When learning new pieces, challenge yourself to not trudge through it from start to finish. In fact, don’t start at the beginning at all! Find the hardest spots in the music (your teacher can help you do this, too!) Then, break it up into manageable chunks (perhaps one measure, perhaps just two notes). Then add notes, and measures onto that spot gradually until you’ve learned the difficult spot.

Now, here’s the trick to make it fun – shake it up! When practicing day in and day out, our minds often get bored with the same routines and approaches. Engaging our creativity for motivation is where it’s at! Your brain learns by repetition, so any way to make doing repetitions of the small “chunks” in the piece more interesting will help us learn things faster. My tried-and-true way to do this is the “penny game”. I always keep 10 pennies on my stand. Every time I play a small chunk correctly (correct rhythm, notes, intonation, etc.) I put a penny on one side of the stand. If I make even a small mistake, I put a penny on the other side. (Mind you, if I can’t seem to get any on the “right” side, I know I need to break it up into a smaller, more manageable steps.) Stacking dominoes is always fun – you get to place a domino in a line for every correct repetition, then when you’ve reached your goal, you get to topple them over! A few of my students have reported playing the stairs game (this works for instruments that you can play while standing.) Every time you play a correct repetition, you can go up a step. If you get something wrong, go down a step. When you get to the top of the steps, you get to have a mini-celebration, such as playing your favorite piece (or for some of my students, a fiddle tune!)

Use your creativity and have fun! Break it up and shake it up!

Hi! My name is Christine Dunaway and I am a Suzuki Method violin and viola teacher with 10 years teaching experience. I am moving in July 2009 from Seattle, Washington, where I am currently the Director of The Suzuki Academy at Seattle Music Center, to Brisbane, Australia.

I am looking for students in Brisbane who want violin lessons or viola lessons starting in July 2009. I teach students from age 4 up to adults and from beginners to advanced. Please feel free to review the testimonials written by some of the parents of my students in Seattle, peruse some photos of me teaching my students, and review my credentials.

So if you are looking for a violin teacher in Brisbane, please email me for more information or to ask any questions at christinedunaway@gmail.com. You can also read more about my qualifications on my About page.