Today’s Studio Makeover Challenge is SILLY!!!!
Think of something zany to do when a student makes a mistake…like
~dying groaning noises/fake falling out of your chair when they play a b natural,instead of b flat in the key of F. Practice doing it if you are not that type of teacher. At the end of the piece you could thank them for fixing the mistakes (like you have been magically healed!)
~using puppets to get students to play faster or slower (i have a turtle and a rabbit for this purpose)
~with violin students I sometimes become a human metronome (kneeling on the ground swaying back and forth) or will mimic the movement of the bow with my whole body while kneeling
~Come up with some funny sayings…instead of saying something is wrong i’ll make a funny noise like a “raspberry” or a buzzer noise. there are sound machine apps for this too if you just can’t bring yourself to make those crazy noises!
Here is a fun way to try to play memory–I tell them to put on their “Memory Hat” the first time they try a piece memory. Pictured below are Miss M and Sir B with their “memory hats” on! My students use many different methods but mostly Bastien (not memorized) and Suzuki (always memorized and reviewing) Links to lots of books I use are here: https://violinjudy.com/current-students/books-piano/
After you think of your silly things to do, jot a note down and post it where you’ll see it and be sure to remember to implement these unique strategies!
Thanks for joining me in my Studio Makeover Challenge!
