Friday, April 11, 2008

Learning While Listening


My daughter is in the Suzuki violin program. The program is very structured and somewhat rigid. There are a series of books in the program that are leveled to the ability of the student. All students start at the first book and then move up as they demonstrate mastery of all the songs in the book they are working on.

In addition to regular practice it is recommended that the students listen to the music from the books on a regular basis. This technique helps them to be familiar with the music, rhythms, etc. Sabi is currently finishing book 3 and moving into book 4.

Today, we are home sick. I am having Sabi work on test prep. I thought it would be good to play the CD for Book 4 while she was busy working away. It was a bit of a distraction to her at first. I didn't tell her that I was putting the CD on. She immediately recognized it and asked if it was the Book 4 CD. As the music continued, she reacted very interestingly. At first she was a bit worried because she said it sounded hard. I didn't say anything and just pretended to work away at my computer while I watched her. She then started tapping the music out and I could tell that she was trying to figure out the technique for the song that was playing. When the next track on the CD came on she was excited because it was a song that she really liked. We are on
the sixth track of the CD now. She has returned to her test prep but is much more focused on her work . Every now and then though she will conduct with her pencil in between solving another math problem. I love it!

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