One of the skills Dr. Duke identified last semester as an element of expert teaching is “behavior management” in lessons.

This term is usually used to discuss the particular ways children are wrangled so that they do exactly what we want them to in lessons. But Duke asked us to look beyond student behavior to the sum and meaning of relational behaviors between students, parents, and teachers.

Trained in our family units, school, and communities to be socially appropriate (for efficiency and comfort’s sake), socialized humans are compelled to be polite. We ignore issues, we resist conflict, we justify bad behavior, we avoid hard conversations, we deliver fluffy compliments, and we seek simple, clean solutions to discomfort. These compulsions are the oil that keep our social machine running smoothly.

So the biggest challenge new teachers face is in switching their mindsets and behaviors from friend to teacher. As a teacher it is irresponsible to be polite. It is irresponsible to ignore issues, conflict, and bad behavior because those are often symptoms of challenges it is your job to help students overcome.

In a teacher to student relationship you are managing at all times the health of your student. Sure, as a bi-product of that healthful development your student will make some beautiful sounds on a violin, but much more importantly you will guide them toward becoming a beautiful human.

So if you are having issues with student behavior, take a close look at your own behavior. Are you acting as the teacher? Or are you acting as you’ve been socially conditioned, as a friend?

The complex dynamics of your relationship with your student can be hard to sort out while teaching. So I recommend you follow this process Dr. Duke led me through last semester. [Read more…]

I performed Paganini Caprice No. 5 yesterday in studio class, to a public audience, for the first time. The first time performing anything, but especially something as technically demanding as Paganini, is terrifying. The problem is that you don’t yet know what you don’t know. You don’t know where the memory slip will be, whether your hands will clam up or run away from you, you don’t know how you sound will project to a live audience.

But, at the risk of stating something obvious, it is impossible to perform multiple times without performing the first time. So I did.

[Read more…]

If you meet with your student for 30 minute lessons each week, you are seeing them for a mere 0.297% of their week. And if you hope that your work in the lesson will transfer into any tangible developments on the instrument, you better make sure your students know exactly what to practice at home.

Creating my own chart and getting consistent in my use of it revolutionized my studio. In my opinion, a simple, clear process for sending home practice assignments is essential.

Below you’ll find my practice chart (download your own, clean PDF here), instructions to use it, and some ideas for clarifying practice assignments. [Read more…]

Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.”
// Dr. Schinichi Suzuki

A few months ago my girlfriend approached me with the opportunity to transcribe a chant. She learned of the chant from Lydia Strand, who co-wrote it with Duncan Hilton. The chant is one Lydia used in Contemplative Action Circles as part of a community who takes seriously and integrates contemplative practice and non violent direct action.

The chant, which addresses risk, fear, and hope in the midst of both, was especially powerful in an instance Lydia describes in her own words this way

In May, I think it was May 12, 2016, there were five or six of us from this core team of the contemplative action circles who decided to support non-violent direct action and civil disobedience action in West Roxbury to stop a pipeline from going through. And that day, we decided how we were going to embody disruption was that we were going to go onto this worksite, sit in a circle, hold hands, and chant. So, I remember sitting there with my people, singing this chant, and actually needing it – actually needing that courage in the face of bulldozers and the police. And so, it became more than a theoretical practice of drawing on courage, and it became an embodied practice of solidarity and integrity with what I believe – the story of love.”

This story spoke to me; it spoken to the musician in me.

[Read more…]

My fifth full length, observable violin lesson is now up on my Youtube channel! This one features my pre-twinkler, Hayley, in her eleventh violin lesson.

In this video you will see me and Hayley review what “tone quality” means. As her skills and understanding mature, I decide to begin tone builders (Mississippi Stop Stop on the open E string)! Before we finish the lesson I make sure to teach Hayley’s mom how to practice tone builders at home correctly.

You can watch the video in it’s entirety here or on youtube. [Read more…]

I don’t know who shared this bit of wisdom with me, but one of the truest things I’ve heard said is, “Teaching violin is more about teaching your students which muscles not to use than which muscles to use.”

As I’m sure you know, teaching what not to do is difficult.

I’ve talked before about the complexity and necessity of relaxation, but most important is understanding that “to relax” (the directive) is not sufficient. Relaxation is a skill that must be taught and must be practiced.

