Congratulations to M for a successful audition into the All-State Wind Symphony!
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No snow yet this year here, but we'll be on winter break from December 19-January 1. I wish you all some restful time with family, and look forward to seeing everyone in 2024!
I will be checking email over the break, so if you have any questions about schedule for the new year, or anything music-related, just ask! Mark your calendars for Sunday, February 11th! Time frame is 2-6pm, with specific times TBA in Jan. It will be at the Kirkland Woman's Club: 407 1st St, Kirkland WA, 98033.
We will be off from lessons Dec 19-Jan 1st so we all can enjoy some restorative time with family during these short winter days. For the first time in a while I have a few openings! I'm now back in my Redmond studio at The Music Haven (in the Village Square) on Tuesdays and while the day is booking up quickly, I still have room for a few more students, in the late afternoon-early evening hours.
It's a great time to schedule a couple of months of lessons for kids who are in the band but are struggling. (It's also good for those who have picked it up really quickly and could use some additional challenge.) Most of my students are long-term, but I really enjoy working with kids to catch them up and help them enjoy band. It usually takes 2-3 months to get caught up and confident, with consistent home practice. If this sounds like something I can help out with, give me a call! Every year around this time I have conversations with students where they share with me family plans for the upcoming Winter Break. Many spend time with extended family. While I don't assign homework over breaks as a general rule, I do encourage them to play music. (Sometimes parents ask me to assign extra homework and I assign free choice playing and watching videos of their favorite performers.) But the main encouragement I give them is to share their music with their family and guests. I ask them who is visiting, or who they are going to visit, and what these people might really enjoy hearing. I make sure they have a few pieces that they feel comfortable sharing. For those with other musicians in the family we talk about what they can play with others, or if they have music their family can sing along to.
For some students, however, extended family is far away. For these I ask if they can perhaps share some music over a video call, or record something to send. Most of us are pretty far removed from a culture where music is something frequently shared informally, so we talk about the pre-internet (and pre-electricity) days, when it was a more common thing to do. I still see it in families where it is encouraged, so I like to at least plant the seed- and help kids understand just how much joy they can give their grandparents (aunties and uncles, little cousins...) by sharing their music! If you study music with me, you'll know I value more than just logging hours practicing. If the sun comes out here in the PNW, go enjoy it! There will be time to practice. And, your practice will be more inspired and relaxed because of the time you took to go outdoors and enjoy nature. One of my favorite outdoor activities is biking. I try to plan my days so that there is time to get out and enjoy the sunshine when it does come out. I hope you will, too!
I haven't had a lot to say here in the blog, but I'm still here! At this time I don't have any in-person openings for the fall, but may have a couple of online openings. I am happy to add you to a waitlist if you're looking for a teacher, but I recommend you contact as many teachers as possible if you want to get started.
I will also share something about waitlists. For private lessons, it's a little different than a school or daycare due to the fact that lessons are schedule-dependent. Meaning that if a teacher has an opening and you are 5th on the waitlist, if that opening doesn't work for the first four, you're in luck! So having a flexible schedule will help you find a teacher quicker. Unfortunately it seems to be hard to find a teacher with openings recently, so just keep asking around and get on a few waitlists if no one has an opening right away. I found this- just the title- in my drafts. I'm not sure where I was headed with it, but it really is the answer to so many things, in music and otherwise. If you want to get better, if you feel like you've lost motivation, if the music just isn't making sense to you- the answer is probably: practice.
But repetition does not guarantee improvement. To quote flutist Marcel Moyse, "It is a question of time, patience, and intelligent work". I think most of us understand we will need patience when learning a musical instrument- though patience comes harder to some of us than others. But intelligent work is a concept we can get a lot of leverage out of. Not only in music, but that is another topic. The importance of intelligent work was brought home to me one day long ago when I overheard a young music student "practice" the violin for a half hour. Most of the time was spent taking the instrument out, tuning, getting the music ready...and then playing each song with mistakes, one time. The child fumbled through the hard parts, and at the end played her favorite song (the one she already played well) several times. Hmm. I learned something. I learned that we need to "let" (encourage) kids to play their favorite pieces for enjoyment after they are mastered. But I also learned there is a lot that can be learned about practicing intelligently. Which is why if you've ever innocently asked me how much time your child should practice, I will give a squishy answer. (If now you are curious what my answer is, days per week is more important than time per day- and at the beginning if you want to measure something, you can measure repetitions, despite what I just said about repetition not guaranteeing improvement.) If you want to practice efficiently, the #1 "hack" or easiest/laziest/most efficient way to improve is to LISTEN. Listen do as many different versions of the piece you are learning as you can. Look at the music while listening, listen with your eyes closed, listen and finger along on your instrument. Try recording yourself and listening back. My #2 recommendation is to find the parts that need extra practice. I know it's more fun to play the whole piece. Play it once all the way through at the end. But before that, focus on the bits that need smoothing out, or speeding up, or just some extra work. Ask your teacher to help you find these spots. Usually you'll know where most of them are already, but you may not notice if you're missing a rhythm or slowing a tempo- that's where a teacher's guidance comes in. My #3 recommendation is chunking. I gave a presentation about this at Flute Boot Camp, and then we all tried it out in practice sessions. It involves spending just a couple of focused minutes on one small and specific thing, then moving onto the next one. Think of it like a circuit or HIIT workout for music practice. Once you are finished practicing several small things, you start with the first thing again, and the switching keeps your mind engaged and not fatigued or distracted- and thus, your practice is more efficient. Do this again a half a day or a full day later and your brain makes connections and remembers the correct and improved way you practiced. And one more recommendation- if you study with me you've heard it way too many times. Change something up. This ties in with the last tip. If you change something your brain is more likely to stay focused and not wander on to what is for dinner or what homework you need to do afterward. Things you can change: articulation, touch, dynamics, body position, audience, tempo, backing beats. Be creative! I hope that sparked a desire to make your next practice session more efficient by using the principle of intelligent work. Happy practicing! I've been using Fons for over a year now for scheduling. After an initial learning curve (for myself and my students), I really appreciate being able to schedule lessons without the back and forth of the dreaded scheduling by email. This way I don't make a mistake, and students can immediately cancel a lesson and see what's available to schedule into. It saves a lot of time and hassle!
If you want to try out Fons for your business, here is a referral link. They have free onboarding and responsive customer service: https://fons.com/join/@mariyalincoln Yes, we are going to have our first in-person recital in over two years- I'm looking forward to it! I've booked the gorgeous historic Kirkland Woman's Club building for June 4th. I'm hoping for a beautiful sunny day like the one when the photos below were taken so we can open up to fresh air and enjoy refreshments outdoors. (If you know me and my studio- there will be plenty of yummy refreshments.) :)
Current students, look for an email from me this week with further details. And I'll see you in-person on June 4th! |
AuthorHi! My name is Mariya, and I teach flute and piano lessons in Redmond, WA and online. Here I share thoughts about learning music and helping others learn how to play an instrument. Archives
December 2023
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