Suzuki Moms Unite

The purpose of this post is mostly to document and explain how to modify the Suzuki Method to accommodate our adorable non-linear learners.

First I would like to introduce the concept of the wet cement....
When a child first learns a new tune or piece...it is as if the child, parent and teacher are starting out with clean, freshly laid wet cement. Schinichi Suzuki rightfully uses listening to imprint the cement with the knowledge of the piece that comes from listening...and the recording never makes a mistake....there are no wrong steps in the cement.

When I started my non-linear learner (Isaaiah) on a new piece when she was little. I made sure that we didn't make ANY wrong steps in the cement. We sang the notation with the correct note sounds in the car. I would sing the first two lines or so in the car...asking them to sing along...but I was singing louder than they were....I would sing at least 10 times through....then I would start to drop out on a few letters to see if the kids were on track (asking them to sing loud)...After that I would sing with one child and then with the other. Eventually I would ask each child to sing the begining on their own, then we would sing it together, and then the other child would sing on their own, then we would sing together. I would sing the correct note loudly if they went off track...and we wouldn't speak of any mistakes. Do not call attention to mistakes (it deepens the mark in the cement)

After I had each child confidently singing the first line or so by themself...We would pretend to play the correct fingers on our INVISIBLE VIOLINS. Invisible violins do not wreck the cement. Of course I did this in the car, and couldn't see if they were correct on their invisible violins, but their errors are not glaring and they improve with finger accuracy if you are singing slowly enough.

Sometimes we wouldn't pick up the real violin, or work on the new tune, until I felt that I had an 89% chance of having no errors. Then as this video will show...I would sing the note and the notation before Isaaiah could make a mistake. This video is after she played this tune for a while....she is playing faster, but still struggling with what comes next.

If the child plays a wrong note...sing the correct note...louder than they are playing it...and go forward...do not call attention to the error.




If a non-linear style learning child has gotten hopelessly entangled in errors in a song....it is better to leave it....and do a better job of preventing problems on the next song. Note order, and remembering section orders is an ongoing challenge...having problems with this is normal for any child. A linear learner will use cognitive clues to figure out what to do next...and Non-linear learner will play along with the music in their head...which has hopefully been laid cleanly down.

When I talked to teachers about a child's learning style, I mostly got blank stares...when I talked about the cement....I got blank stares. If I had let the teacher TEACH my child....we would have had a disaster...I always hurried to prepare my child enough so that the teacher wouldn't cause damage to the cement during the lesson. It was a little nerve racking.

Here are some Suzuki play through videos showing Lorita having fun with the kids in Book 1.


In the previous video, Lorita is helping the children remember to lift the bow, by associating it with a happy thought...the parents stand up and clap on the lift...and the children feel in control ....GENIUS!!

In the next video, Loretta is leading the children a world tour with Aunt Rhody, they go to Egypt (low ones), Antartica....and some other places, changing the style of Aunt Rhody to match the geography or custom. In Antartica...Aunt Rhody is freezing that is why the children are playing like shivering....



Lorita did many other amazing things with music, now I wish I had documented them all. I'll try to remember more or find more video.

The Oregonian

The article in the Oregonian came out this morning!!!!!...(I was starting to wonder if they had forgotten about us)...it was such a well written and pleasing article that I called Kristi Turnquist right away to compliment her on the writing and presentation....well I left a message...
So this video is pretty cute....

Isaaiah Ruby Jean Baltzell plays the fiddle

Hold onto Your Socks.....

The kids are learning their new fiddle tunes for the upcoming year and beyond. Both kids have learned 2 new hoedowns, 3 new waltzes, and they already had new tunes of choices ...Runaway Fiddle and Fiddudulin....So you are going to love these new tunes, and they are difficult. Blue Valley Waltz is really beautiful. Gabriel has taken his tunes to a whole new level. He was so ready to lay the old tunes down and get some new ones....he sounds like a much more mature fiddler on his new waltzes...especially his favorite: "Crying Waltz" Scott Esty has been working with him on music skills that have universal application, but are originating in Fiddle. Eileen is teaching and editing the kids on the tunes, and Scott is helping Gabriel emmensely with the artistry. I wish I had a video of Gabriel playing Crying Waltz...and you will see why old tunes need to be shed like a snake skin, so the new shiney tunes can come out.

