Category Archives: Studio policies

Recital Policies

If you are performing on a WMS student recital or my studio recital, please arrive at least 15 minutes early so that we can check your instrument tuning and know that you are present.

Appropriate attire when performing on a recital including a group performance is: Suzuki uniform shirt, dark pants or skirt, dark shoes, socks or tights.  Please do not wear jeans, mini skirts or any pants/skirts that will be above the knee while you are playing.  Excessive jewelry or hair ornaments are not appropriate.

For recitals without a group performance, or if you are not playing in the group, nice clothing is required.  Look professional.  No sneakers, t shirts, etc.  Boys should wear shirts with collars.  Girls should wear clothes fancier than what you would wear to school.  If you play cello, you need to consider how modest your skirt and shoes will be while playing, especially considering that the audience is slightly below you when you are on stage.

Make-up lessons

I still owe many of you make-up lessons, and I plan to send out emails later today to let you know exactly what I owe each student.  I would like to get all the outstanding lessons scheduled as soon as possible.

Regardless of whether I owe you any lessons, I would like to know of days that would be possible for you to have make-up lessons.  If you know of any days that you have no school and would be available for an extra lesson during the school day, would you please let me know?

I appreciate that several of you have let me know well in advance when you know you would be missing a lesson.  When I know this information in advance, I can offer your time for another student to make up a lesson.  Because I am committed every weekday afternoon from 3 until 8 and Saturday from 9 until 2, there are not very many times I can fit make-up lessons into my schedule outside of the make-up weeks.

Thank you for your help and understanding!

Winter Review Challenge!

Several parents have asked for THE RETURN OF THE REVIEW CHALLENGE! How can I say no?

Here are the rules:
Starting December 1 and ending January 31, print out review charts for the book you are in and any books before that (you can find these on the “Resources” page to the right of this post.) Record the number of times you review each piece and the day you do them. When you finish a chart, the parent needs to total the reviews and sign it to verify that it is accurate. Turn them in to me after the 31st and I will determine the top 3 reviewers. These winners get a special treat, courtesy of ME, that we jointly determine. ALL participants will receive a prize. To participate, please turn in at least one review chart.

Rules for reviewing:
Your most advanced piece is not a review piece.  Do not count the time you play it.
Review pieces must be from memory
Beautiful, relaxed posture, left hand position and bow hold
Excellent intonation
Good articulation
Correct Bowings
If you are a Twinkler or pre-Twinkler, 3 open string rhythms on one string will count as one review.  If you are past Twinkles, no pre-Twinkle reviews will count.
No hesitations, stops, wrong notes, etc. Practice the tricky sections first, THEN do your review. Sloppy reviewing is as bad as no reviewing at all, and would totally defeat the purpose of the challenge.

Any questions? Let me know. Happy reviewing!

Reminders

First: Don’t forget the concert attendance requirement!  So far, only a few students have shown me programs from concerts they have attended.

I am playing in a chamber music recital at WMS this coming Wednesday (December 5, 2007) and each student gets two free tickets.  Yesterday, Cheri Astolfi gave me some tickets to distribute, so ask me in your lesson.  If you don’t get them from me by Dec. 1, you may get them at the front desk at WMS on or before Tuesday, Dec. 4th.

Second: Make-up lessons!  Thanks to all of you who responded and scheduled make-up lessons earlier this month.  If you weren’t able to do so, I need you to be in touch with me via email or phone SOON so we can get these lessons on the calendar before we are all too busy.  I need to have them made up by the end of January so we’re not already behind on lessons starting the spring semester.  There is only one week of make-up lessons in January, and some of you have several lessons to schedule.  I would prefer not to take lesson time to discuss scheduling, as you all know that I already have a hard time staying prompt.

Third: Suzuki Day- January 19, 2008!  Please let me know ASAP whether or not you will be attending.  We are putting together the master class (group lesson) schedule, and we need to know how many students to plan for.  I highly recommend attending!  It is free, and the students who attended last year found it educational AND enjoyable.  If you have any Suzuki friends in other programs, it is open to them for a fee, so please encourage them to came, too!

