Mississippi Stop-Stop

Any Suzuki kid would recognize the above phrase. I have taught dozens of kids Suzuki Violin, but this is my most important student ever.

Veda had her first violin lesson 4 days ago. I really put if off because I knew once we started it would be a huge commitment and I wanted to make sure we were both ready. We have been listening the Suzuki recording for almost a year now and she can sing along to all the songs.

This is Veda's first violin. It's a Box-olin. It is just a box of Macaroni and Cheese. I gutted it out, fixed the innards for dinner, put some treats inside of the box, wrapped it in cute paper, put a focal point in the center, and taped a ruler on the back for the fingerboard. When she masters the technique of holding the violin with her chin and shoulder and keeping her eyes focused on the sticker, then we are ready for the real thing.

We practice daily at 3:00. Our lessons last about 5 minutes now. I consciously end the lesson before Veda begins to lose focus. The lessons will gradually get longer as her attention span broadens.

We both agreed that during violin lessons, I am Miss Kaycee, and she is my student. We want to maintain a level of respect for each other while practicing that a Mother/Daughter relationship might lack.

We start out our lessons with the traditional Suzuki bow to each other. We work on the technique of holding the box-olin, clap some rhythms, go over the names of the violin anatomy and that's about it at this point. She is doing very well. She will naturally move more quickely than a student practicing at home with a non-music parent because she is essentially having a lesson everyday instead of once a week.

This is our Box-olin: