Blog

  • RSP Class Cancelled: Tuesday, May 12

    TODAY, TUESDAY MAY 12:

    Reenat’s 3:30 and 4:15 RSP classes have been cancelled. Additional makeup classes have been scheduled for Tuesday, June 9th. Email silvermusic@silvermusic.org for more information. Thank you!

  • Family Concerts in the Park!

    Walkathon2FAMILY CONCERTS!

    Saturday, May 16, 5pm, Riverside Park
    (enter near entrance at 74th St/West End)

    Sunday, May 31, 5pm, Sakura Park
    (Riverside Drive + 122nd St)

    FREE

    Join us on Saturday, May 16 at Riverside Park and Sunday, May 31 at Sakura Park for fun musical games, activities, and performances hosted by Silver Music! Ideal for children ages 0-6. Event will include an instrument petting zoo, sing-alongs, fiddling, and a RAFFLE FOR A FREE CLASS AT SILVER MUSIC!

    Come learn more about our school and enjoy music in the park with your kids!

  • Teacher Evaluation

    If you have any feedback you would like to share with us, please take a moment to fill out our anonymous evaluation forms.

    CLASS TEACHER EVALUATION FORM

    LESSON TEACHER EVALUATION FORM

    Thank you!

  • June 7: Suzuki Workshop Day with Cellist, Nancy Hair

    On Sunday, June 7th, Silver Music will be hosting renowned Suzuki cello teacher, Nancy Hair, in two events that are open to Suzuki students, parents, and teachers in our greater NYC community. We hope that you will be able to join us for this unique opportunity!

    Nancy Hair Workshop Events:

    Cello Play-In
    1:30-2:30, Mary Flagler Cary Hall
    The DiMenna Center, 450 W 37th St

    Nancy will lead an open cello class for students playing Twinkles through Book 5 at Cary Hall in The DiMenna Center for Classical Music. A Play-In is meant to motivate students at multi-levels and will be a very exciting opportunity for your child to participate in a class led by Nancy. It will be similar format to our Suzuki weekly cello group classes. There is ample room for parents and other friends and family to join us as audience. This event is open to the greater New York City Suzuki community, so feel free to invite your cello friends from other schools. Children in our introductory programs are invited to attend as well!

    Cello Masterclasses
    Masterclass I 10:30-11:30, Silver Music, 218 West 72 Street
    Performers:  Sabrina M, Maeve O, Lucy R, Hava C
    Masterclass II 3:00-4:00, Norman S. Benzaquen Hall
    Performers: Andrew C, Kiran G, Sophia P, Autumn R
    Masterclass III 4:00-5:00, Norman S. Benzaquen Hall
    Performers: Lucas C, Christoferos G, Sophie J, Sivan N
    The DiMenna Center, 450 W 37th St

    We will be holding two masterclasses with performers of varying levels at Benzaquen Hall in The DiMenna Center. A masterclass is a combination of a recital and an open lesson. Each performer will play through a piece and then Nancy will work with the student for about 15 minutes as she might in a lesson. Since it is geared for an audience, Nancy will discuss issues and teaching points that you and your child can make use of at home.We invite you to come see a window into how teachers work on building students’ technique and musicality.

    Pricing for this event is as follows:
    (Each price covers a family of four)

    For Students:
    $75 for Play-In and Masterclass: Registration Deadline: Monday, June 1
    $60 Early Registration discount*
    Registration (including payment) must be received by Friday, April 17

    To register, please complete our student online registration, along with payment.

    For Teachers:
    $30 to observe the Play-In and Masterclasses.

    To register, please complete our teacher online registration. When two of your students register for the event, this $30 teacher fee will be waived! (Please fill out the registration form with your students’ names. Credit card information will not be charged).