Since writing “The Most Difficult Technique: Relaxation,” I have developed some hands on activities for actually teaching relaxation in lessons. [Read more…]

One of the biggest struggles I had in my lessons with Sandy Yamamoto last semester was playing with a straight bow.

It is a frustrating issue as a violinist because it is so complex. Our line of sight makes perceiving ‘straightness’ difficult. The bow is naturally curved and our strings are sloped. Furthermore, our joints (elbow, wrist, knuckles) move in arcs, not in straight lines.

It is a wonder that even the pros can play with a straight bow. But they do (see?).

Whether you are Hillary Hahn performing Bach or a beginner learning Happy Farmer, you memorize the shape of the bow arm, the placement of the elbow, and the angle of the bow to the string to get by. But, without critical and productive feedback, it is all too easy to memorize the wrong version of “straight.”

Below you’ll find three ways to address crooked bows in your studio.

1. DIRECT AWARENESS.

The power of the gaze is incredibly useful in remedial teaching. The problem is that most violinists (myself included) compulsively look at the left hand exclusively.

Students are rarely visually aware of the contact of bow to string, but it is that awareness that can be your biggest tool in correcting a crooked bow.

First, prove to students that they can play without looking at anything. In the lesson lead students through some of the following activities…

• Bow games (up like a rocket, for example) with eyes closed
• Review pieces in the dark
• Finger combinations or shapes behind their back

Next, do review sessions where the only goal is to focus eyes on bow contact. Be explicit. It is not the tip, the frog, or even the stick that you are concerned with them watching. You want them to look at the spot at which the bow hairs touch the string.

It can be challenging to look at that spot for an extended time without training, so give the eyes a job. Ask your student to report back a measurement of how far the bow contact was from the bridge. How many inches?

Students will still be tempted to look at their fingers, which should be expected (just consider how many hours they’ve spent training their eyes to watch their left hand!). To help, try using a sheet of paper or your hand to block the line of sight from eyes to finger while still leaving some space for the strings to vibrate. Students will be stuck with the option of looking at their bow contact point or your paper/hand — which you can place close to the edge of the fingerboard. If you see their eyes are drilling a hole into your paper/hand, go ahead and direct their attention back to the bow by pointing.

The ability to direct attention to the bow will already begin to solve problems. Students rarely play with a bow over the fingerboard or on the bridge when they are actively watching the contact point, but read on to refine their bow strokes.

2. CHOREOGRAPH THE ARM.

We start our students in the middle of the bow where the arm, bow, and violin make the shape of a square. As they learn  rhythms, they learn to open of the elbow to go higher than than the middle. However, I don’t teach my students to go far from the middle in the beginning because there is complexity in maintaining a perfect bow hold near the frog and tip.

As we move on in repertoire the mid-upper half of the bow will not be sufficient, so I establish a way to get from frog to tip without distorting the bow hold or changing the angle of the bow to string. These ideas have been adapted from the training I did with Dr. Sue Baer.

You start by establishing shapes of the bow arm at different locations in the bow. In the middle, as we’ve already discussed, the arm should be in a square shape. At the tip, in order for the bow hand to stay the same the arm will make a V shape. And at the frog, the arm will make a Z shape.

    

Practice this with students by training them to fly the bow from one shape to the next without making any sound. Require the move between the shapes as efficiently as possible as possible and look vigilantly for any signs of tension.

Once this is mastered, describe and practice the mechanism for moving from one shape to the next on the string. From middle to tip, students will move “out” and “in” by leaving their upper arm in the same place and bending the wrist. Practice this many times so that the elbow and wrist are synchronized in moving the bow straight out to the tip.

Next, start training the middle to frog motion. Students will “float” and “sink” the entire arm in order to travel to and from the frog with a perfect bow hold. As the bow approaches the frog, the upper arm will float up and the wrist will bend toward the nose until the Z shape is made. To go back to the middle, students drop the elbow down and straighten the wrist back to a neural position. Practice the “float” “sink” mechanism many times until mastered.

Finally, combine the two mechanisms (“out-in” and “float-sink”) to play with a perfect bow hold and straight bow the entire length of the bow. See it in action in Josie’s performance below.

A student at any age can use this choreography to understand all of the complex components of playing with a straight bow. If a student only goes crooked at the very tip or the very frog, you can isolate that motion by discussing separately “out, in” or “float, sink.” Using this method you can diagnose small issues without jeopardizing larger motions that are already working well.

It is by cognitively understanding and naming the multitude of arm motions required to play straight that you can make some real progress. However, if crookedness still persists use the next technique to train a kinesthetic understanding of straightness.

3. EXAGGERATE THE CORRECTION.

This method is remedial and works best to correct a crooked bow quickly.

Ask students to play the piece on which they are working on top the bridge— completely sul ponticello. Require that all other aspects of playing stay the same (vibrato, articulation, bow speed, bow distribution) except for contact point. They will get a very scratchy, harsh sound, but you are drawing their attention to the connection of the bow to the string.

Often what happens when you ask students to play closer to the bridge or with a straight bow is other aspects of playing fall apart. This is because it is indeed harder to play straight and closer to the bridge than crooked and close to the fingerboard. Playing with integrity requires more muscles operating in a more nuanced way. But you want to flip this perception of difficulty.

Make playing straight with a good contact point sound better and feel easier by pulling the bow all the way over the bridge. It is an extreme challenge that shocks students. Once you allow them to move back to ‘normal’ (the proper contact and angle), they will be relieved. Not only will it sound easy, but it will feel easy.

These techniques work for any students at any age. Good luck using them in your studio to keep your bows nice and straight.

 

In 2016 I went wide.

I discovered Gary Vaynerchuk, Katy Bowman, Fifth House Ensemble, Mary Oliver, and Solange. I attended the seanwes conference. I spoke at the American String Teachers Association conference. I premiered six new pieces. Wrote over 60 reflections for this website. I took classes on the music of the caribbean, violin pedagogy, Music Mind Games, orchestration, Brahms and Peacemaking Rhetoric. I started new students; I moved into my third year of teaching others. I found myself in Washington D.C., Dallas, Houston, Chicago, San Marcos, San Francisco, coastal Maine, Minnesota, and Boston. I even bought a pair of heels.

I cast the net wide. I learned a lot. I did a lot. It was a lot.

There were some times I felt like I was on fire, doing better and living better than I ever had before. There were times I felt I was strapped to the front of a steam-engine hurtling down tracks, out of my control, at record speeds. Those times were exhilarating, and terrifying. And still, there were some times that I felt utter disappointment and frustration. I grieved deeply for what I could have done better.

But since the fall semester wrapped up three weeks ago, I’ve had the luxury of relaxing and restoring in my small hometown in the hill country. I’ve had the opportunity to sleep in, write, reflect, read, and for lack of a better word… chill.

But most importantly, I experienced the release, one by one, of the burden from each commitment in my life. Orchestra was finished, then orchestration, then pedagogy and rhetoric. I performed my jury and stepped away from my violin. I wrapped up recording sessions with Light Horse Harry, finished teaching my last lessons with students, and delivered the last of my secret santa gifts. And now I don’t have work I have to do. I don’t have any emails I have to send. I don’t have any calls I have to make. I’m resting.

This rest has given me clarity. And tonight, as one year ends and another begins, I move into a new year with the experience of a wide 2016, but hope for a focused 2017.

See, in the space of winter break I experienced the desire, or perhaps the need, to do just four things:

• heal
• practice violin
• practice teaching
• journal my process.

I want 2017 to be the year for me that embodies essentialism. I want it to be a daring year in which I experiment with focus, with space, with prioritization, and with authenticity. I want to be with the ones I love, and I want to do the work I love. No more and no less than that.

I’ll dial in on the four pillars in my life– healing, practicing violin, practicing teaching, and journaling– not as a militant mandate, but as a question. I wonder if I would be happier “doing” less. I wonder what would happen if I dove even deeper into understanding the things I love – my self, my relationships, my work. I wonder.

On the bookshelf in our library at home is a book by and about Le Corbusier, the early 20th century artist, architect and thinker. It is a self portrait of text and illustration titled Creation is a Patient Search. The pages that fill this beautiful book tell the story of the slow, patient journey Le Corbusier took to creation.

Though I’ve dedicated 2017 to wondering, it is just one patient step closer to myself. Sometimes my search will lead me wide. Sometimes my search will lead me deep. This year it will lead me deeply into to the few things I love most. Happy New Year!