In July 2024 I stepped into the Co-Director role at our school, Ithaca Suzuki Music Education, or ISME. 

We have 7 teachers, 3 administrators, 130 students and growing. We are a school with an amazing history– one of the first Suzuki schools in America– and also in a new chapter. In the spring we converted ourselves to a Not-for-profit business and have moved into a new space. A lot of big things, and a lot for me to learn as I expanded my role from being a faculty member to being in a leadership and administrative position.

I want to share the five biggest lessons I’ve learned in stepping into this role.

As I write this, I realize there is so much overlap from excellent teaching to excellent leadership. So, whether you are teaching your own school or managing a school of hundreds, I think these lessons will be applicable.

Have a vision so big that everyone can fit their dreams into it

Small businesses face the same challenges as big businesses. But big businesses solve bigger problems and can often pay better. In order for another individual to join your team, they need to feel like they can fit their own life vision into your vision. I think this is the reason Suzuki was so successful.

Honing a compelling vision and then communicating it effectively is hard work. I think it’s easier to craft a vision and bring people on board than it is to cast a vision for a team that is already assembled. But that is the work of leadership. It has been essential for me to take the time I need to hone meaningful vision.

A few we’ve come to that feel comfortable to stand on. 1) We’re building a school we would want to work for. 2) We’re building a school that takes care of the whole Suzuki triangle (parent, student, and teacher). And 3) We could do it alone, but we’re so much better together. We’re using the structure of the school to its fullest capabilities.

Communication = “over”communication

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Last week I shared a few of the principles I use to structure my Pre-Twinkle group classes. 

We do weeks of classes at the beginning of the school year before any of the students start to bring their real violins, or even their cardboard violins, to the group lessons.

Here are 20 games I have in my back pocket to use with students who don’t have their instrument.

Not only are these games fun, but they disguise repetition of violin fundamentals and musicianship.

Big Movement

1. Walk to the music
   • Walk around the room while the pianist and/or teacher play a Book 1 piece.
   • Variations
     1. forwards for one phrase, backwards for the next
     2. Different moves for different dynamics
     3. Different moves for different extended techniques
     4. Freeze like a statue when I stop playing
2. Stretches
   • Stretch like animals: owl, kangaroo, turtle, cobra, giraffe, penguin
   • Correlate music sounds with the stretch. Play as students move. Direct the stretch by playing the sound
3. Higher and lower music, sing up a scale on parts of the body. Then you can relate this to a piece.
4. Musical instructions “stand up” (octave) “please pick up your violin” (up scale) “bows up, please” (up fifth)

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I’m starting my fourth year of teaching the pre-twinkle group class at Ithaca Suzuki Music Education (ISME). 

I love this class! I don’t take it for granted that I am setting up the foundational experience for group class for violinists in our school.

Before I jump in with the details, I should share the context for how students start in our program.

Enrollment

We enroll new students in September and January. Our enrollment process includes three Suzuki Parent Education Sessions with the Co-Directors, two non-instrument specific classes called “Sparklers,” and a series of observations (some in person, some on video).

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I used to think teaching ideas were always organized in sequences. A student starts to learn vibrato in Book 2 and, in order to do so, they go through step A, B, C, etc.

Then I learned another great method, from Charles Krigbaum and Daina Volodka Staggs, where teaching ideas are organized by the calendar. For everybody in the whole studio, no matter which piece you are working on, we work on skill A in September, skill B in October, skill C in November, etc.

Another example is to have a process ready in order to prepare for Youth Orchestra auditions. You always use the piece you performed at studio recitals the prior semester. We schedule a mock audition on this day. We use this much of your lesson for these many weeks leading up to the audtion.

Using patterns, routines, and rituals like these drastically reduce the load of mental complexity for students. They help you get to everything with every student, even when travel, sickness and other unexpected events get in the way.

One that I now lean on heavily is the New Violin Bootcamp.

Every time a student of mine comes into the lesson with a larger violin I go through the following process with them.

WEEK 1

1. Set the violin high on the shoulder X however old they are. For example, an 8 year old would set their violin 8 times.
2. Keep the violin in play position for 60s while they listen to their favorite song. They only hold the violin with their head, no hands supporting the violin.
3. 10 X Red Pattern. Play up and down a “Red” finger pattern ( 1 23 4) with focus on soft, spread hand and accurate intonation
4. 10 X Butterflies. Carry the bow in the air and gently land on all tapes. Frog, 1/4 tape, 1/2 tape, 3/4 tape, tip, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, and then frog counts as one lap. They do 10.

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Over the last 5 years I have taught at least 250 hour-long group classes in our school. I want to get down the main ideas that now guide every group class I teach.

These fundamentals are heavily informed by Ed Kreitman and the WSSTE group class approach, the NTSTE Community Day group class presentation in spring of 2024, and what I’ve learned from teacher trainers including especially Carrie Reuning-Hummel.

Do It

Just teach group. Just do it!

Group classes have been a non-negotiable part of our school for decades. Students pay a monthly tuition which includes individual lessons, group lessons, recitals, concerts, and community events.

I feel that once students are in groups, and I’m following the fundamentals I propose below, the value of group is evident.

Purpose and Goal

It was helpful to me (and parents and students) to explicitly name the purpose and goal of group class. I would argue that the purpose and goal of group does not change, no matter how advanced the group gets.

PURPOSE: To inspire participation and build community.

GOAL: To play like one violin.

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On Saturday, April 20th we had our second annual studio recital. 

