Practice!

Practice only on the days you eat.

~Shinichi Suzuki

Due to the new grading policy practice cards are changing. We will not be grading practice cards this year, but encourage students to log their minutes of daily practice on their own. We will now be having quizzes in class over excerpts of music every 5-10 days. These quiz "checkpoints" will help both students and us to evaluate the results of their practicing at home.

Private Lessons - THEY REALLY WORK!

Testimonial from an Orchestra Parent:

"We opted not to start XXXX in private lessons in 5th grade because, frankly, we didn't think she would stick with the violin and that getting her to practice would be a nightmare. After the first semester, we saw that she actually enjoyed the violin and thought it MIGHT be OK to spend the extra money on a few private lessons. Little did we know, those private lessons only encouraged her love for the instrument! The best money spent for sure! We continued private lessons for the next two years and now, as a freshman atXXXX, my girl sits as the highest freshman chair in the Honors Chamber Orchestra. That WOULD NOT have happened if it weren't for the additional time and finances spent to nurture a love and talent we had no idea she had. Now, as we prepare for our son to start with the cello, there is no doubt we will invest in private lessons. Mom's favorite part - they are done at school, during class, which means that is one less thing I have to schedule my life around after school!!!"