5 Awesome Violin Teaching Resources: November 6, 2015 Edition

This post was originally published on the Plucky Violin Teacher Blog on November 6, 2015 so links and resources may not be current.
 
The Weekly Round-up of my favorite violin teaching resources, tips, and tricks.

This week has been so fun. My seven month old has been scooting around the floor like a champ. (Imagine a tiny seal on the beach. Hilarious.) And my 2 1/2 year old has been using the potty like a pro—most of the time. It’s pretty exciting stuff in these parts.

So, anyway, without further ado, here are your 5 Helpful Violin Teaching Resources:

1. It’s time to start planning for Christmas (if you haven’t already!)  I love giving little gifts to my students.  I can’t spend very much money, so my options are limited.  I gave these music nail clippers to my students last Christmas, and they were a hit. Now all of my students have nail clippers to keep in their case. However, make sure that they are kept in the case—if students simply attach them to the outside, they’ll get beat up and break. Sad.

2. A lot of my students are in their teen years, or almost there. It is so tough to keep teenagers engaged and practicing. I really enjoyed this blog post from Teach Piano Today about this issue. While directed at piano teachers, I think it is incredibly relevant to music teachers of all instruments.

3. The Plucky Violin Teacher Book Club has been so good for me. It’s hard for me to sit down and read a book, when the kids are sleeping I usually want to write, compose, do laundry, you know? Get stuff done. Now that I’m in this book club, and hosting, I HAVE to read books. It’s the best. If you would like to join, check out this blog post..

4. This video from one of my new favorite violinists: Ray Chen. Ray Chen is a social media master, and has amassed a huge following of young classical music fans (read: kids and teens.) Not only is he funny and engaging, he’s a pretty amazing violinist as well! Here’s a lovely video of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. While most of us have heard it a thousand times, our students probably haven’t, and it’s a wonderful piece.

5. I’ve recently discovered Musescore. I’m a wee bit of a cheapskate, and I was trying to decide whether I should finally bite the bullet and purchase Finale or Sibelius when someone recommended Musescore. Um, it’s free. (I am a big fan of free.) And, I have mostly figured out how to use it. So that’s pretty cool. If you have any composing to do, and don’t want to fork over the cash for Finale or Sibelius, Musescore is a good alternative.

And my very favorite violin teacher resource this week is you!  I am overcome with gratitude.  I started this blog in a hard time for me, and you have been such an encouraging and inspiring influence in my life.  So I want to say thank you.  Thank you for being here.

Thank you to those of you who have filled out my reader survey, I’m incredibly grateful to you. I really want to make the blog something valuable to you, and it really helps me to know who you are and what you need.  So thanks again.