August 2009

Guilty pleasures

August 5, 2009 17:51

Today I felt like a kid in a candy store.

I went online to Shar to estimate how much new strings will cost for my violin and viola, and got delightfully side-tracked in no time. It all started with rosin. Of course, I dropped my rosin a few weeks ago (doesn't that always happen? I swear I've lost more rosin to death by shattering than anything else). I've been managing to use the shards, but I wanted to order a new cake with my strings. Well, I noticed the cute little mini-rosins, and the first thing I thought was how perfect they'd be for my students. The music store I teach at hasn't been stocking rosin lately (very sad) so it would be nice if I just kept my own on hand for students. Well, then I wondered what other goodies Shar might have for my studio. Real fingerboard tapes, for one, would be a welcome luxury. Though actually, at 2-3 bucks, they're not such a luxury after all. I've been cutting up labels lately to use for fingering tapes, but they tend to wear out or get dirty too fast.

Rosin, check; tapes, check. What else do we have here? Continuing to browse the teaching aids section, I find what looks like an awesome resource called "I Love to Practice!" (Now isn't that a title that warms a teacher's heart?) It's a collection of games that correspond with the Suzuki books. I could really use something like this to supplement my teaching plan for beginners. And why not get a book on the Suzuki Approach to deepen my knowledge while I'm at it? And look, one of those cute cardboard box violins like the one I started out on! Oh so tempting.

Sigh. But reality sets in and I must sort the needs from the wants. I need strings and a folding stand, which comes to about $180 (eek!). I guess I'll just have to finish my other expenses for this semester and check back. Hey, at least these studio splurges are tax-deductable, right? So I tell myself to lessen the guilt . . . ;-)

P.S. A little update on my last blog: several of the local school music teachers responded positively to my emails, and one even invited me to come in and give a few masterclasses/sectionals! And I have 3 wedding gigs lined this month. It's encouraging to see my summer efforts paying off.

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August 2009

Guilty pleasures

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