Practicing for the Playathon
The Suzuki School of Newton is getting ready for our Practicing and Performances as part of the Playathon 2023. On February 1, we sent out an email "Playathon 2023 Sign up is now open" explaining the steps in participating in this community event---please check your spam and promotions folders in case you did not see it yet!
One of the inspiring aspects of the Playathon is the opportunity to talk about practicing with your student and to work together with our Suzuki teachers on setting goals, establishing routines, and finding ways that the parents can be helpful. Now that Playathon sign-ups are open, in your lessons it is a chance to talk about what would be the best "ten-day practice promise" for your student. For some, it might be just a promise to practice every day for a certain number of minutes. Could the number of minutes be pushed a little higher than usual? For some, the idea of playing the same review pieces every day for all of the ten days could lead to greater fluency and ease of those pieces. For others, learning a new piece may need a special incentive or polishing a single piece to be ready for the performance at The Shops at Chestnut Hill on Playathon Day (March 26, 2023 between 12 noon and 6 pm) is the best choice. Making this decision becomes a special project and might feel like a "contract" that the student agrees to honor. Perhaps the parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends would consider a small donation to the scholarship fund at the conclusion and completion of the contract.
We want to encourage our students to think that music can enliven our community. Their sharing of their developing ability as musicians can enliven the spirit of others. Our Playathon Performance will enliven the passers by and employees as they work at the Shops at Chestnut Hill. Perhaps a special ten-day promise could be to perform a piece each one of the ten days for an elderly neighbor or relative via Facetime or in person. Being creative about the Practicing Promise can be fun and inspiring!
The teachers have signed up to be present in shifts from 12 noon to 6 pm. Students may choose to play in a group at the specific time there is a piece they have learned regardless of which teacher is leading. For example, I will lead Bach's Gigue from Piano Book 4 between 1-2 pm and anyone who knows this piece regardless of whether they are in my group class or not, can sign up. Students who only want to play a solo can sign up for any hour since solos are going to be interspersed throughout the day. Sign up early---especially if you need a very specific time slot. We have been known to fill up!
This is such a nice way to bring us all together and is very helpful to the school to raise scholarship funds AND to also let prospective families know about our school. I hope you will all consider participating!!!
Sachiko