A discription is infinitely less effective than the thing itself. We asks our students to submerge themselves in the aural environment of the Suzuki recordings because they can learn more from the recordings than we could ever hope to teach them.

This logic has been applied to student and parent observation of lessons and group class. I think this is a relatively standard practice for beginning families in most Suzuki schools.

I took the same logic and applied it to practice.

When has a student ever seen someone practice violin before? When has a parent seen what it looks like for a child and parent to practice together? What does it particularly look like for a child IN YOUR STUDIO to practice throughout the week?

I became obsessed with creating a reference recording of practice.

I took advantage of the technology of the time– Zoom– to visit the practice sessions of families in my studio to collect footage.

I put together the videos, a brief summary that foregrounded the wisdom of the parents really in it, and then presented this at a parent talk earlier this year.

Here is our initial reference recording. I have many more ideas about how to continue to build out this concept, but this talk was the start.

Please enjoy.