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expectations

erika blanco, violin

objectives:

  • To cultivate an appreciation for beauty and discipline in the whole person

  • To formulate a rudimentary and ever-growing appreciation of music

  • To progress through a thorough, personal, and level-appropriate repertoire

  • To develop the musical ear through listening, repetition, experimenting, reviewing, and other techniques

  • To nurture and instill leadership and musicianship qualities

student expectations:

  • Practicing a regular routine (*along with practicing parent/s), with a primary emphasis on skills-retention through review repertoire

  • Listening daily to the level-appropriate Suzuki recording and any listening assignments outside the Suzuki repertoire

  • Balancing a healthy teacher-student-parent relationship in which all three persons are of importance

  • Willing to try new and sometimes seemingly difficult techniques or practicing routines during a lesson and/or personal practice time

  • Demonstrating appropriate respect and willingness to adhere to the teacher's and parent's involvement

  • Desiring improvement and progress through practice and understanding that long-term progress is only maintainable through focus, respect, manners, musicality, and sensitivity, with very little priority on learning new repertoire for the sake of learning new repertoire

teacher expectations:

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  • Fostering tone, technique, and musical interpretation

  • Reinforcing mastery of acquired skills through review repertoire

  • Conducting lessons in an exciting, stimulating environment

  • Maintaining a truly Suzuk-based ideology in lesson tactics (derived from Nurtured by Love)

  • Striving to be punctual and valuing the parent-student/s commitment and time

  • Delivering a promise made to students in a timely fashion

  • Balancing each student's personal level and ambition for music

  • Being able to give varied solutions or techniques about a certain problem or difficulty

  • Being readily available for discussion about lessons, myself and/or the student-parent unit

parent expectations:

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  • Adequate note-taking and passive participation during lessons 

  • Practicing parent must attend all lessons and oversee at-home practice

  • Alerting teacher sufficiently concerning any chronic health concerns and/or learning accommodations

  • Respecting the teacher-student time by witholding questions until the end of lesson and by not embarrassing the student with negativity or lesson interrupti​ons, unless a disciplinary issue arises

  • Arriving 5 minutes before lesson time so that the student can be unpacked and ready to begin at the close of the previous student's lesson

  • Making the Suzuki recording  easily available (carpool, house chores, bath time, breakfast, before bedtime)

  • Communicating with the teacher about any confusion that surfaces during home practice

  • Overseeing the student's hygiene: washed hands before handling violin and before lessons, clipped nails)

  • Renting/purchasing a teacher-approved instrument and overseeing care and maintenance

  • Co-reinforcing with the teacher listening and cumulative skills-based mastery for long-term progress

For my complete handbook, click here

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