Violin Recitals

I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart.  ~Shin'ichi Suzuki

While attending the annual homeschool convention in Massachusetts two years ago, I sat in on a workshop that, at first, threatened to bore me to death, and I almost walked out.  It was about the significance of classical music, and the presenter was extremely educated about the finer scientific points of how different types of music affects the development of the brain (Yes, rock music actually stunts your neural connectors or some such thing).  But as time wore on, it actually started to interest me, and by the end I was fascinated!  Apparently, he did such a good job convincing me of the importance of classical music (he stated if as a parent you do nothing academically with your child other than teach them how to play an instrument and listen to classical music, they will end up smarter-than-average students), I promptly came home and researched different instruments, different teachers and different teaching methods.  We settled on the violin and the teacher, a wonderful woman who teaches using the Suzuki method.

Never heard of the Suzuki method?  In a nutshell, the way I like to think of it is teaching a child how to play music before reading the notes just like how a baby learns how to speak before learning grammar.  It also helps the child feel accomplished and be rewarded almost instantly by having the ability to play a simple song.  Anyway, it has worked wonders with the two boys as they have come a long way musically-speaking since learning the first notes of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  So without further ado, here are the unedited, uncut videos of Jayce and Reagan's violin recital:








 I look forward to posting videos of their next recital in June so you can hear the difference they've made in five short months so stay tuned!