More than Twinkle

Violin lessons started back in full swing last month. The first group lesson of the semester was a disaster. The seven children, 5 to 7 years, proceeded to follow Ms. Kristin's lead and play various rhythms and Twinkle Twinkle. The boys have been struggling with moving from the E string to the D on the A string... they can do it just fine, but they need a pause to do so. Well, the group didn't pause. Addison handled things very well. He just hung out until he could jump in somewhere else. Asa, on the other hand, had a meltdown. You could see it in his face. He honestly felt like every one else in the group had nailed it and that he was the only one who couldn't do it. He felt like everyone was looking at him. He paniced and he ran to me. I felt horrible. Later in the practice, Ms. Kristin had them go around the room and each student played the next note to Twinkle Twinkle... The first child played the A, second played E, and so on. This was nothing that we had practiced before. The older kids did great, but mine were struggling. Asa especially. I tried to explain to him that it will just take practice, and that everyone up there is struggling with something, and that no one up there is doing it perfectly. It didn't seem to help. He was mortified that he couldn't keep up.

That week, we worked on getting the trouble spot down as well as how to "sneak" back in when you get lost. We spent the week making tons of progress. I did realize that, although "sneaking back in" is an excellent lesson to learn (not just with music, but with anything... if you get lost, just find out where to jump back in and don't worry about it), to call it "sneaking" made Asa think that he couldn't get caught doing this or he would be in trouble. "What if they catch me?" he asked. I tried to explain that it was a good thing to do, and that even grown ups need to sneak back in every now and then.

The next week we saw so much improvement! Asa was BEAMING! As stressed out and frustrated as he was the week before, he was equally proud of himself then. His practice at jumping from the A to the D on the E string payed off and he was reaping the benefits. We had even practiced the "going around the room", which went very well. At home, the boys and I had our violins and Jeff had the piano... we went in rounds playing each note to Twinkle, just like in class. I also used my violin to play the intro- just like in group class- so Asa and Addison could more easily translate home practices into the group setting. To see both boys, but Asa in particular, find self-reward in their practice just thrilled me to no end. This isn't just a music lesson, they are learning that even when things seem impossible, if you just put some effort in and practice, you can do it.

For the last 2 weeks, Ms. Kristin has been out of town and we have had a substitute for group lessons. Personally, I felt frustration over the language barrier with the new instructor, as well as frustration over her assumptions. (We parents had to explain to her that the students had no idea what she was asking them to do because we had not yet gotten to the point of knowing which finger position equalled which note). Although it was frustrating and hard, the boys stood their ground. The older kids had a much easier time. There's a big difference between 5 and 6 or 7! But this time, when Asa ran to me int he middle of class, he wasn't near tears and wanting to quit. He did so to ask me if we could please practice this at home!

Last night, we practiced Twinkle and the boys wanted to video tape it. It was almost bedtime, so they weren't as "on the ball" as normal, but I think watching the video will help them find areas where they can improve. Ms. Becca had jury duty this week, so we did not have a private lesson. As we sat at the dinner table last night, Asa looked up and told me that he really wanted to see Ms. Becca soon so he can show her what he has worked on. He made me call her right then to ask if we could meet the next day. Hopefully, we can. If not, we will on Tuesday.

At dinner, Asa also brought up the fact that not every student in group lessons has Ms. Becca for a private teacher. He said that some kids had Ms. Kristin, and some had Raphael... but according to Asa, he is very very glad that he has Ms. Becca. I don't know how far away she is from moving on from the Community Music School, but for our sake I hope we have some time!