Alternate Suzuki Academy Orientation meeting

If you missed the orientation meeting on August 29, please plan to attend the alternate meeting that will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 4 from 7:30-8:30pm at the Wilmington Music School.  There is a lot of important information which you all need to be aware of, especially if you haven’t been a part of the Suzuki Academy before.  We will use far less lesson time and need fewer phone calls and email explanations if you go to the meeting.

Also, you can think of it as an opportunity to find the building when you aren’t stressed out and already late for the concert because your budding virtuoso forgot to tell you that the black shoes don’t fit anymore and you couldn’t find any the right size at the Payless near you, but luckily there was a nice pair at the second one you tried but then you realized that you were almost out of gas and there was no way you could make it to North Wilmington without stopping, so you rushed in and put 2 gallons in the car, but then your other child told you she had to go to the bathroom and the one at that station was out of order, so you had to make another stop, and while you were helping her wash her hands, it occurred to you that maybe the sponge for the violin wasn’t in the violin bag, so you had to check that before you hit the road again.  Luckily, it was there, but the last thing you need is to be trying to find a building where you’ve never been before while your son is whining that he HATES his black pants and he thinks they’re getting too small.

Doesn’t going to the meeting seem like a good idea after all?

Musical Education and Enjoyment

Recently, I performed a series of recitals, two of which were open to the public.  I had posted the dates and times of these recitals on my blog as well as sending a flyer and invitation to all of my students for one of the recitals.  Of my 29 students, only 4 attended one of the recitals.

This was disappointing to me.  I worked very hard to prepare this program in order that my students and others might enjoy it.  I also scheduled the Wilmington  Music School performance at a more child-friendly time to make it easier on families.  I believe that the students who attended enjoyed the recital.  I know that some families were out of town for spring break, but many were not.  The lack of support from my non-attending students was surprising and hurtful.

My personal disappointment aside, I am concerned that we are taking a lopsided approach to our children’s musical education.  We encourage them to practice and attend lessons and group classes.  We prepare them to perform in public.  However, I am not hearing from many students that they attend performances by professional level musicians.  I believe that we are doing our children a disservice in not nurturing a respect for and love of live music performance.

I am very aware that it is extremely difficult to make time in your already busy schedules to attend concerts.  I think that the inspiration that students – and parents! – can receive from these performances will easily dwarf the effort and expense of attending.  Students need to know where they are going in their own playing, and need to appreciate the expertise of those who have made music a major focus of their lives.  We all need to be exposed to great music, because it makes us better people.

I would like to ask that all my students make a renewed effort to listen to classical music.  There are many wonderful recordings at the library.  If you need ideas, I will be happy to make personal suggestions for you.   Also, beginning in the fall, I am going to require that every student attend at least two live classical music performances per year.  There are many free events throughout the year that I will post on the blog, along with links to arts organizations.  You may check their calendars to determine what performances work best for you to attend.

Please consider this an important part of your child’s musical education.  I think you will find that it is an important part of yours, as well.

Absence and make-up lesson policies

I will always make up any lessons which I miss for any reason. If we are unable to make it up before the end of the semester, we will do it during the summer. I keep track of all lessons, so I will know if I have missed a lesson that I owe you.

I will make up one lesson per semester that you miss for any reason. I will only make up more than one lesson per semester if the second missed lesson is due to my cancellation. If you miss more than one lesson per semester for travel, illness, conflicting commitments, or any other reason, I will not be able to make them up. I wish I could, but I have very limited time available for make-up lessons.

If you know you have to miss a lesson, you may switch times with another student, but please notify me in advance. If given enough advance notice, I am sometimes able to reschedule lessons, but I am not obligated to do so.

If you miss a group class, it will not be made up unless I cancelled the group.

I welcome your comments and questions about these policies.