I teach as one faculty member of a large Suzuki school, Ithaca Talent Education. Our school hosts monthly solo recitals for students to perform their polished pieces. 

Last year, for the first time, I gathered all of the students from my own studio together for a studio recital. It was an extraordinary feeling to have all of the students I teach and families I work with in the same room at the same time.

I knew that I wanted to do the same thing this year. 

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The theme of the event was the 5 senses. I wanted students and parents to engage with the felt experience of music making. You’ll see below that I wove this theme through a few elements of the event.

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I shared a job description for a studio teacher on threads.

We know that work will expand to fill the time that you give it. I could spend all day, every day thinking about teaching. But as I take on more responsibility at ITE I crave a clear definition of what exactly my ‘studio teacher’ role is asking of me.

I parsed out a job description into three levels: basic, intermediate, and fancy. I thought through this as if I were hiring someone to take over my studio for me. Or as if I was describing what I would expect a new cello teacher to do if they joined our school.

Here they are…

BASIC

• Never miss a lesson
• Answer emails/texts
• Take attendance
• Take student lesson notes (post)
• Plan lessons (pre)
• Prepare students for recitals, auditions, orchestra
• Schedule students for summer (in May) and fall (in August)
• Attend school recitals and concerts
• Continuing education (1 training/year)

INTERMEDIATE

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Etude can be a tricky and confusing piece!

I’m going to share how I’ve worked through all of the confusion.

1. Listen like crazy.

My students are listening to Etude 10x in a row every day while they learn Allegretto and Andantino.

2. Develop low 2

I’m working on 4th fingers starting in Go Tell Aunt Rhody and debuting for the first time in Perpetual Motion. That means I have time to start low 2 work as early as May Song or Long Long Ago to be ready to debut for the first time in Etude.

I use ‘Tennis Match,’ Pizza pattern, finger dances, and a collection of low 2 songs [low 2 GTAR, cold crossed buns, Baby shark] to build up the 2.

My vision is for the student to still use prepared fingers in the ‘Red pattern’ (2 and 3 touch) while using a finger frame (1 and 3 set, 2 and 4 lifted) in the ‘Blue pattern’ (1 and 2 touch).

That frame will come up constantly in the G scale, Etude, and the Minuets.

3. Etude Map and Bridges by Rote

When we start learning chunks of Andantino I will preview Etude. My first step is to build them a map of the piece with index cards. I break the piece down in the following way.

A [1st bridge] A [2nd bridge] B [3rd bridge] C

I teach them the notes to the bridges and ask them to practice them in both the Bowling and Baseball practice style. They should be able to play any bridge I ask for first-time, first-try. 

During this period I do allow them to use the bow. This is actually the first piece where they can learn the notes and the bowing at the same time. I have them use the ¼ to ½ mark for all of the staccato notes.

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There is a store I went into today. It’s my favorite store.

They have a complete collection of every violin skill available. All the different varieties of vibrato and bow strokes, a complete collection of repertoire for the violin, they even have pieces that weren’t originally written for the violin that you could pick up. They have posture, they have practice habits, they even have a special section for character traits and beliefs.

I love the store so much. I visit it every day.

Everything in the store can be bought. There are no restrictions to anyone who enters.

But the price for each item is listed in repetitions, not dollars.

In fact, nothing in the store can be bought with dollars.

Some items cost 10,000 repetitions. Some items cost 10.

There are no items in the store that cost 0 repetitions.

However, there are some items that can be sold–just to you!– for a bargain. When you first go to the violin store, everything looks so expensive. But when you return again and again, when you become a friend of the store, you might notice the prices start to go down. 

Everything is expensive when you start. But the more you know, the less each item costs. If you already own 10 concertos, the 11th isn’t as expensive. If you already own 10 different flavors of vibrato, the 11th isn’t as expensive. 

It’s my job as a violin teacher to send you to the store every lesson. Sometimes I’m helping you pay for your repetitions (but usually you get those done at home), but most of the time I’m helping you pick out the one thing that you would really like that is also a super-crazy-good-flash-deal for you. 

For example, this week would not be the perfect week to learn ricochet (so pricy!) but it is the perfect week (good deal!) to learn 4th finger trills because you’ve already paid down left hand frame, soft palm, 3rd finger on inside corner, and finger action.

I want to clarify that I do not own the store. I don’t think of myself as a salesman. I’m just a friend who loves what they’re selling and will gladly take a trip with you to the store to point out the good deals and help you pick out your favorite thing.

This semester I am coaching a chamber group through my school Ithaca Talent Education. In the fall our most advanced orchestra ensemble splits into small groups and the faculty coaches them.

My particular group is an unusual combination of two violins and two cellos. I was given the opportunity to choose the repertoire, though there is not that much rep available for this instrumentation.

We went with the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Violins and Two Cellos Rv. 575. 

I’ve worked with chamber groups before, but I have never coached one over the course of the semester. In total I will have 12 meetings with them. 

The students are relatively new to chamber music.

I want to name five priorities I established to help guide us this semester. These are a combination of Suzuki principles applied to chamber groups and lessons I learned especially from working with the Miro quartet in undergrad.

Use a reference recording

I want students to listen to their quartet music in the same way they listen to their solo repertoire. I figured this would greatly speed up the time to play notes accurately. I brought a speaker with me to our first session and we took 10 minutes to listen while looking at the score. I sent links to recordings afterward so hopefully they continue to listen like crazy at home.

Lead from the bass

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