• Evesdropping and Learning
• Suzuki Winter Retreat at Madison's Inn on the Park

Evesdropping and Learning
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by Karen Zethmayr

As a storyteller, I can say with confidence that most tellers learn their art on the sly, hiding behind doors in stocking feet.

What are you most ready to believe: the ad crafted for your ears, or the statement recorded secretly behind closed boardroom doors? Kids instinctively know there's a difference, and from childhood, our sniffers are tuned to the unguarded, candid moment.

How can this instinct work for your child's benefit or disadvantage?

Let's eliminate the disadvantage first: know their ears are always ready to overhear, however eternally active your children appear. You can take care that they overhear the most positive and hopeful predictions you can honestly make for each child.

I recall a well meaning relative who dropped a trail of predictions when the three of us were in earshot: "she's the creative one." (what about me? Wasn't my picture cool enough?) "He'll be a scientist some day; he's the one who really gets to the heart of the matter." (What about me? Should I reconsider taking physics? "He's the one who really hears what others say." (What about me, should I give up "being a good listener" as they keep preaching to me?)

Positive statments are good, with two caveats: they should be honest, and they should refrain from comparing children."I'm impressed," can be as encouraging as "you're the best." The difference is subtle but powerful.

If you think you've been (gasp) guilty of such missteps, remember that today can start at any time, and each day you can become a better editor of your "off camera" statements.

Make the best of evesdropping mode: get caught having fun doing it yourself

Suzuki parents in the first 6 months spend time with the instrument themselves, even if they're pros. (Professionals need to remember how each operation breaks down into its components.) Doing is worth 1000 sermons. If you spend 10 minutes practicing a 2- or 3-step bow maneuver twenty times in a row, many messages can come through to the "otherwise occupied" child:

1. This maneuver is so important that a grownup is willing to spend time on that alone, without even playing a whole piece.

2. Mom/Dad can have fun getting excited when they finally get it and can do it 5 times in a row. Try going into sports announcer mode when you do this: "and the bow comes to a dead stop, RIGHT ON THE STRING, and the crowd goes wild." Well... maybe not that rowdy, depends on the kid and your comfort level with sillines: be yourself.

3. playing a whole piece is not the only way to practice.

4. Mom/Dad gets it that this thing I can't do perfectly the first time is hard and commands respect. Maybe they're not just pretending to be amazed when I get it right.

When you retreat to your private corner to do these things by yourself for a short time (almost, but not quite out of earshot) your messages can be more powerful than they would be when delivered to a child obediently sitting in what we traditionally label "listening mode."

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Suzuki Workshop Jan 9-11

The 2009 SAW (Suzuki Association of Wisconsin) Retreat
begins with a festive play-in at 5 on Friday the 9th
at the Inn on the Park on the Square, Madison Wisconsin,
and culminates at Sunday noon with a public concert
in the Capitol Rotunda (Updated Nov 07.)

You can still register although the discount deadline has passed.

Other Suzuki resources on Grandma's Kite:

Pencil exercises, set one for bow hold
Pencil exercises, set two for bow hold
One Little Elephant (left finger strength and flexibility)
Four Little Elephants Jumping on a Web (left finger naming, strength and flexibility)
Left hand number card "pick up" game
"Home built" violins and ways to use them in group sessions
Reading readiness game "Who Ran Away?"
Reading readiness game "Rhythm Flash "
"Reading Readiness in Music"

Supplementary Music and Midis

Twinkle Rag – a twinkle variation with a new twist on half of the rhythm in Variations A and D. Same four sixteenth notes in a ragtime setting

Daisy Daisy uses a three four twist on "Mississippi without the hot dog." The whole accompaniment is open D and G. The song and bass line can be played as a violin / 'cello duet or on the piano.

For more information on the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center Suzuki program, see Monroe Street Fine Arts Center, http://www.msfac.org/ or email grandma@grandmaskite.com.

For more information on Middleton School of Performing Arts, see http://msopa.net or email grandma@grandmaskite.com.

 

 

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Suzuki is
Hands On
Education

•Parent Letter Topics
Bow hold:
•Pencil exercises I
•Pencil exercises II
Left hand strength and flexibility:
•1 Little Elephant
•4 Little Elephants Jumping on a Web
• Smallmotor "pick up" game
Position in Motion:
•"Home built" violins with activities
Reading readiness:
"Who Ran Away?"
"Twinkle Rhythm Flash Cards"
Supplementary Music and Midis
Twinkle Rag
Daisy Daisy
Daisy sheet music

Email Karen Zethmayr grandma@grandmaskite.com • Teaching Resume • Design Resume