This is a 14-week course intended for existing students who have enrolled through the ongoing course. If you have never taken a lesson with me before, I highly encourage you to enroll through the ongoing course for at least two weeks before committing to this semester class. 

The following weekly descriptions follow a sample experience for a violin student who has taken one trial lesson through the ongoing classes, has chosen to start directly with the Suzuki Violin Method rather than Essential Elements for Strings, then enrolled directly in the semester course. More advanced students (who have completed Suzuki Book 3) will continue with a mutually-agreed upon method based on their technical needs and learning style. The piano course that I follow is the Faber Piano Adventures Method Series as I feel like the method adequately covers necessary technique and theory without too much need for supplementation, although the practice requirements and missed classes session at the end are the same for both instruments:

Week 1: Continued work on both right- and left-hand frames (holding the bow and the violin), shoulder posture, remembering the order and sound of each string on the violin, starting long tones to be able to produce a clear, open, and smooth sound with the entire bow on each string.

Week 2: Some type of placement tape is required on the fingerboard for this lesson. Students will learn how pressing down on the string changes the pitch and the names of the notes in first position on the A and E strings. The goal of this class is to be able to play a one-octave A-major scale and to understand the concept of intonation. 

Week 3: This week we will learn how to read notes contained within the staff on the treble clef, continuing through the notes found in first position on the E string. Students should be able to quickly correspond a note on a flashcard with the correct finger and bow placement on the violin, using the tools learned in class. We will also go over the concept of beats and a couple of simple rhythms.

Week 4: Once the previous three topics feel comfortable (this may take more or less time than listed), we will go on to the first song in Suzuki Book 1. We will only play the “theme” for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. At this stage the student is not expected to be able to read notes independently, and we will learn this song through repetition and ear training as well as enforcing the previous concepts. 

Week 5: For Long, Long, Ago we will start learning about rhythm and how to count half and quarter notes. Students should continue practicing the A major scale and long tones on each string.

Week 6: Song of the Wind will introduce the concept of 8th notes, supplemented with exercises from during class. We will also start a separate exercise to introduce the 4th finger.

Week 7: Rhythm, note reading, tone, and general technique exercises will continue through Go Tell Aunt Rhody and Long, Long Ago.

Week 8: Allegro will be used to start working on various bow articulations to produce different sounds.

Week 9: Perpetual Motion will be used to focus an even detache bowing style, adding the 4th finger into regular use.

Week 10: Students will learn a D major scale and be introduced to the concept of key signatures, followed by the song Allegretto to begin working fluently on the D and G strings. At this point technical exercises will include at least: D-major scale in one octave, 4-finger scale on all strings, and long tones. Additional exercises will be provided to supplement technical needs. 

Week 11: Andantino will provide additional practice on and comfort with the lower strings of the violin.

Week 12: Students will learn a G-major scale and review key signatures and music theory concepts by age-appropriate level. My goal is always to provide students with a slightly more advanced understanding than necessary to allow for easier integration of concepts later on. 

Week 13: Etude will allow students to practice the two different placements of the second finger required to play in the key of G major. 

Week 14: Minuet 1 will include a more advanced requirement for sight-reading ability. We will introduce the concept of phrasing and educated decision-making with regard to musicality. Students will be introduced to vibrato exercises at this point.

Week 15: Minuet 2 will include a lesson on fundamental music analysis, depending on the absorption of previous music theory concepts. Minuet 3 will be taught depending on if the student feels like playing another Minuet. 

Week 16: Happy Farmer and Gavotte are show pieces meant to be slightly challenging. We will learn about more musical figures including 16th notes and grace notes, as well as independence in musicality. By the end of Suzuki book one, students will be able to play with an open, sonorous, and sweeping tone, be mostly independent in sight-reading, and have the capacity to make educated decisions regarding musicality and self-expression in their sound. 

Please note that this timeline is exclusively for the benefit of the class description. While I have found that my students tend to advance quickly with sufficient practice time, it will most likely take around 6-months to complete the first book of the Suzuki method if one is advancing at an extremely diligent pace. 

Practice requirements: Your progression as a student is dependent on how much, and most especially how well you practice. For the first few weeks, I only expect 2-3 minutes of DAILY practice, an intentionally short time intended to focus on habit formation over an obsession over total practice time. By the end of this course, the expectation is for a minimum of 30 minutes of daily practice, give or take a student’s schedule or mood for that day.