Hello violin teacher friends! I am writing this as I sit in my studio courtyard and drink in the last few rays of Saturday sunshine and enjoy the breeze. I hope everyone has had (or will soon be having) a restful spring break. Spring break and the Easter holiday both landed in March for me this year, so I am excited to power through the rest of April in the studio with lots of recital prep.
Speaking of recitals, the first recital of our season is tomorrow. Our local music teacher association hosts an annual Duet Jubilee. This year’s theme is Hollywood and I’ll be playing Mia and Sebastian’s Theme from La La Land with one of my middle school violin students. Then on the 21st of this month will be our association’s spring recital. Each member teacher can enter five students, and I have my senior violin student preparing Bohm’s Sarabande in G minor, as well as a high school violist preparing the Beethoven Minuet in G from Suzuki Book 2. My other entries will be singers and a pianist. I’ll be accompanying all my students this time around, so in addition to my 100 days of violin practice goal (I’m on day 67!) I’m trying to get plenty of piano practice time in as well.
My own studio recital will be in mid-May, spread out over three afternoons. It’s an open mic style recital hosted at a karaoke place a few blocks from my studio. My students will perform before the regular business hours for parents and friends. I’m excited to have them play on a stage with lights and a sound system. Most students chose their favorite songs, so among my violinists, we’re preparing sea shanties, Howl’s Moving Castle, Remember Me from Coco, and a violin cover of Good Day by SZA. My youngest violinists will show off what they’ve learned from their Wee Violin and String Sprout books this semester.
Speaking of my youngest violinists, my two tiniest pre-twinklers have needed lots of extra reinforcement on basic skills. They are each in a 20-20-20 lesson with their older siblings. We spend 20 minutes one-on-one, 20 minutes in lab time on iPad apps (we’ve been using Rhythmic Village) and 20 minutes on “theory” work, which for us has been music alphabet and finger number practice. I created these worksheets to help reinforce finger numbers, plus help them with their tracing, literacy, and math skills.
If you like this free preview, the full version of my Finger Number Workbook for Strings is available now in my TPT Store. Twelve printer-friendly pages can be:
printed as a booklet or individually
laminated or used in erasable pockets
screen shared for online lessons
used on a PDF editor on a tablet
Use during lessons, as homework, or in centers.
If you enjoy using this with your students, please let me know! Leave me a review on my TPT Store, tag me on Instagram @twinklemintstudio, or drop a comment below.