Student Resources
Music Theory
- Ricci Adam's Music Theory: Excellent website. The music theory lessons are beautifully designed and cover basic through intermediate music theory. The site also contains note reading and ear training drills (listed under “Exercises”).
- First Position Note Trainer: Practice naming the notes in first position.
- High Position Note Trainer: Practice naming those high notes!
Music History & Composers
Who wrote the music you're studying? Learning about the composer's life and the time period in which s/he lived will inform your interpretation of the music. For pieces in the Suzuki violin books, this excellent website will tell you the full name of the composer and the source material of the piece.
Music Dictionaries
- Musical Terms: Look up those words in your music!
- Tempo Markings: How fast does the composer wish the piece be played?
- Key Signatures: What key is your piece in? It's helpful to practice a scale in the same key.
- Dynamics: What volume (in relative terms) is indicated?
- Musical Symbols: What do all the symbols mean?
Recommended Articles
Practicing With Children:
- Getting Your Child to Practice: Advice from a Baltimore Symphony violinist.
- Motivating Kids to Practice Suzuki: A terrific article about making practice enjoyable for your child.
- The Secret to Raising Smart Kids: The importance of the way we praise children and talk about intelligence or talent. (Scientific American)
- Practice Makes Possible: What We Learn by Studying Amazing Kids: Interview with Anders Ericsson on the power of practice. (NPR)
Practice Basics:
- How to Practice, in Six Steps: A great overview by Laurie Niles. (violinist.com)
- Ten Easy Ways to Optimize Your Music Practice: Another helpful overview. (NPR)
Deliberate Practice: What It Is & Why You Need It
- The Making of An Expert: "Not all practice makes perfect. You need a particular kind of practice—deliberate practice—to develop expertise." (Harvard Business Review)
- The Most Valuable Lesson I Learned from Playing the Violin: How to practice effectively. (Bulletproof Musician)
Practice Science & Strategies
- The Science and Art of Practicing: How current brain research can help us practice efficiently. (violinist.com)
- Do You Rehearse to Practice or Practice to Rehearse: Stages of learning motor skills. (Bulletproof Musician)
- The Interleaving Effect: Mixing it Up Boosts Learning Interleaving vs. blocked practice. (Scientific American)
- Why the Progress You Made in the Practice Room Seems to Disappear Overnight, Part 1 and Part 2: Two great articles on the benefits of interleaving. (Bulletproof Musician)
- Encouraging Pickiness About Pitch Part 1 and Part 2: Strategies for practicing intonation. (The Strad)
- When Mistakes Are Good: A Counterintuitive Strategy for Rapidly Fixing Bad Habits in Our Technique: Amplification of error. (Bulletproof Musician)
- Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits: Variety, spaced study, interleaving. (New York Times)
- The Science of Practice: What Happens When You Learn a New Skill: The neuroscience of practice, in layman's terms. (Life Hacker)
On Talent
- What is Talent: Great article from The Guardian.
- Improving at Any Age and Stage: By Simon Fischer. What does it mean to make progress? How to make changes in your playing. (PDF)
- There's One Key Difference Between Those Who Excel at Math and Those Who Don't: Hard work vs. inborn talent . . . just replace the word "math" with "music." (Quartz)
- How to Grow a Super-Athlete: What is talent? Can it be learned, and if so, how? (New York Times)
Recommended Books
- Teaching from the Balance Point by Edward Kreitman: This book is my top choice for those interested in learning more about either the Suzuki method or violin study.
- Building Violin Skills by Edmund Sprunger: Written by a child therapist and Suzuki violin teacher. An in-depth guide on practicing with young children.
- Nurtured by Love by Shinichi Suzuki: Dr. Suzuki explains the philosophy and principles of his teaching method.
- The Violin Lesson and Basics by Simon Fischer: Highly recommended for intermediate and advanced violinists. Simon Fischer is an expert at breaking down and describing all aspects of violin technique.
- Practicing for Artistic Success by Burton Kaplan: A book directed toward adult musicians that clearly lays out effective strategies for practice and performance.
Recommended Websites
- The Bulletproof Musician: Great blog posts on the science of music performance and practice. Backed up with references and further reading.
- Suzuki Violin Pieces in their Original Forms: Discover the history and source material of the repertoire in the Suzuki Violin Books.
- International Music Score Library: Free public-domain sheet music to download.
- Violin Master Class: Excellent video tutorials.
Local Violin Shops
- Stamell Stringed Instruments: Excellent source for quality violin rentals and purchases, bow rehairs, sheet music, strings, and accessories.
- Stacey Styles: Violin restoration & repairs.
Recommended Materials
Metronomes:
- Intelli Metronome & Tuner: Physical metronome / tuner combination with a clean, user-friendly design.
- Metronome Beats: Free metronome app for Android devices.
- Metronome - ONYX: Free metronome app for Apple devices.
Tuners:
- Korg Chromatic Tuner: Excellent physical tuner.
- Tunable: My favorite tuner app. Available for Apple and Android
- Simply Tuner: A free tuner for beginners. Simple to use, but only tunes the open strings. Available for Android here.
Music Stands:
Online Music Retailers
- Johnson String Instrument: An excellent violin shop in Eastern Massachusetts with great service and delivery time. Sheet music, books, and accessories.
- Shar Music: Sheet music, books, and accessories.
- Sheet Music Plus: Sheet music galore.
Concerts in the Area
There is nothing more inspiring than attending a live performance!
Suzuki
- Suzuki Association of the Americas: Information on the Suzuki Method, workshops, and summer festivals.
- Suzuki Recordings on MP3: Links to download the Suzuki recordings through Amazon or iTunes. I recommend the Hilary Hahn recordings for Books 1 – 3 and the Augustin Hadelich recordings for Books 4 – 6.
- Jaclyn Kim videos on YouTube: Slow practice videos for Suzuki Book 1, Suzuki Book 2, Suzuki Book 3, and Suzuki Book 4.