Comments

What wonderful inspiration you got there! I wish that I had more bright ideas like that when I'm teaching. It comes, I guess :) with proper training and experience. I commend you Laurie (perhaps we have met before? we both live in Pasadena... do you also know Julie Bamberger?) Being able to mimic what a student is doing is one of the crucial skills for a teacher. The best year I ever had as a student was with a fantastic teacher in Paris named Rene Benedetti who had the gift of being able to mimic everything I did incorrectly and then show me how to do it correctly. I progressed much more quickly and my old teacher was amazed at my progress when I returned from Paris. with children that young, stick to one objective per lesson (or 2, max.) You say you gave her a long list of directives that fell on deaf ears. Maybe you were giving too much information at once. Kids like to play through pieces without stopping and fixing. I would isolate the problems, like intonation and tone, and think of exercizes that are related to the piece but not in the piece. This will allow the girl to correct the problem and then apply it to the piece.

Another suggestion: play along with her. Kids often don't know what a violin sounds like when played properly. She is an auditory learner and will hear the dissonance when she plays out-of-tune.

You may also want to consider a grading systme for posture, tone, intonation, etc. Have her achieve a passing grade on all of these aspects before moving on to the next piece.

I may be talking out of turn here since I am not a teacher and am a beginner, but I am a psychologist and work with children. A thought that came to my mind as I was reading your wonderful description, is to have you play an entire peice out of tune and have the child teach you. It may be alittle over her head, it's hard to tell from your post how "old" a 5 year old she is, but I love doing things like that in working with children. A playful mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Peter Lynch

I love your quick and flexible mind, Laurie. You've already inspired me to strange uses for beanbag teddy bears and a stuffed Easter rabbit who hopped by one day and said he had a role to play in practising as well. I'm a squirrely adult, and have had the thought that words often get in the way, and the same concept taught over and over again int he same way is useless. Children are physical beings, and you tapped into that wonderfully. I have a feeling that this child is too quick to wait for a chain of words. I love this episode and grin happily from ear to ear whenever I read it. She sounds absolutely delightful. Isn't playfulness the best way to learn to play, rather than our adult grim determination? I didn't realize anyone had commented! Yes, I do have fun with this student, she is extremely quick to learn the notes. It's quite amazing. It's just up to me to fill in a few details so we don't get started on bad habits..

Jenni, yes of course I know Julie Bamberger! She is an excellent teacher and friend. Is she your teacher, or is someone else?