    Nancy Hair Biography

    Nancy is a highly sought-after Suzuki teacher from the Boston area. She has been a teacher-trainer since 1988 and enjoys traveling and teaching at institutes, workshops, conferences, and festivals. Nancy teaches at the Hartt School, New England Conservatory Preparatory, and All Newton Music School. In the summer she is on faculty at numerous Suzuki Institutes including Chicago, Ithaca, and Hartt. Nancy has studied Alexander Technique, has completed graduate studies in pedagogy with Ithaca Talent Education, and has been seen in performances with Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony, Opera Company of Boston, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic. Nancy is looking forward to working with students and faculty at Silver Music this June!

  • The Third Side of the Triangle: Parent-Teacher Teamwork!

    The Suzuki Triangle, the metaphor for the connected relationship between Student, Parent, and Teacher, is properly drawn and envisioned as an equilateral triangle–the equal importance of each relationship is at the heart of the metaphor.

    equilateral-triangle1

    As our focus is naturally drawn to the child, the part of the triangle who we see as the primary actor, our geometry can be distorted and our triangle skewed:

    triangle07Similar to the relationship between parents, the relationship between the two adults guiding your child’s Suzuki journey will directly and indirectly affect the trajectory and quality of the trip. So how do we keep our triangle in shape? Here are a few tips:

    • Communicate about the process
      • It’s invaluable to teachers to hear from you about how practice went each week, what type of stumbling blocks you might have encountered, whether emotions were running high, or what might be particular points of tension. It’s also extremely helpful if you can share information about your child from other activities such as motivational techniques that work for homework or struggles they face in school. You see your child everyday, we see your child for less than an hour a week, fill us in!  Don’t be afraid to be really honest with your teacher about practicing, whether it was a good or bad week (we’ve all been there!).
    • Reconsider making requests for lesson content
      • After you tell us about that tantrum your 5 year old threw on Thursday night, please don’t follow it up with the suggestion that if only the next lesson included the piece your child really loves (or that his friend is playing in group class, etc.) the tantrums would be avoided. We rely on you to let us know your observations about your child’s behavior, but you have to trust us to find the best method to address those frustrations. You are in the trenches with your child while we have the overview and experience to plan the best strategy.
    • Prepare your child for the lesson
      • Besides from daily practice, there are a number of things you can do to prepare your child for their brief weekly time with their teacher:
        • Bring all of the materials your teacher has requested (practice sheets, music books, hand outs, video camera, etc.)
        • Arrive at least 5 minutes early to allow your child time to use the bathroom, wash her hands, have a drink of water, and mentally prepare for the lesson.
        • Make sure fingernails are cut short.
        • When possible (i.e., not to the detriment of others in the waiting room), unpack before the lesson door opens.
    • Inquire respectfully about make-up lessons and schedule changes 
      • Keep in mind that music lessons are “non-durable” goods. Your child’s time slot is reserved for your child, even when you aren’t able to use it, it can’t be resold. This means that very often in order for your teacher to give you a “make-up”, she is actually offering you a pocket of her own free time without compensation.  At times, this is appropriate and part of our policy, but please be aware that there are strict limits for make-ups and that even when a make-up is due, be aware of how you speak about it. Work with your teacher to find a time that fits conveniently in her schedule.
        • Do show advance planning, awareness of our one make-up per semester policy and consideration for what will be best for the teacher:         “… Unfortunately we have a conflict on April 8th and won’t be able to make the lesson. Can we use our one make up for that day? Is there another day or time we could schedule a make up? What days are best for you?”
        • Don’t show misunderstanding of our 24 hour notice policy and demand instead of ask:                     “We won’t be able to make it to the lesson today, let us know when you can make it up.”
      • Under no circumstances should you ever contact another teacher to give your student a lesson while your teacher is unavailable unless this has been suggested and prearranged by your own teacher.

    If you ever have questions about what your role is in the triangle, or how to better communicate with your teacher, just ask! Shinichi Suzuki said, “the fate of the child is in the hands of the parent”, heavy stuff… but we’re here to help navigate that responsibility so make sure to give some time and thought to the third side of the triangle–it can be your solace and support.

  • Spring Break II: April 3-10

    There are no regular classes or lessons this Friday, April 3rd through Friday, April 10. Happy Spring Break…again!

