Kylie had her first violin lesson today, and it went very well. She is taking lessons at Marshall Music in Allen Park, her teacher’s name is Ariel. Once a week (Monday’s) she has a half hour long private lesson; for the first 20 minutes Kylie and Ariel practice what they have already learned in the previous week and add something new to the lesson that builds upon it, and then for the last 10 minutes we can come in to see what she’s learned.
At the end of today’s lesson Ariel came out to get Mommy to bring her back to listen and said Kylie did fantastic and that she was already ahead of where other kids her age typically are. Ariel normally doesn’t teach the bow until about the second month because the child learns about the strings, the parts of the violin and how to hold it and looking at music before they throw the bow into the mix, however this is not the case with Kylie. She said she can really tell that Mommy has been working with Kylie, because she was able to use the bow today and her hold is just about perfect. Kylie is able to use the bow properly for the most part and she will get better with practice. So today Kylie learned what a 1/4 rest was and what the repeat bar looks like; she also learned how to pizzicato (to pluck the string). We also got a book for Kylie to use and practice with both at home and during lessons. Ariel is excited that Mommy can help to reinforce the lessons at home because she also plays the violin; Ariel said that Kylie will learn faster that way and she really looks forward to watching her grow musically.