April Attention

Dear Parents And Students:

First of all 

to everyone who played for Federation on Saturday!!!

May I draw your attention to the printed April calendar for the Godfrey Violin and Viola Studio  The April schedule is unusual due to Easter on April 20.  Violin Group Lessons are April 12.  April 14-18 there are NO LESSONS except for a few makeup lessons.  The third week of April lessons is April 21-25.  April 28 begins the first week of May lessons.  Please let me know if you have conflicts.

Ballet West is running again.  Next week I have rehearsals every night.  This conflicts with the Monday and Tuesday lessons after 6:30pm.  Those lessons will be rolled over to April 14-15 as makeups.

The final registration deadline for the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute is tomorrow.  I do think that if you apply in April, even up to May you will be accepted.  This exceptional Institute welcomes enrollment!

Next month the Utah Youth Symphony and the Young Artists Chamber Players are holding auditions. These are two of the finest youth orchestra organizations in the state.  Both offer more than one performing ensemble.  YACP in particular offers three performing groups in order to give students at all levels the exciting and formative experience of playing in a wonderful musical group.  Go to their websites for detailed information.  I recommend orchestra membership to all of my students!! It is FUN to play in orchestra!!
You can find other performing opportunities with the Jordan Youth Symphony and the Granite Youth Symphony.

Violin Olympics

Violin Group Lessons on February 22 were a lot of fun.  In the Twinkle Group we earned gold medals for best bow hold (Olivia A) best bow game (Mason) best Twinkle variation (Olivia G) best Fiddle song (Ethan) best Lightly Row (Sabrina) and even more Twinkle events!  We played "London Bridge is Falling Down" and Chantelle got the gold medal for getting under the bridge the most times without getting caught!!

In the Book 1-2 group we had a great time playing the Olympic Theme by ear and even the first phrase of our national anthem,. The Star Spangled Banner.  We practiced some pieces from Book 1 such as "O Come Little Children", "May Song:" and "Long Long Ago".  We reviewed our Song Words to Book 1 pieces and we played a lot of Book 2 such as "Musette" and "Hunters Chorus".  Everyone earned a gold medal for an excellent violin technique such as keeping the bow on the highway, good dynamics "piano" and "forte" with crescendos, or good Giddy Up bows on Hunters Chorus.

Miss Ruth earns a gold medal for good teaching early on a Saturday morning!

In the Book 3-5 Group we played The Star Spangled Banner in a beautiful duet version.  We also sight read national anthems from the countries which received many medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics such as Canada, Austria, Germany and Russia.

Some of our music from Advanced Group and Books 3-5

In the Advanced Group we got a lot accomplished on well known work called Canon by Johann Pachelbel, a German composer from the Baroque era or pre-1700's.  We studied and marked the fingerings and bowings.  We noticed that the three violin parts are exactly the same except for a few bars of music at the end.  Each part enters exactly two measures behind the one before it.  The Advanced Ensemble will give a wonderful performance of this piece on the Spring Recital.

Erik, Victoria, Shalese and Whitney at the Advanced Ensemble

  

Wonderful Opportunity

Group Lessons are extremely important!

Here are some great reasons for coming to Violin Group this Saturday January 25:

• Socialize with other students in the studio. Make new friends!
• Learn to play in tune and in rhythm with other violinists.
• Learn to follow the leader in a group.
• Learn music theory.  
• Get better at major and minor scales and arpeggios.
• Practice notereading and sightreading.
• Review pieces.  Get ready for the Graduation Concert February 4th at Juan Diego High School!
• Perfect violin techniques such as special bowings, shifting and vibrato.
• Practice ear training.  
• Prepare for ensemble concerts and solo performances.
• Learn to be supportive of others.
• Learn to play with confidence in front of others.
• Learn to be respectful and cooperative.
• Get motivated by watching and listening to other students.
• Play games and have fun!
• Eat treats!

Miss Ruth loves teaching Group Lessons and loves it when everyone comes!  See you Saturday morning!

Last Summer Groups

Today's group lessons were fun and challenging.  In the Book 2-3 Group we played Tonalization in several rhythms.  We worked on the back motion of the left 1st finger to make B flat and F natural.  Then we played a lot of familiar songs by ear, in the key of F major or B flat, requiring us to use the special low 1. It was really fun to play with a wonderful accompanist, Mia's dad, Dr. Sakonju.  He accompanied us on the piano playing Hunter's Chorus, Witches' Dance and Two Grenadiers from Suzuki Violin Bk 2.  We also played a fun Israeli folksong called Tzena.

In the Book 1 Group we played a LOT of games.  Some highlights were "Pass the Bow", where we stand in a circle playing a Twinkle variation, then stop and give our violin bow to the person in front of us when Miss Ruth claps loudly.  The trick is to pick up right where we left off when she clapped! Maeve and Eli played "Minuet Snippets" where jumped in playing when they recognized the Bach Minuet from Suzuki Bk 1 that Miss Ruth was playing.  They earned points for jumping in the quickest and getting the most correct notes. Colby's younger brother Ethan watched our group lesson because he just started lessons with Miss Ruth. He joined in when we played "Slap Hands", "Hide the Rosin" and "London Bridges."

The Book 6 Group is now The Advanced Ensemble.  Everyone has a Blue Folder with a variety of duets and trios.  We will polish chosen pieces at our rehearsals and perform them at recitals.  We had a very successful practice on the Bach Double Violin Concerto, 1st movement.  We rehearsed carefully on the Pachelbel Canon with 3 violin parts, and the Ave Maria with a simple yet rich harmony part.

Enjoy this beautiful recording of the Canon!

Pachelbel Canon London Symphony