  • Spring Break Camps!

    Sign up now to join us for our spring break camps this March and April! Email silvermusic@silvermusic.org

    SPRING SESSION:

    March Instrumental Camp
    Session I: Monday-Friday, March 16-20, 1-4pm, 218 W 72nd St $450
    Session I: Registration Deadline ~ March 1
    EARLY REGISTRATION ~ February 13 ($25 discount)
    *Siblings also receive a 10% discount.

    April Music and Art Camp
    Session II: Monday-Friday, April 6-10, 9-12pm, 218 W 72nd St $450
    Session II: Registration Deadline ~ March 30
    EARLY REGISTRATION ~ March 16 ($25 discount)
    *Siblings also receive a 10% discount.

    April Instrumental Camp
    Session II: Monday-Friday, April 6-10, 9-12pm, 218 W 72nd St $450
    Session II: Registration Deadline ~ March 30
    EARLY REGISTRATION ~ March 16 ($25 discount)
    *Siblings also receive a 10% discount.

    For more information, visit our camp page.

     

  • Thoughts from our Workshop Weekend

    We are still flying high from our workshop weekend with Carrie Reuning-Hummel, a visiting Suzuki violin teacher from Ithaca, New York.  We want to extend a big thank you to all of our parents and kids who were able to attend! We hope you got something meaningful out of the weekend and would love to hear what you took away or what you most enjoyed.

    I wanted to share my thoughts about the weekend, as I learned so much and took pages and pages of notes!

    One big message we felt throughout the workshop was from Carrie’s childhood experiences with Dr. Suzuki, whom she met at age 5 and was able to work with for a short time in Japan at age 15.  She recounted that Dr.  Suzuki allowed her to feel “seen and known”,  and that he had the “opposite of judgement” in his teaching relationship with her.  Carrie took this profound feeling with her into her teaching and subsequent Suzuki parenting of her two children.  Hearing about her experiences challenges us to try to see our students and children for who they really are.  The more we understand about our children in terms of temperament, intensity, etc, the more we can figure out the best way to practice with our children.  Carrie has written a helpful book called, A Time To Practice:  A Companion for Practice, and recommended a bunch of additional books, including Raising Your Spirited Child, The Passionate Learner, Mindset, The Talent Code, and Point of Power, all of which I am diving into!

    At Friday afternoon’s master class, Carrie talked about imagining the student in a years time working on a more difficult piece.  She looked for things in his/her technique to adjust that could make playing the more difficult pieces easier.

    Overhead at the master class:

    “You know who I think the bad guy is?  The thumb is kind of pushy!”

    “You just found out a new way!”

    “Awesome!  You’re figuring it out!”

    “Let’s add one more thing to our recipe.”

    “I’ll do four notes, you do four notes, and let’s see if we sound like the same person.”

    “Let’s add more sparkle to your playing.”

     

    More later on the the fun moments shared at the Saturday afternoon Play-In!

     

  • Dos and Don’ts for Parents

    We really appreciated Sara Marie Brenner’s post, To Do or Not to Do: For Parents, the dos and don’ts of private music lessons. If you haven’t read it, you can check out the full article here. Below are some of our favorite points paraphrased and expanded on. Let us know what points really hit home with you!

    How to support your child’s musical journey…

    DO:

    • Make it clear that music lessons are a long-term process. Both you and your child should avoid framing this as an activity you are “trying out”. That would be like planting a seed in March and then just “trying out” gardening until May. Hang in there, and the fruit of your labors will come.
    • Focus on the quality of practice, not the quantity. Life is busy, kids’ attention spans are short—make sure to get the most out of each minute of practicing by putting the most effort possible in. See Less is More for more ideas for quality practice.
    • Be physically present when you are practicing with your child. The worst memories people (including professional musicians) usually have of their parents and practicing is being yelled corrections from an adjacent room. Make the time to literally be there for your child and the quality and tenor of practice will dramatically improve.
    • Put the Suzuki CD on every day! If this isn’t easy for you, investigate why and see if you can find a way to make it easier. Do you need to set up an in home stereo system? Upload the music to your phone? Put speakers in the kitchen? This can be the easiest part of practice, so it’s worth putting the time in to find a way to make it work. If you’ve listened to your CD a zillion times and your kid needs some variety, buy the CD that goes with the next few books and mix that in. For more on the power of listening, read here and here.
    • Be your child’s cheerleader. Music lessons are hard and music teachers can be demanding. Your most important role is to let your child know that you have unconditional love for them and unsurpassable belief in their potential.