So anyway when I get a video of Gabriel playing this I'll post it...

But I did get a video of Isaaiah playing Crafton's Blues for the first time for Eileen and Jeff today. Gabriel is learning this tune too, it is challenging because there is no music....no written music....and Isaaiah and Gabriel hardly get any time with their fiddle teacher...they share an hour 2x a month. So they need to learn this from the recording...and I also have a video of Eileen playing it. So Isaaiah said that it is pretty difficult to learn from a recording or video when the speed is so fast. She had to push herself to learn a small chunk everyday from the video, by playing the video...and then humming the part she needed to learn next. Then she said she kept humming it while she felt around for the notes...then she played it over and over again until she wouldn't forget it anymore...and only learned one new chunk each day. Well she finished it..(its been a month)...and she ended up creating a new version. It sounded great...but Eileen wanted to make sure that she didn't take to much artistic liscence and change it so much that it wouldn't follow the chord structure that it needs to adhere to. So we called Jeff Walters in from the Garage where he was building bicycles to play it with Isaaiah this first time...check it out.

Listen to these Duets!

Isaaiah's new teacher Clarisse Atcherson introduced these easyish duets as a sight reading exercise for Isaaiah. Isaaiah shares her scales, Intermediate Position Studies, and Double Stop studies with Gabriel, and Gabriel helps her with her sight reading and theory (rhythm mostly). So Gabriel learned the other half of the duets that Isaaiah was learning, and the kids have been having a great time playing the duets.

It is a tribute to their character, that they have worked these duets up individually and together with no help from grownups. The kids' ability to work together is amazingly professional....after years of carefully preserving and setting rules about how to work together and reinforcing the rules.....the kids have great skills in working musically together. The more that I stay out of the way...the more fun they have.

I have been hearing these duets around the house for sometime and found the time to videotape them today before the kids had their lessons at CMC.

Festival March



Minuet in G...Abraham and Ezra probably recognize this one!

The Boys have Gone..but we still have pictures...

We took the boys to the train, and sent them off with hugs and snacks. They are starting school next week, and Kevin was excited to see his new drum set that he ordered and had sent to Santa Maria. He wanted the drum set for a while and he made it happen by earning his own money this summer. Despite dismal employment statistic, and his lack of experience...Kevin made us very proud working for NBH. NBH was impressed with Kevin's willingness to work hard and try new things and are holding a job for him to claim when he comes back to Portland. The boys also worked this summer at The Bite with their successful entrepreneur and fantastic chef Uncle Mike who created and runs "Adam's Ribs" in Salem. Jason was reputed to be an astonishingly willing and helpful worker, and Kevin and Markie made their Uncle and their Dad proud and had a great time. Here are pictures from this summer...some that I might not have posted yet. I tried to photograph the skateboarding...it is difficult to do...Markie knows some great tricks and he and Jason were teaching Gabriel some of the begining parts of tricks. Kevin is pictured creatively enjoying the tinfoil that previously covered the front door (during the scorching heat wave).


We miss the boys already and hope that they have a great school year in Santa Maria.

Isaaiah's first TKD Belt Test

This is a video from earlier...her first sparring and first learning of the form...but it is in celebration of her white belt yellow stripe. Great Job Zayah!
This video isn't working, but the reason is mysterious so I am going to post it anyway and hope that it begins to work in the near future. Isaaiah has made several TKD friends, but her main little friend (don't know her name..she isn't pictured or filmed here)...is so tiny and cute...and she looks exactly like Uncle Tony's TKD instructor of decades ago...only miniturized into a girl age 7 or so.....but both girls are very serious about TKD

A few more animations....

