I recently wrote a blog post about my stance on whether or not to offer a free trial lesson to prospective students. After about fifteen years of experimenting and trying things, I’m resting (for now) on the side of offering a free trial lesson to new beginners and transferring students alike. You can read about […]
Why Does My Child Always Need Water When It’s Time to Practice?
Kids are busy. With extra-curriculars, homework, school; but also with their free play and imagination. A kid hardly ever just walks up the stairs. They scale Mount Everest. A kid hardly ever just eats a sandwich. They wonder what a peanut butter factory looks like. A kid hardly ever just brushes their hair in the […]
For Music Teachers: Why Offer a Free Trial Lesson?
Why I offer free trial lessons to prospective students and why you might want to, too. Free trial lessons are a somewhat controversial topic in the music teaching world. Many teachers believe offering a free lesson devalues our work and encourages prospective students to exploit these offerings. This may or may not be true. But […]
Will AI Change Music Teaching?
I was obsessed with birds as a kid. I had two pet cockatiels, June and Sydney, that I adored. I watched the movie Polly over and over again. I had a bird book and a pair of binoculars. My dad and I would sit by the window and try to identify the birds that came […]
Is My Child Talented?
(Blog post by Suzuki violin teacher, McKenzie Clawson.) Every so often I have a parent ask me if I think their child is talented. My answer is always a variation on, “I don’t know, and it really doesn’t matter.” What is talent anyway? For many, talent is a skill that comes easily. Well, I’ve never […]
Why sign your child up for suzuki violin lessons…
New Blog Post Series For Beginning Suzuki Violin Students and Parents… As a parent, the beginning of the school-year is a natural time to evaluate my child’s activities and education. I don’t think I’m alone in this, because it’s also when I get the majority of inquiries about violin lessons. As I’ve been answering these […]
McKenzie’s Institute Reflections
Every year that I take Suzuki Teacher Training I write pages and pages of notes. Though I’d like to review my notes more, it doesn’t really happen. In the last few years, I’ve started ending the course by creating one page of key takeaways. I tuck it into my planner and skim through before I […]
Why I Have My Kids Take Violin Lessons from SOMEONE ELSE
Teacher Appreciation week is the first full week of May, but since I think celebrating teachers for only a week is ridiculous, we’re devoting the whole month of May to teachers. (Yeah, yeah, and because I totally missed the first week of May somehow. I’m way behind on EVERYTHING this month.) I always knew that […]
More Practice Routines!
Today’s post is by my sister and fellow Suzuki violin teacher, McKenzie Clawson. Mckenzie: 7:20 Breakfast is wrapping up. I remind the nine year old violinist that it’s her turn to practice first and she has ten minutes until we start. There is eye-rolling and general chagrin. We chat for a few minutes and then […]
Sample Suzuki Practice Routines
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about some things to consider when creating a practice routine for your family. In today’s post, I dig into the details and share our family’s practice routines. To be perfectly honest, our routines change from day to day depending on my energy levels, our schedule, and my kids’ […]