The first piece many violin students learn is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and its variations, from Suzuki Book 1. However, it is usually not learned in the first lesson! There is much prep work that goes into building good violin and bow holds and learning the necessary skills to tackle Twinkle.
If you weren’t trained in the Suzuki methodology, it can be daunting to try and figure out how to get a student to the point where they are ready to play Twinkle. Many teachers have a treasure trove of Pre-Twinkle games, songs, poems, and simple pieces to prepare students for Twinkle. Two of the most popular are the Flower and Monkey Songs.
These two simple pieces are taught by rote and teach students how to use their fingers on the fingerboard of the instrument, how to change the bow from one string to another, and the names of the notes they will need to play Twinkle. Even if you don’t use the Suzuki method, they are a great way to teach these important skills.
If you teach orchestra or group string classes, I highly recommend Mastery for Strings by William Dick and Laurie Scott. It helps bridge the gap left by many method books when it comes to teaching string technique and gives you a great first-year curriculum guide to make sure your students know what they will need to be able to play beginning-level orchestra repertoire. I use it in my studio to guide my beginning students and fill in any learning gaps in my transfer students or students who began playing their instruments in a school program.
The Flower and Monkey Songs are Masteries #9 and #10 in Mastery for Strings and are the first “real” songs most of my beginners learn. To help them remember the notes and to facilitate home practice, I created these songs sheets that you can download for free by clicking on the images below.
To play the songs, students should play the first twinkle rhythm (taka taka stop stop, or four sixteenth notes followed by two eighth notes) for each note. The lyrics follow the rhythm. The Flower Song uses open A and E strings and F# on the E string, and The Monkey Songs marches up the A string from open A to third-finger D.
What are your favorite Pre Twinkle pieces and games? Continue the conversation in the comments or chime in on social media.