Week 9 ski-jumps

Bright, gifted boy inside a wiggly body. How must it feel to be the one inside?

The Maestro continues to make progress. He’s no longer motivated by the practice bow, figuring that he “got it” a while back. I see where he’s coming from, and that’s why we’re adding lots of other games and tricks to keep him going in the meantime. It’s of course human to tire of repetition, but since repetition is one of the pillars of the Suzuki method, well, that’s how things need to be. Riley has been very creative in making those repetitions interesting, but it has been tricky when The Maestro has been sick. I forgot to do the practice bow games today (windshield wipers, stirring, train, monkey). I need to teach the rocket chant to Riley so she can chant to him.

I love the video camera because I notice many things when I watch as an outsider. I wonder if I were to graph the amount of praise and love he received from both Riley and myself in the last three lessons, if it would correlate with his ability to sit on the chair. There are many factors of course, but the love and praise certainly don’t hurt. I noted in his most productive lesson (the first on tape) that his mom’s hand continually reached over to help him sit in cello position, followed by a small back rub. I was a little more positive than last week (the least productive of the three taped lessons), and Riley was a little more touchy than last week. She gave The Maestro a hug after the concluding bow.

The Maestro learned lots of new games today in order to keep him motivated to practice. He learned knuckle knocks, ski jumps, finger numbers, and two spots on the fingerboard (harmonic, with 3rd finger; and shoulder, with 1st finger). This should help motivate him to pull out the cello each day this week.
Bow directions are coming along nicely with the practice bow. He will need to practice starting “down bow” on the tucka bow (he started “up” today). His rhythm is excellent, however. It is time to teach him a strong thumb vs. springy thumb. He loves the springy thumb so much that his springing action might be impeding the bow hold progress – it’s too wiggly for “real life.”

For only nine lessons, The Maestro is doing delightfully. We are now taking for granted that today he unpacked the cello, bowed, sat in his chair, did the flower dance, held a practice bow, did the Twinkle rhythm on a tucka bow, showed me his right/bow hand and his left/cello hand, imitated the sounds I plucked, and even recognized a picture of Bach. He is sitting so well with the cello now that I often forget I need to remind him how to hold it. I taught him a couple of ski jumps with him holding the cello neck on the opposite side