Here is an animation that Kevin made when he was about 12....Kevin ...immediately grasped the continuity of the animation story, and he worked up three different backgrounds, and his character changed shape many times. None of these possibilities had been presented to him, he thought of all of them naturally...by himself....



Here is one that Gabriel made when he was quite young, 6 or 7...he was drawing pictures on the computer using the paint programs that comes with windows...and he drew and changed these photos...saving along the way...



I am uploading all of the animations that Jason made when he was little. He was the most eager animator, and prolific....he always had a new idea for animation...I had forgotten this until I had trouble finding his animations on my hard drive....then I remembered his sweet enthusiasm...I could barely keep finding the time to edit the photos of his artwork, and to arrange the animations. I wish I still had the energy that I did to mine their creativity that I did when they were smaller.

Hey, I got the animations uploaded...here is one of Jasons from around 2004. I think these animations were inspired by wrestling...and boystuff like that. This one plays a little faster than I remember...oh well..






Here is an animation I did, using some digital artwork that I found lying around..and a photo of Isaaiah. It is about 7 or 8 frames long..

Ancient Animation Festival

This animation is made from pictures that I took of Gabriel and Isaaiah playing in a cardboard airplane that I made...as you can see they have a map...and Isaaiah has a bike pump which she is using to make mid-air repairs...with her safety helmet on of course. I used Paint Shop Pro to erase the background of the original photo of them playing in the house...then I created my background..and I moved the digital photo with the erased background slowly across...the background...saving the photos as I went.

These animations are posted in honor of friend Bryce Hanson....I love making these animations. These are made with Paint Shop Pro 7 animation. I searched for free animation software...and I think there are some..I just didn't finish my search.


So here is another animation I made after the airplane was painted and on this day beloved friend Trinity came to play..so all of the kids went for a flight together over Union Station.



So you know that after you upload a gif to photobucket...that you must complete the end tag....it should make you feel like an html geek anyway...

Here is another animation I made...Chess is the subject...I saw a chess animation loop that inspired me to improve the concept by having the queen and the knight playing an animation loop. I drew this picture, put it in Paint Shop Pro...and erased and redrew parts of the picture digitally...saving it as I went. Then used the animation wizard to produce the GIF



Here is an early animation created and produced by Gabriel in 2004...so he was 6. I had met my husband Mark, and was sharing the animation concept with all of the kids to their amazement...so I'll be finding more kid examples of animation...polish sausage...

(never miss a chance to say "polish sausage")




This is an oil pastel painting that has been digitally altered and changed photo by photo...it was a valentine's animation..


There are many more animations that I made, but this one is the most complex digitally....Using Paint Shop Pro...I used many layers to change the texture and color slowly of this pink lady (I took the photo at Last Thursday on Alberta)...the little metal creatures are something that I created from a digital photo,...turning it metallic and taking the photo apart so that I could make the legs move on each little one, and change its size...in each frame. I'll post the frames in a slideshow eventually.

Oaks Park and Our Song Writing Contest

Well, about the songwriting contest first. Jason and Isaaiah won our first songwriting contest with their captivating..."Leisure Gulch". There was a little 4th grade humor on that video..so I was hesitant to share it. But this is our second Songwriting Contest..and at this writing we are still waiting for Gabriel to submit his entry...However, the Judges feel confident in awarding Jason Adams the "They Must Be Giant John Prine Award"...for his great song; "Trapped In A Box". Jason carries on the fine tradition of tongue in cheek songwriting...and self depreciating humor...Jason also made great use of the classic guitar chord turnaround!!Great Job Jason! (I am not sure why the video is so dark, it happened as it uploaded...)




Isaaiah wins the "Most Thought Provoking" Songwriting award, with her ballad " I want to Try Life" Which included nice song phrasing and ambitious poetry.



Here is Gabriel's Songwriting entry, Gabriel wins the WindhamCeltFest Songwriting award. Congratulations Gabriel!



Kevin wrote some nice music for this contest, naturally I had trouble filming and uploading it...so I might get a chunk of it up pretty soon. He is working on lyrics so hopefully we'll see that pretty soon.

The video will be here...when I get it....this video includes the second half of Kevin's music...the first half was lost into data oblivion...but it was cool


I also finally got a video of Markie's music...he had an audio recording on his aiptek, and was willing to do a reinactment of actually playing the music...Atanos Thilnoom


Its "buy on get one ride bracelet free day" at Oaks Parks every Tuesday. Kevin wasn't with us...but he was having a blast on a 5 hour each way road trip with his dad to go and fix a machine that Mark has never seen before. The people with the machine paid $500 just to pay for Mark's transportation to the site. Kevin and Mark got to stay in a nice hotel that even had a swimming pool. So don't worry they were having fun while we went to Oaks Park.

Markie, Jason and Isaaiah like to ride rides that make me dizzy to watch. Gabriel joined them on some of the medium crazy rides...and Gabriel also rode the bumper cars so many times that he became skilled at steering bumper cars.

Chalkboard Mural Art

Kid Art on the chalkboard wall that I painted recently. I painted Isaaiah's practice room quickly because the Oregonian was coming to take pictures and video...so I hurried up and made the room look better...and the kids had a great time coloring all over it...

I even started an oil pastel drawing...on black paper..


Markie drew the aliens around Mt. Hood, Jay drew the underwater scene, Gabriel drew the Shuttle in several stages of take of and eventually drew the space station many decades from now, Isaaiah drew buildings and roads, and Kevin drew the Moon...to which Gabriel later added a Moon Colony...Higgens didn't draw anything because he doesn't have opposable digits....but I guess Higgens gets the last laugh...because I don't know how to spell opposable...

Okay...Vintage photo and Video time

and this video...I found by accident in a forgotten folder today....Isaaiah says that it is from Suzuki Book 3...I am not sure what year this was



and this video I found of Gabriel when he is just learning the twinkles...what a great little guy...



Gabriel and Isaaiah both got a blue ribbon in their fiddle divisions Saturday at the Benton County Fair. This morning Kristi Turnquist and Faith (a photographer)from the Oregonian came to interview Isaaiah about music and her National Small Fry Championship, they watched her practice and chatted with her about life and even looked at her favorite dolls. They got to listen to the kids play twin fiddle and Gabriel played by himself as well. Right now the kids are all upstairs playing and drawing with chalk on the big chalkboard painted wall that I made...

Willamette Valley Fiddle Contest

Many Grandparents came out to visit this little fiddle contest under the shades of the oak trees at the Benton County Fair Ground. Grandma Janet and Zeke came out to see Isaaiah and Gabriel's first round. Grandpa John and Grandma Shelly came out and stayed all day. Markie, Kevin and Jay love this contest because we usually get into the fair free, and the contest provides pastries in the morning. I think that old time music is growing on the boys and they are great sports.

Isaaiah was unsure whether she was going to compete in the Championship division and compete against grownups and teenagers....We finally decided that the Pee Wee round would be the most fun for her....and she played fantastically.


Gabriel was excited to compete....Each time Gabriel went on stage there was some huge off stage distraction...One time there was loud screaming from the roller coaster, another time a huge fire engine fired up the giant diesel engines and slowly...slowly....slowly moved. Gabriel was solid as a rock...braving the temperatures, braving the stage, braving the unusual happenings...There was a new kid from Alaska ...a fine fiddler at the fair this year... and the great fiddler Willika...as well as fine fiddling friends Summer and Bryce Hansen and others in his division. Gabriel was so happy with his first place finish!

Isaaiah won her division as well...two blue ribbons!

But here is a slideshow that I made with Movie Maker...Pictures of Family and Friends..Mom and Zeke were there too...I'm sorry that I didn't get pictures with them to include here.