    DON’T:

    • Don’t threaten that you will stop lessons if they don’t practice. There are very few children (statistically insignificant) who have developed the ability to consistently carry through with long-term goals on their own. It is your job as a parent to help teach them this skill. There may come a time when your child truly doesn’t have an interest in playing their instrument any longer, but this is something that can best be determined with serious, compassionate conversations with your child and their teacher, not with threats.
    • Don’t correct your child during a lesson. It is very important to enforce the concept of “one teacher at a time” and respect the relationship between your child and their teacher. If you have a concern that was not addressed in the lesson, ask the teacher about it directly.
    • Don’t except your child to be grateful for your sacrifices. Gratitude for the ability to play and enjoy music will come much later, along with adult maturity—don’t expect it from anyone under the age of 18.

     

  • Breaking it down: Advice for the practice partner of an advancing student

    As your child advances in the repertoire and in their ability, their pieces quickly get more and more complicated. Your role as a practice partner changes from a hands on helper to that of an advisor. Understanding practice as an exercise in problem solving and being able to offer your child some ideas on how to solve their challenges will help you increase the productivity of each practice session.

    The key to productive and efficient practice is Unit Practice. Suzuki students begin their studies with unit practice—the rhythms that each student practices on single notes and open strings, “I like Chocolate Ice Cream”, etc., are “units” that are practiced separately for months, even after they have been strung together to build a student’s first Twinkle.

    All pieces, no matter their length or level, are made up of such building blocks, and it is up to the advancing student (with help from the parent) to find the relevant units, take them out of the context of the piece, and practice them in a variety of creative ways to build ability and ease. Below are just a few ways that good practicers manipulate units. Your teachers are always happy to offer you more!

    • Building backwards
      • Most sections of a piece that your teacher assigns can be broken down even further when practicing. After finding the units that make up a section, pick the last one and master that, then attach the second to last unit, third to last, etc., so that as the student practices, they are constantly going from less familiar to more familiar and reinforcing the material they just learned.
      • e.g., take the triplets in the last line of Witches’ Dance and practice only the last three notes of the piece, then the last six, last nine, etc. (Word of warning to string players–make sure you whether you are on an up or down bow when you start in the middle of a passage!)
    • Using Rhythms to Promote Dexterity
      • Our fingers are not equal in strength and dexterity which can make playing fast passages evenly a struggle. One way to fix this is to play the passage with different rhythms in order to build speed and strength in to the fingers. Just make sure to always play the passage evenly right after!
      • e.g., for a group of four sixteenth notes, play long-short-long-short, then short-long-short-long, then evenly. This is “rhythm + opposite + straight”. The student can play an entire passage of sixteenth notes (maybe 2 or 3 lines) in this way.
    • Separate the hands
      • For string players, difficult passages often consist of a particularly tricky right hand technique, or left hand technique, or in very tricky passages, both at the same time! Practicing a difficult right hand technique on open strings, or a difficult left hand technique with slow, separate bows, is a great way to isolate and address challenges.
      • Pianists will also benefit from separating the hands to isolate and address the different challenges between right and left.

    Undoubtedly your teachers have instructed you in these practice techniques for various passages, but as the pieces grow in length and difficulty, you and your child will benefit enormously from taking ownership of the process of devising practice strategies and putting them into effect. Besides from increasing your child’s ability, turning practicing into a critical thinking exercise may even give you the added benefit of a more engaged and enthusiastic practicer! Let us know how it goes, and we’d love to hear any other unit practicing tips that work well for your child.