with customizable cover sticker. 

For the Foam-a-lin™ sizing: If your child is age 2-4, get the 1/32 size. If age 4-5, get the 1/16 size. If age 5-6 get the 1/10, If age 7-8, get the 1/8, and if age 8 and up get 1/4. Please understand that every child is different in size so this is just an estimate, but it is always best to go smaller if you are not sure.
The TwinkleMat™ is only used as a guide for proper posture, made with durable yoga-mat material. I teach it the feet positioning a little differently than how the mat indicates, but I still find it useful for students and for proper posture.

You may purchase each item in the Starter Kit separately or locally if you can find it, but I will require every young student to own the required items (at least the foam violin and CD) for their first lesson. You may also find these required items at http://www.ymonline.com or at http://sharmusic.com . Please also check the Required Materials for Lessons Page for additional notes.

A more detailed explanations on the training violins: the  Foam Violin or Cardboard Box Violin. I personally like the foam violin better, since they come in different sizes and don't break/tear like the cardboard one. The cardboard is fun because you can fill it with candy or a toy before you put it together, and when they "graduate" to their real instrument, they get to open the cardboard box to find their prize!

Another idea for a training violin is to make it yourself: take a crackerjack box, tissue box or mini-size cereal box with the food still inside, tape a ruler to it and then wrap 4 large rubber around it for strings. You can get a dowel stick from Home-Depot (and cut it so that it's about the child's arm's length). When the child is ready to move up to the real violin, he or she can open up the crackerjacks or cereal box and eat it as a treat.