Practicing: Easter Egg Games

"Children learn to smile from their parents."                  - Dr. Shinichi Suzuki

I am always on the lookout for creative ways to encourage positive practice that will lead to discipline and endurance, as well as nurture the heart and spirit of a student (and parent!).

This time of year, you probably have a bunch of these lying around...or you will soon.

Plastic Easter eggs like these can be a fun addition to your practice routine.
Here are several ideas for how you could use plastic eggs to create practice games:

1. For Review: Write the name of each review song on a strip of paper. Put one song name inside each egg. Have your child pick and open one egg, and then play that song. You could go through all the eggs in one practice session, or decide on a number of review eggs to pick each day.

2. Egg Hunt: This is a variation of the review game. Hide the eggs in the room so that your child gets to search for the eggs first. They play each song as soon as they find the egg. (This is great for young kids who want to move around a lot.)

3. Practice Sections: Take a look at your notes from the last lesson. Find the small "practice spots" that need attention. If, for example, you need to repeat a section 5 times, then write that section of 5 slips of paper and put them in 5 eggs. Then add a few more eggs for another practice spot. Mix up the eggs and have your child pick them one at a time. This game should be completed in one practice session. It will help your child learn to stay focused, but also gives them a clear indication of when they will be finished.

4. Rewards: Fill each egg with a  small reward (coins, candy, a small toy) and place them in a basket in a visible location. Set a specific goal that will earn an egg. For example, a happy practice session, practicing all the items in your notes, playing all the review songs, completing practice on a hard spot, or staying on the bench for the whole practice session. Make sure the child knows exactly how to earn the egg, and when it will be rewarded to them. 

Review Session: Looping with Alex Brubaker

Local musician, Alex Brubaker, was our special guest for group class last week. Here is a recap of the information he gave us about looping for those who missed the class or want to review:

Definitions

• Sample - A pre-recorded piece of audio. This can be music, spoken word, background noise, or any other sound that can be recorded.

• Sampling - The playback of pre-recorded audio.

• Loop - An audio sample that repeats after it has been played through.

• Looping - The playback of an audio sample that restarts after it is completed (like playing a song on repeat).

• Live Looping - The recording and playback of a looped audio sample in real-time.

• Overdub - playing over top of a loop.

Musical Examples

Listen to the following examples of sampling and looping. What do you hear? 

How is looping being used in the pieces?

First, here is part of Alex's live example to us at the group class:

Next he had us listen to three musicians using looping:

Theresa Andersson "Birds Fly Away"

(Listen for how she samples a drum beat in this piece.)

Aaron Collier creates a piece using the piano. Can you hear where he makes the sounds in the loop play backward (reversed loop)?

Alex gave us a summary of how to loop and what controls we might use. Here is what he said: