Teaching group violin classes have always left me unsatisfied and wondering what could I have done better or more of. Since this is my first experience teaching young kids at the Atrium School, I am overwhelmed at how fast time flies and how much more “stuff” we have to learn by the end of the day.
Yesterday’s lesson was exciting for the most part: the kids get to play notes with their fingers! In preparation for this important milestone, and based on how little Miranda starting learning her left hand, we used a poem about blackbirds to help organize our fingers. It’s essential in the beginning to draw numbers on the digits (1, 2, and 3) on the knuckle nearest the fingernail to make the connection visually and physically. Now we introduce the poem and model the movements:
Three little blackbirds flying to a tree [wiggle fingers in air]
swing that branch and pop down “3″ [pull left elbow in, third finger touches thumb]
touch “2″, pop off “3″ [second finger touches thumb and release third finger]
touch “1″, pop off “2″
pop off “1″
fly away and come back soon. [wiggle fingers in air]
After many repetitions (and the words get stuck into their brains), transfer the learned tactile movements to a bouncy ball, the shoulder of the violin, and finally to the neck where the tapes are. It’s important to emphasize the left hand posture for each of the three locations–relaxed, pliable and strong curved fingers.
The left hand position at the neck can also be taught using the same “tree” analogy. Since the left arm/elbow is the swinging branch, the left hand serves as a “hanging nest” that is open, not cupping the neck of the violin which many young students have fault with. Where do we put our left hands on the neck? Use the STRAIGHT left thumb as a guide and place it next to finger tape #1 which corresponds to blackbird #1, tape #2 = 2nd finger, etc. Make sure the thumb is not sticking up above the fingerboard because a “tunnel” is needed for the nest (spacing underneath the neck). I’m sure this is much too detailed and analytical for some, but I think the analogy is good for those who have trouble visualizing how to hold the violin at the neck.
When placing fingers on the strings, it reminds me of “tight-rope walking” or seeing actual birds resting on electric wires over the roadways. But unlike those birds sitting in random spots on the wires (or seemingly so), the fingers on the strings have certain resting spots… the tapes! In my private lessons, I generally only use tapes for the first and third fingers because in many early levelpieces, the second finger is that one that moves around the most: sometimes “best buddies” with third finger and sometimes with first finger. Geez, #2 really gets along with everybody! Anyways, back to group classes, the kids need all three tapes and should know that #2 and 3 are best buddies… for now.
