Book 1

Take a hike through Book 1: Make cards with the names of all the songs you know. Use these to make stepping stones around the room. Now follow the stepping stones and play each song. At the end, celebrate with a game of chase. (20 points)

25 bowholds. Do these on your bow, or on another item you choose! (10 points)

Lights Out: Play THREE pieces with your eyes closed. (10 points)
Floor Time: Play THREE of your pieces lying down. (10 points)
Sunshine Time: Practice outside for at least 20 minutes. (10 points). 
Makeover: Set up your practice area in a new way. (20 points)
Song marathon: Set a stopwatch for playing review songs continuously and set a PR (personal record) for time. Tell Miss Winters your record. (30 points)

Practice 3 times in one day! (30 points)
Early bird: Play your violin first thing in the morning for 5 days in a row! (80 points)

Composer of the week: Choose a composer to listen to while doing schoolwork this week

Learn a song by ear. (50 points)
By-ear sharing: Play your by-ear song for someone else in the studio (20 points)
Sight-read an open string song. Find songs here.

Choose an activity from Music Play Online. (5 points each):

•  Maker’s Melody: Create a melodic composition: (NOTE: You’ll need to position the note exactly or it will disappear.)
•  Maker’s Rhythm: Create a rhythmic composition.  
•  Tempo Terms: Explore a melody at different tempos. (Hint: You’ll need to choose the tempo first for the melody to play.) 
•  Learning Fun: Play one of the music concept games:  (e.g. (Match the Melody, Beat & Rhythm). 

Play date: Facetime someone else in your group class (or another friend) and play a song for them! (10 points)
Facetime concert: Call someone on video chat (grandparents, friends) and play a song for them (15 points).
Front yard concert: Give a concert in your front yard. Play at least 6 songs. (15 points)
Email pal: Write an email to someone in the studio and ask them to be your email pal. Be sure to tell them some things you’re doing and ask them some questions. This will get the conversation going. (10 points)

Instruments of the Orchestra: Explore each section of the orchestra using the online tool here. (10 points)
Draw an instrument: Choose one instrument of the orchestra and make a drawing of it. (10 points)
Carnival of the Animals: Listen to “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint Saens. Which animal is your favorite? Draw a picture of it! (15 points)

Metronome exploration: Find a marking on your metronome. What song goes with this speed? Now play the song! (10 points)

Books 2-3

Practice 3 times in one day! (30 points)
Lights Out: Play THREE pieces with your eyes closed. (10 points)
Floor Time: Play THREE of your pieces lying down. (10 points)
Sunshine Time: Practice outside for at least 20 minutes. (10 points). 
Makeover: Set up your practice area in a new way. (30 points) 
Early bird: Play your violin first thing in the morning for 5 days in a row! (80 points)
Upside down: Play a song TWICE holding bow upside down at the tip. Then play the song the regular way. What do you notice? (10 points)

Learn a song by ear. This can be any popular song (pick your favorite artist)! (50 points)
By-ear sharing: Play your by-ear song for someone else in the studio (20 points)
Jazz and blues play-along: Play along with this video by Christian Howes, or any of his videos (they’re all fun!). (20 points)

Cup games!  Here is a good one to get you started (link). Then you’re ready to do this one. (10 points)
Body percussion! This one is super fun and easy to master (don’t worry if it seems hard in the beginning!). Remember you can slow down the video if you need to. (10 points.)

Sight-reading (20 points): 
1. Create an account on SmartMusic.com. Make sure to choose “New Smartmusic.”
2. Search “Violin.” Choose something interesting and click the title. 
3. Use the drop-down menu under “MOVEMENT” to pick a song. 
4. Click “OPEN.” 
5. Hit the play button to play the song ONE TIME. 
6. Sight-read the song a few times without the audio. It’s okay if you don’t get it perfect – the goal is just to read something (and hopefully have fun)! 
7. Finally, play the audio again, this time playing along. You can slow down the tempo (the control is on the left side). 
Another resource for sight-reading is https://www.violinschool.com/library/. 

Choose an activity from Music Play Online. (5 points each):
•  Maker’s Melody: Create a melodic composition: (NOTE: You’ll need to position the note exactly or it will disappear.)
•  Maker’s Rhythm: Create a rhythmic composition. 
•  Tempo Terms: Explore a melody at different tempos. (Hint: You’ll need to choose the tempo first for the melody to play.)  

Karaoke: Solfeg.io includes melody, lyrics and chords for many famous songs. Choose one to sing or play. Don’t worry about getting all the notes the first time — relax and have fun! (30 points)

Musical storytelling: Make up a story to go with one of your pieces. (15 points)
Musical moves: Make up a dance to go with one of your pieces. (15 points)

Classics for Kids Podcast: Choose a podcast to listen to, here. At the end of the episode, choose one piece to listen to from beginning to end. Write the name of the piece and composer on your practice sheet so you can tell me about it at our next lesson! (20 points). 

