Saratoga Strings: August 2009

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Teacher's Notes for September

First of all, I loved our end of summer fiddle concert! You all did such a great job, and I had a great time playing the bass. Thanks for all of your hard work to make it such a fun concert!

This month, group lessons will be on Tuesday, September 8 and Wednesday, September 9 from 4:00-5:00. You can come either day, whichever one works best with your schedule. We will be working on music theory, start our fall recital group piece (Christmas music in September!) and do some posture work.

Keep going on your hundred days of practicing! We had a few start-overs, but I think that most of you will be able to make it by our November concert. What great practice habits we will all have!

There are four great orchestras in our area that are accepting students of all ability levels, and they are pretty reasonable, ranging from $20-$45 per month.

The Timpanogos Chamber Orchestra is for more advanced students, and it meets on Saturday mornings at Timpanogos High School (I think)
The Utah Valley Youth Orchestra meets in Spanish Fork, and accepts beginning students
The American Heritage Orchestras accepts students of all levels, and meets at the American Heritage School in American Fork on Saturday mornings. Their top orchestra plays at a college level and trains students for entrance into the BYU Philharmonic and the U of U Symphony Orchestra. The costs for their orchestras range from $20-$45 per month.
The Lehi Youth Chorus and Orchestra meets on Thursdays at the Lehi Arts Center and is only $25 per month.

Please let me know if you are interested in any of these, and I can get you more information. Orchestra is a great way to develop technical, note reading, and ensemble playing skills.

Pictures from the Fall Recital

Terry Durbin Workshop

There is an upcoming Suzuki sponsored workshop with Dr. Terry Durbin, a fantastic teacher and performer. I've attended a few of his classes at Institute, and he is hilarious, and a fabulous violinist. He is doing a masterclass workshop on Friday, November 20th at the American Heritage School. If you are interested, I think the fee is $35. Here is a link if you want to find out a little more about him: http://web.mac.com/timothydurbin/Site/Welcome.html

You have to pre-register for the masterclass, so let me know if you want to attend.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Calendar for Fall Quarter

September
Group Lessons: September 8 and 9, 4:00-5:00 pm*

October
Group Lessons: October 13 and 14, 4:00-5:00 pm*

November
Group Lessons: November 10 and 11, 4:00-5:00 pm*
Studio Recital: November 21, 10:00 am, at the Piano Gallery
No Lessons: November 23-27

*Note that Group Lesson days have been changed to Tuesday and Wednesday, to fit better with the school holiday calendar.

My Studio Policies

Tuition
Your tuition reserves you a weekly time slot and membership within
the studio. There will be NO make-up
lessons for cancellations made by students. Please think of your lessons as being in
class. The teacher would not hold a special class just for you if you are
absent. Teacher cancellations will be
made up. If you know that you will not
be able to make your lesson one week you are encouraged to switch lesson times
with another student. If the student is serious about learning music, few
lessons will be missed and the student will benefit in the long run. Your
tuition is figured by taking the number of lessons and group lessons taught in
a three month semester, and subtracting any weeks that I will not be
teaching. Therefore the tuition payment won’t
necessarily reflect the amount of lessons given for a particular month. Lessons will not be taught during Spring
Break, Memorial Day weekend, Thanksgiving Break, and Christmas Break. Specific dates will be posted at the
beginning of each semester. During the
summer quarter, I teach only 6 weeks (which works out to about every other
week) with a reduced tuition rate for the whole summer.

Tuition rates are as follows:

30 minute lesson: $65 per month
45 minute lesson: $98 per month

Lessons
Proper
preparation for a lesson includes:
Bringing ALL
books and materials to each lesson
If I request new
music, CD’s or flashcards, please have them for the next lesson, or let me
know if there is a problem getting them
All pieces
improved weekly!
Trimmed nails
No gum or food
at lessons
Siblings of the
student are welcome to come and watch the lesson provided they are not
disruptive and that they stay with the parent

Be prompt in your lesson attendance. You are allotted a specific
time slot and I cannot afford to infringe on another's lesson or my family when
you are late. Arriving a few minutes
early will assure the full lesson time.

Group Lessons
Group
Lessons will be held the second week of the month. You will not have a regular lesson that
week. Group lessons will last
approximately one hour and are an essential part of your child’s musical
education. These classes are only once a
month, and are part of your tuition, so please make every effort to have your
child there. Ear training, performance
practice, music history, rhythm activities, group playing, recital preparation,
fiddling and FUN are among the benefits of these classes. When students are absent, they can miss important
rehearsals for recitals and future group classes as well. Group lessons are also a great way for
students to get to know others with similar abilities, goals, and interests.

Practicing
A daily practicing and listening routine is a MUST if maximum
results are to be obtained from studying music.
Proper preparation is basic to your child’s progress as well as making
music more pleasurable for them. Listening to the Suzuki CD’s and practicing
MUST be done 6 days a week. It is more
important to be consistent, practicing in small increments of time then overdoing
practicing a few days before a lesson- this is unwise and can lead to injury. I do not require a set amount of practice time
a day if the student is coming prepared to each lesson.

Parental
Involvement
The Suzuki Method is all about parental involvement. A parent's support and awareness has a
crucial effect on the student's progress. Your active involvement gives your
child a tremendous amount of encouragement. Parents with students under the age of twelve are
REQUIRED to attend the lessons. This
will help you better understand what is taking place and what is required of
your child, as well as helping you see your child’s progress and understanding
what should be taking place during practice sessions at home.
Learning
the violin is hard work, but it should also be fun! I am always open to suggestions on how we can
work together better.

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