Happy New Year!!! We are all crossing our fingers and hoping 2021 will be the best yet! In this issue:
Studio Class and Recital Reminder
We now have no fee automatic payments
Student of the Month: Sayuri King-Barron
8 Ways to improve your practice TODAY!
February Practice Challenge
Fanny's Follies
Studio Class and Recital Reminder
As a reminder, our Winter studio class and recital are on January 24 and 31, 2021 respectively. The goal is to have both events in person if possible. Everything mentioned in the previous newsletter including staggered start times, precautions, physical distancing and mask requirements will remain the same. If we feel the recital will be unsafe for any reason, the recital and studio class will be moved to Zoom. The most up to date information is posted to MyMusicStaff and the home page of our website. If you have any additional questions, please contact our assistant, Rhiannon Mayes.
We now have no fee automatic payments!
We know many of our wonderful parents and students have been wanting an easier way to pay for lessons and it is finally here: Now you can automate your monthly payments without a fee using ACH direct debit from your bank account! Our goal is to streamline the payment process by offering a cost effective, convenient way to make sure payments are on time and easy!
To find out more, contact admin@sesekstringstudio.com to get the information on how to sign up!
Student of the Month
Sayuri King-Barron
Every month we feature a different SSS student. It’s not an easy decision since all of you are doing a wonderful job! Chosen SOTM's recieve a prize for being selected.
Age: Adult (and none of your business!)
Instrument: Violin
What repertoire are you playing right now?
I'm finishing up Sassmannshaus book 1 and onto book 2
When did you start in SSS?
I started with SSS at the beginning of September 2020
What drew you to the violin?
I had the opportunity to play the violin when I was around 7 years old for maybe a month and really loved it, but the teacher left the area and I ended up learning the piano with my sister instead. It never occured to me that starting a new instrument could be an option as an adult so I'm so happy to have found SSS and am thankful to have a supportive family that pushed me to pursue that missed opportunity.
What is your favorite musical experience to date?
Seattle Symphony Distant Worlds Concert at Benaroya Hall
In what other activities do you participate?
I'm currently pursuing a Master's degree at Seattle University while staying at home with my two sons, Luca age 4 and Niko age 2.
Any other tidbits we should know about?
No other tidbits :)
8 Practicing techniques that will improve your practice today!
Let's be honest, a lot of musicians are really poor practicers. Maybe this is what your practice session looks like; start from the beginning of the piece, make 148 million mistakes, get to the end, move on to the next thing. Then, we wonder why we are not able to perform on command in a lesson, much less on stage. It is a miracle that any of us actually advance using such poor techniques!
But there is good news! You can always improve your practice, no matter how long you’ve been playing. Yes, practicing well also takes practice! In this article, I have outlined eight practice techniques that you can use to improve your practice today! Some of them you may know, others maybe completely new. My hope is to help you make practicing not only more efficient, but more fun too!
First techniques to try
If you are just starting out (in your first or second year of playing), these techniques will be just right for you.
Slow Practice
This is the most basic, classic way to practice. By going slowly, and I mean very slowly, you will get better results from your practice. The reason for this is that when you slow down, you give your brain a chance to process the information more readily, therefore preventing mistakes, and allowing the body internalize the mechanics necessary to execute the skill needed. Once you can play the passage very slowly several times without ANY mistakes, you can then increase the tempo incrementally. Using a metronome keeps you the most honest but if one is not available, just estimate appropriate increments. Generally 10-25% increases are good. Slowing down yields faster results.
Hardest first
Raise your hand if you love playing the easy parts of your piece and avoid playing the hard bits? We’ve all been there. However, avoidance only exacerbates quality differences between your best and worst sections. Start with the stuff that sucks. None of us are immune to being bad at something, even international violin phenom Ray Chen! You can use the slow practice method above or the practice by category if you are a more advanced student, which I will lay out in more detail in the coming section. Put on a timer and hack it out for however long you can stand it. Maybe it’s just 2 minutes times 5 repetitions for a total of 10 minutes. Notice, you didn’t play through it once or twice. You need multiple executions to get it to stick. Don’t phone it in! Do the work and it pays dividends. The next time you get to your “hard” section, it won’t be nearly as difficult.
Back to Front
It is always unfortunate when a performer sounds very good for the first part of a piece, but as the piece continues, it completely unravels. Even though we perform a piece from beginning to end, you should almost NEVER practice from beginning to end (unless you are just reading through it for the first time, or you are at the polish stage and want to play through the piece to make sure everything is there and cohesive). Change where you begin. Start from the end and work to the front, or start from the hardest part, then go to the next hardest part, etc. (mentioned previously). The big takeaway from this technique is make sure every section of the piece from back to front has had adequate attention and nothing within the work or exercise feels like less prepared.
More advanced techniques
If you are a little further along in your studies, the following techniques will help you extract even more from your practice, especially if combined with the aforementioned techniques.
Chunking
This is one of my personal favorite ways to practice! If there is a small chunk of music you trip over (say a couple of measures or less), start with one note in the middle of the chunk. Master that note with slow repetition. Now add one note on either side of the original note. Master those three notes (including shifts, bow control, dynamics etc.), again using slow repetition. Now add another note on either side and repeat all the steps until you’ve covered the entire chunk. By creating short threads of notes, you have learned how to sew the passage together and undo the brain glitch that was preventing you from playing seamlessly.
Rhythmic variations
If you are struggling with complicated passage work, this technique usually fits the bill. Essentially, slightly alter the rhythm so that some notes are long and some notes are shorter than the original rhythm indicated. For example if you have a passage of sixteenth notes, practice the passage at half speed, and make all of the 16th notes change to alternating dotted sixteenth and 32nd notes. By using a long, short, long, short mixed pattern, you actually make the passage more difficult than it would actually be in context if played at speed, but the slowed tempo allows for easier execution and practice variety, therefore helping you learn the passage better. Work up the tempo as much as you can. Now, play the original rhythm. It should feel more fluid and easier. If you want a more detailed explanation of this technique don't hesitate to ask in your next lesson.
Pomodoro Method
Created by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980’s, Pomodoro is essentially a technique to maximize time efficiency. There are six steps one needs to follow:
1. Decide what you are going to work on— This can be a whole section, a small passage or even just a few bars. It also does not have to be the same passage(s) for the entire Pomodoro. Work on whatever you need. Whatever you choose, it should something you are able to focus on for a good amount of time.
2. Set a timer— the original Pomodoro time period is 25 minutes, but you can start smaller and work your way up.
3. Get to work— Work the entire period. No slacking!
4. Once the timer goes off, give yourself a checkmark either on a practice log or piece of paper.
5. If you have 4 checkmarks or less, give yourself a 3-5 minute break, AND return to step 2. The idea is you repeat the task 4 times.
6. Once you have reached 4 checkmarks give yourself a longer break, around 15-30 minutes. You can repeat the entire Pomodoro again if you wish.
This is obviously a strategy for someone who is more advanced and has more repertoire to cover, but the technique can be adapted to fit many needs. Give it a try!
Practice by category
Again, this is a technique for somebody who really wants to extract as much as possible from a particular parameter of playing. Categories could include pitch, shifting, rhythms, bowings, dynamics, and musical affect. Take one of these categories and devote a portion of your practice only to that category. As an example, one might take the cadenza of the Mendelssohn violin concerto and only practice the shifts, using only whole bows and disregarding the rhythm, dynamics, or anything else. You could combine this with Pomodoro, devoting 25 minutes to just executing the shifts slowly and as perfectly as possible in the cadenza. By the time you complete the 25 minutes, and try playing through the passage again with all the parameters back in play, the passage will likely feel much more effortless, and less clumsy in the left hand. Repeat this enough times over a few weeks, worrying about making the shifts will long be a thing of the past! As you can see, this takes a considerable of concentration, but the results attained are well worth it.
Mental Practice
I mentioned this as the last category because I feel like it is the technique most likely to be misunderstood, but there are quite a bit of benefits when done well. Let me tell you what mental practice is NOT—casually looking over your music while watching your favorite show or mentally skimming through a piece on the drive to your lesson. That is not mental practice. Mental practice is similar to meditation but instead of letting the mind be, you mentally go through the exact mechanics necessary to play a passage or even an entire piece. Olympic champion Michael Phelps does this before EVERY race. In extreme detail, he simulates the race in his mind from start to finish, counting his strokes, imagining his pulls, planning his turns, making adjustments, etc. His mental practice is timed within milliseconds of what he actually does in the pool! Talk about laser focus and accuracy! According to psychologists, the mind cannot distinguish between mentally rehearsed actions and physically done ones. The same areas of the brain fire. Athletes and musicians are very similar since we have to rely on our brain being able to execute correctly, often on only one try. I would trust a 28 time medal champion’s technique any day! If you find yourself in a situation where you cannot actually play your instrument, such as on an airplane, then this technique can come in really handy. You can also just be in your bedroom, or an any quiet place and try it out. Do your best to clear your mind of all other distractions and once you feel like you've settled try going through your selected repertoire in extreme detail, in your head. See your fingers moving, where in the bow you are, the right hand techniques you are using, vibrating particular notes, your shifts, your expression, EVERYTHING! This will likely be very difficult at first, but over time it will certainly get easier, and most importantly, it will boost your physical practice.
And that concludes 8 ways to approach your practice! So what are you waiting for? Try some of these this week! Changing your practice approach refreshes you mentally and stretches your brain. And who knows, you might find a new, favorite way to improve your practice. Happy woodshedding!
February Practice Challenge
We hope the article gave you some ideas on how you can improve your practice. Now it is time for the rubber to hit the road. All of you are already doing so well, but we wanted to up the stakes a little bit more! From February 1st-28th, we are offering our first SSS practice challenge! Here are the rules:
1. Practice as much as you can in 28 days! Even if you only have 5 minutes, make those 5 minutes count. We know it's tough! It wouldn't be a challenge otherwise!
2. Fill out our SSS Practice Challenge Chart weekly and send to info@sesekstringstudio.com. The practice challenge charts will go out at the end of January.
3. If you are 17 or under, a parent needs to sign your practice chart.
Students will be judged on:
1. The amount of time and effort logged
2. The quality of their work in relation to their current playing ability, and
3. Improvements demonstrated in the lesson
There will be one grand prize winner and an honorable mention. The winners will be announced in the March newsletter, so you gotta check it out to see if you are our winner!
Fanny’s Follies
Fanny is no longer the only poodle in the Sešek household! Yes, we have decided to further complicate our lives with ANOTHER POODLE! Introducing, Felix! As many of you know, Fanny and Felix are named after the famous Mendelssohn siblings. Both of them were accomplished composers from the early Romantic era, Felix being the more well known of the two. Fanny and Felix "Poodlessohn von Sešek" are adjusting well and look forward to meeting each of you very soon!