Instruments of the Orchestra: Explore each section of the orchestra using the online tool here. (10 points)

Draw an instrument: Choose an instrument of the orchestra and make a drawing of it. (10 points)
Violin drawing challenge: Violins have lots of unique curves; in fact, violinmakers use wooden templates to be able to carve each one perfectly. You can choose to draw either the whole violin, or just the scroll. Do this several days in a row and you’ll see some good progress. Make sure to save your early versions so you can see how much you’ve improved. (One week of daily drawing = 90 points) 

Play date: Facetime someone else in your group class (or another friend) and play a song for them! (15 points)
Facetime concert: Call someone on video chat (grandparents, friend, family) and play a song for them. (15 points)
Front yard concert: Give a concert in your front yard. Play at least 6 songs. (20 points)
Practice partner: Email someone in the studio and set up a time to practice online at the same time. You’ll be on mute but you can chat, and talk whenever you need a break. (15 points)

Metronome practice: Choose one of your songs to practice with the metronome. Play it at least three times through (you’ll get better each time). It’s okay to make the metronome faster or slower so that it’s easier. (10 points)

Composer exploration: Choose a composer you’d like to become more familiar with. Listen to TWO works by that composer, and explore his / her biography. (60 points)
Bucket list: Listen to violin music on YouTube (or elsewhere) and make a “bucket list” of 3-5 songs you’d like to play when you are ready. (30 points)

Books 4-5

Juilliard challenge: Do TWO practices in one day (at least 80 minutes total). (40 points)
Heifetz challenge: Practice 3 times in one day (at least 60 minutes total). (30 points)
Makeover: Set up your practice area in a new way. (20 points)
Early bird: Play your violin first thing in the morning for 5 days in a row! (80 points)

 

Learn a song by ear. This can be any popular song (pick your favorite artist)! (30 points)
By-ear sharing: Play your by-ear song for someone else in the studio (20 points)
Intervals: Use an app such as Interval Trainer to learn your musical intervals. (Make sure to search “musical intervals” when finding an app you like.) (10 points)
Metronome: Play THREE review pieces with a metronome. (30 points)

Karaoke: Solfeg.io includes melody, lyrics and chords for many famous songs. Choose one to sing or play. Don’t worry about getting all the notes the first time — relax and have fun! (30 points)
Jazz and blues play-along: Play along with this video by Christian Howes, or any of his videos (they’re all fun!). (20 points)

Composer exploration: Choose a composer you’d like to become more familiar with. Listen to THREE works by that composer, and explore his / her biography. (60 points)

Etude: Learn a new Wohlfahrt (link), Mazas (link), or other etude (20 points)
Double stops! Purchase the Trott etudes (link), which teach double stops. You’ll be working through this book soon in your private lessons. Learn one of these on your own! (50 points)

Cup games!  These simple games are challenging and a great change of pace. Start with this one (link), then graduate to this one. (10 points)

Shadow bowing: Try shadow bowing for 5 minutes then playing for 5 minutes. Do this THREE times per practice for 3 practices. What improved when you practiced shadow bowing? What new things did it help you to notice? (50 pt)
Upside down: Play a song TWICE holding bow upside down at the tip. Then play the song the regular way. Notice how this affects your balance and awareness. (20 points)

 

Select and watch a Strings Magazine session. (minutes = points) 
Technical tips: Choose one of the articles below to read. Implement at least ONE strategy. (15 points)
•  Improve your vibrato, by Laurie Niles
•  Bowhold workout, by Scott Flavin
•  Practice strategies, by Robert Howard
•  Effective memorization, by Molly Gebrian. (Bulletproof Musician is my all-time favorite blog. I highly recommend subscribing!)

Violin drawing challenge: Violins have lots of unique curves; in fact, violinmakers use wooden templates to be able to carve each one perfectly. You can choose to draw either the whole violin, or just the scroll. Do this several days in a row and you’ll see some good progress. Make sure to save your early versions so you can see how much you’ve improved. (One week of daily drawing = 90 points) 

FaceTime concert: Call someone on video chat (grandparents, friends) and play a song for them (15 points).
Front yard concert: Give a concert in your front yard. Play at least 3 songs. (40 points)
Practice partner: Email someone in the studio and set up a time to practice online at the same time. You’ll be on mute but you can chat, and talk whenever you need a break. (15 points)

Book 6+

Sight-reading: Explore some public-domain works for violin and piano on IMSLP (here). Find one that you’re interested in and read through it! Don’t worry about mastering it; just have fun. (20 points)
Karaoke: Solfeg.io includes melody, lyrics and chords for many famous songs. Choose one to sing or play. Once you get the melody, follow the chord chart: play long tones in the beginning, then begin to fill in other notes of the chord. (30 points)

Juilliard challenge: Do TWO practices in one day (at least 90 minutes total). (40 points)
Galamian challenge: Practice THREE times in one day (at least 120 minutes total). (65 points)

Composer exploration: Choose a composer you’d like to become more familiar with. Listen to THREE works by that composer, and explore his / her biography. (60 points)

Intervals: Use the apps Perfect Ear (Android), Earpeggio (Apple), or Teoria (web-based) to learn your musical intervals. (Make sure to search “musical intervals” when searching for apps.) (10 points)
Octave reading: Choose a moderately easy etude that you’ve never played. Sight-read the whole piece an octave higher. (30 points) 

Alternative styles: Select and watch a Strings Magazine session. (minutes = points) 

Strategize your practice: Read one of the articles on the Practice Strategies page, here, or another article or book chapter you find. Implement at least one strategy from the article. (20 points each)

Cup games!  These simple games are challenging and a great change of pace. Start with this one (link), then graduate to this one. (10 points)

Violin painting: Create a painting of a violin, in a medium of your choice. Consider what setting and mood you want to create. (120 points)
Violin drawing: Violins are a notoriously difficult subject to draw (violin makers use a template for both the body and the scroll). Draw either the whole violin, or just the scroll. Draw this three days in a row. Notice your progress! (50 points) 

Movies & Musicals

Watch a musical. Some of the very best are listed below. Tell me your favorites and I’ll add them to the list! (20 points)

Ages 4-8:

 Ages 8-14 add the following to the above list:

Ages 14+ add the following to those above: