March 19, 2011  3:48 p.m.

We are happy to announce…

… that the 2011 FSMTA District Concerto Competition winner is……



For exceptional performance in J.S. Bach Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, 1st mvmt.

Now we will be traveling in mid-May to Tallah*ssee.  Yippee!

March 6, 2011 6:34 p.m.

Chips is $90 richer today than he was yesterday.  Not bad for under ten minutes’ work.  He took second place for Intermediate Concerto and second place for Intermediate Solo.  He said he would have been happier with blue ribbons, but he played his music really well, and the competition was fierce.  We are very pleased, considering all he has been through in the past two weeks.

Here is my family waiting … and waiting … and waiting for Chips’ turn to go perform.



And here are the red ribbons to prove it. 



Afterwards, we went to Mac*roni Grill to celebrate.  A good day for our family. 

Another competition to come in two weeks.

Now I need to rest and get rid of my headache.  Will I ever get used to these competitions?

March 3, 2011 5:07 p.m.

Things are looking up.  Chips picked up his violin today for the first time after days of rest and practiced with his accompanist.  Twice - once at slow tempo, then full tempo.  He did great, and no pain at all!  We are very encouraged.  He'll still take it easy (I hope) for the next few days although he really wants to "pull out all the stops." I told him to wait 'til the competition.  Many of his friends were praying, so we are thankful for that.  His teacher is thankful, too, and we assured her it was because of the prayers! 

Thank you to those who left comments about this.  They are helpful and I will investigate your suggestions. 

Having experienced this, I don’t think teachers (at least ours) emphasize the physical aspect of string playing enough, or advise students on how to protect themselves and how to adopt safe “practice practices” to prevent injury.  I think I am going to get some material together and get with our teacher and help her to produce a handout for all her students.  She might not be confident about writing in English and need my help there.

Anyway, I’m doing the happy dance today.

March 1, 2011 6:06 p.m.

You’ve all heard of sports injuries, but music injuries?

Well, it happened like this.  Chips has been pretty excited about practicing two pieces on the violin for an upcoming competition, one in which he has an opportunity to win some nice green cash.  So, needless to say, as money motivates Chips dearly, he is very motivated to practice for this one.  So for about three days, he stepped up his level, length, and intensity of practice until he discovered on day four (last Thursday) that he had soreness in his left forearm during practice.

After hearing horror stories from our violin teacher about students having to quit violin after years of study, I told him to back off considerably, to play softly and conservatively, to practice only in 15 minute segments.  He did this on Friday, and had some discomfort (he describes it as mild – t0 moderate pain – not sharp, not burning, more like “squeezing”) during the second 15 minute segment.  Ditto on Saturday.  So I told him not to touch his violin until he went to his lesson on Monday afternoon.

We did this, yesterday, and when we reported the situation to Miss S, she seemed rather alarmed.  This did not make me feel better.  I knew Chips had been practicing like Superman the week before, and 20/20 hindsight wasn’t going to do us much good, I was afraid.  A bit later, Miss O arrived at Miss S’ house to practice with Chips (she is his accompanist for the March 6th competition) and she seemed alarmed, too, at first, but was more reassuring to us by telling us of similar situations she as been in (as a professional violinist) and how she has wrapped her neck and shoulder and used Icy-Hot, etc,. etc.  It was a bit disconcerting to see the expressions on both women’s faces as they discussed the matter between themselves in Russian, while I sat and scratched my head and was afraid to ask any more questions.

So we decided to give practice a try with Miss O at piano, and Chips played very conservatively, with no vibrato.  He played both pieces, and Miss S asked him if he felt pain.  He said “No, not really”.  She acted better after this.  So Miss O left and the lesson continued on a bit, with Chips working out various details that needed correcting – but softly and carefully.  Miss S sent us home with a bottle of Chinese Red Flower Oil.  Very sweet and caring of her, n’est-ce pas?  But when we got home, Chips’ admitted to me that the pain had returned by the end of the shorter than normal lesson, although it was slight.

We stopped by our pediatrician’s office on the way home and a nurse took a quick (free) look-see and decided that it is likely a muscle strain and not tendonitis.  Just advised us to rest it, and take ibuprofen round the clock for a few days.

So we are going to carefully resume practice on Thursday, for a couple of days, because the competition is Sunday afternoon.

We are also going to set new guidelines for Chips’ practice sessions from now on.  Shorter segments, rest periods, slower speeds, vary the music more, etc.  Not repetitive jam sessions of playing a piece over and over again at full performance tempo, the way Chips’ likes to do it.

If there is anybody out there with any experience with this sort of thing, please send me a comment.  It is hard to know how much healing time is needed.  This is on my mind a lot this week.  Thank you!

February 20, 2011 3:59 p.m.


We are now in the throes of music competition season.  Yesterday we had one strings audition for both children, and they did just fine, having both secured the “Superior” ratings they needed to proceed to the state level.


Then yesterday evening, I was advised that we needed to quickly throw together an application for a concerto competition for Chips in late March.  As part of the competition, I had to write a short biography for Chips (in case he wins, for the state newsletter) and include a photo.  To get a feel for how to do this, I checked out prior newsletters to read what was written in the bio’s of other student winners of the recent past. 


At first, I found this task daunting and intimidating, and it brought to the surface all of the insecurities of a homeschool mom.  But now that it is finished, I feel pretty good about it.  What do you think?  Does this sound like a cool kid or not?


[Chips], age 11, has been a violin student of S______ G_____ for nearly five years. He first began to study violin at the age of 3. He has been homeschooled since preschool and is now doing sixth grade level work. [Chips] is no stranger to music competitions. In 2008 [Chips] was Elementary Solo winner for FMTA District __. In 2009 he took first place in O___ Music Club Elementary Solo Scholarship competition; In 2010 he was FFMC State Winner for Medium I Solo. In addition, [Chips] participated as violinist in an all boys’ piano trio with S____ Music Institute (M_____) that was FFMC State piano trio winner three years in a row (2008 – 2010).

When [Chips] was four, he and his family moved out to several acres in the country, where he and his sister developed a love of nature. He and his family have camped extensively throughout Florida, the Southeastern U.S., and Blue Ridge Parkway. His camping experiences culminated last autumn in a cross-country trip across America, touring 13 different states and 7 National Parks. [Chips] is also active in his church, participating in its choristers group. He enjoys relaxing by reading mystery novels, swimming, bicycling, playing piano, and repairing his friends’ digital watches.

 May 10, 2010 4:52 p.m.

A past violin teacher of Chips moved to Ohio four years ago, but she surprised us all by spontaneously flying down to Florida to attend the state music / strings competition back on April 30 and May 1. Her mother owns our local Suzuki school, and is getting older, so she decided to fly here to help her out with the grueling competition schedule.

We were all very happy to see her, and she was proud of her young beginner of seven years ago (Chips) doing so well at state. She was also amazed by how Sweet Girl had grown, and was playing music, especially since Sweet Girl was still in a stroller eating Cheerios when Chips was her student.

This afternoon, she sent us this nice photo taken of Sweet Girl shortly before she played her solo at the competition.  I really like this photo.  Her confidence that day really shows.

May 2, 2010 11:05 p.m.

We are not allowed to take photos or record video in the competitions, so I have merely uploaded the most recent practice session at our teacher's home.  This is Chips playing Kuchler's Concertino Opus 15, mvt. 1.  at Miss S's house last Monday.  She is accompanying him off camera on piano.  It is the piece whereby he won the violin SOLO state competition.  Thanks for viewing!

p.s. to Linda in Scotland -- I am definitely thinking of you and your kids on Monday.  Can't wait to hear!

Sunday, May 2, 2010 2:09 p.m.

Just got the news after church today from Miss S.  Sweet Girl got Honorable Mention at our state competition, too, for her Violin Solo!  Yippeeeee!  She played her piece, short as it was, with such feeling and expression for such a young girl.  We are so proud of her, because honorable mentions are hard to come by.  I don't have any photos of her with her ribbon yet; she will get it next week.  It has been an encouraging year for us and we are truly thankful that her hard work has rewarded in this way.

 May 1, 2010 8:30 p.m.

NEWS FLASH: We got the results in from Chips' state music competitions. We are still waiting to hear about Sweet Girl's competition.

We are thrilled to report that Chips' won in two events. He was the sole winner of the Violin Solo Medium I competition, and he and his buddies were the winners of the Chamber Piano Trio competition. He/they had competed against students who are as much as 5 years older than themselves.  We are all so thrilled. This day was long in coming, and we rejoice!

Sweet Girl also did very well in her Violin Solo but we are still waiting to hear the results of her contest.

To say we are happy, gratified, encouraged, and thankful is the understatement of the year. It is such a sweet blessing to have won these trophies, especially the solo trophy, since it has eluded Chips for so long.

Here are some photos from this weekend...

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 9:48 p.m.

Sorry, but that's just the way I feel about it.  And yet we go back.  And -- help me here -- we are learning perseverance, perhaps?  longsuffering?  deferred gratification?

Or are we simply learning to do our very best to glorify the Lord, perfecting our music far above and beyond what we would have done if we were not going?

But we are going, again, to Jacks*nville this weekend for our annual pilgrimage to the state competitions.  It is difficult to not get our hopes up every year.  Every year, we think he is doing so well.  And Sweet Girl will be trying her hand at the competition this year, for the first time.  She, too, is playing fine.

Quick run down of events.

Chips -- Friday --  Violin Solo, Medium I -- Kuchler's Concertino in the style of Antonio Vivaldi

then

Violin Concerto, Junior II -- Concerto #1 in A minor, by J.B. Accolay

then

Piano Trio Chamber ensemble, Medium  -- "Uluru", from Summits, by C. McMichael



Sweet Girl -- Saturday --  Violin Solo, Primary I -- Oh Come Little Children, from Suzuki Book 1.


So, thinking we are ready for the emotional sandpaper, I say let's go for it!  And may this be the year we return home feeling differently than all those other years.  We all could use the encouragement around here.

April 27, 2010 11:05 a.m.

Yesterday was the final practice of the boys' chamber piano trio of which Chips is the violinist.  They were practicing for state competition this coming weekend in Jacks*nville.  This is "Uluru", from the Summits compositions of C. McMichael.  This was the selection that gave Chips such grief this year, but I feel has resulted in good lessons learned for him.  Lessons in perseverance and patience, for example.

So the coming weeks will bring the final performance of this group.  Hopefully, though, they will always remains friends as they are today.  For me this is the "end of an era".  I have mixed feelings.  First, it will be lovely to get the latter half of our Monday afternoons back; but I will miss hanging with these boys and their wonderful moms, as well as benefitting from the teaching of this particular group's director.  But life moves along, children grow older, transitions occur, seasons change.  In most cases everything we have done, and finished well, has been replaced by something else even better.  That's called Providence.  Hopefully, what is being relinquished now will be filled anew with bigger and better things.

There is more that is changing, but I am not at liberty to talk about it just yet.  In a few weeks I will be able to.

If you can spare three minutes, please view this final "practice" performance of a rather modern musical selection.

March 27, 2010 8:18 p.m.

The judge wrote: "listen for the melodic line. Make the melodies more fluid & expressive -- not just correct...I look forward to your future development. You play very well."

The italicized words above were actually underlined by the judge.

There were two contestants today. Chips, and an older girl. They both played the same piece. Chips played flawlessly (as far as I could tell), and with plenty of artistry and expression, the likes of which we haven't heard from him until now. The older girl played well, too, although some notes were out of tune, her trills weren't always clean, and she actually stopped for a few seconds in the middle of the piece, as if she was having a memory lapse.

All the adults there who heard them both play agreed that Chips played it best. Actually, Chips was technically perfect, to the extent that my untrained ear can hear. And my ear is better than it used to be (it has to be, I've been a violin mom for seven years, now!) Our teacher, Miss S, was thrilled with his playing, saying that he played extremely well and that he even surprised her today. That's a lot, coming from her.

However, First Place went to the girl, and Chips took Second (loser) Place. Remember there were only two competing today.

So here I am again, singin' the same tune. Completely stumped as to why First Place is always so elusive. I know it sounds like sour grapes to ya'll, but we continue to be baffled by this. Nobody could understand it today, and the judge's decision is always final. Violin competitions, like figure skating and gymnastics, can be so subjective.

But it was a positive day. Chips himself said that he figured this was another one of those "character building" competitions. And since he played as perfectly as we ever could have hoped or imagined, we were happy to give him the $20 cash prize we had reserved for him for "winning" today, even if it was only in our imaginations. I so wish I could have videotaped him today to share with everyone; it was so amazing. He made it all sound so easy. But contest rules forbade videotaping. Had we known how it would turn out, we would have recorded it!!

Yes, times like these are discouraging. But we are just amazed at what our son can do. No matter, we are so proud of our son today!

And if you haven't seen him play this concerto before, it is six pages long, it takes nine minutes to play through, and of course he had to play it from memory. I posted a link to a video from early February, but he played it so much better today.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010 10:50 p.m.

I mentioned in my last post that my mind has been very scattered. So, I haven't been able to sit and concentrate deeply enough to write a thoughtful blog post. The only thing I can come up with is a smattering of scattered thoughts, much like the present condition of my mind.

So here goes...

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I went to the Mall yesterday to shop for Sweet Girl's seventh birthday next week. I usually don't go to the Mall. It is a strange thing, but whenever I go to a Mall, especially when I am alone, a strange depression comes over me. I feel completely out of my element. I feel like a visitor from another planet. I get clumsy, and I am in danger of making poor shopping choices so I usually just walk on by. There is nothing I see that I want. I avoid eye contact with anybody. I race-walk through the cosmetics department as fast as I can. I purchase, maybe, one thing, and then hustle out to my car. Then I go to complete my shopping at Mal-Wart, or Bull's-Eye, and breathe a sigh of relief. Here is where I feel at home. Weird, I know.

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Although I am not particularly tickled by the girls' clothing styles that prevail in stores today, I realize that Sweet Girl is getting older, and I reconcile myself to the idea of her wearing certain styles. I have come up with a new criteria: I don't have to actually like the styles, but they do have to be modest. This is the only way I am going to be able to buy her anything new and not have to rely on thrift stores.

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I am blown away by both my children's Calvert School advisory teachers. They put so much time and energy into grading my children's work. Chips' teacher is a man, which is a change for us, too. Sweet Girl got her second work packet back yesterday and got Straight 1s this time. She felt really proud, and so did we.

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We've been cutting back some on the violin competitions, voluntarily deciding to skip the scholarship competition this year. We just don't want it all to be too much. Both children are doing great, but we have enough going on this spring without yet another competition. As a result, this coming weekend should be somewhat normal. I think. And then, what will we do next year? Youth orchestra, or not?

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We continue to be completely satisfied with the richness and challenge present in the Calvert homeschool curricula. I say this after seven years of using it. I see the struggles and worries of other homeschool moms, and I am happy to say that I am at peace regarding the academic preparation of my children. I can hardly imagine their lesson work being any better.

Nevertheless, I do worry that as a homeschool mom, I will seriously drop the ball with one or both of my kids some day. Self-Reliant Man and I are so mindful of preparing ourselves for everything that might come down the pike in the future as our children grow older. But what about the unforeseen? Will we be blindsided by something that comes along that we are totally unprepared for? Will that one area of parenting where we tended to let things slip by a little bit come back to bite us one day?

I have noticed among conservative families of young children that the younger the children are, the more black and white their parents tend to see things. And then their children grow older, and life gets more complicated, and then the parents need to redefine their priorities. Or evaluate anew how they feel about the parenting issues of the day. Things start to become less black and white.

We have definite convictions about many different things regarding the upbringing of our children. Some we share with most of our friends. For some convictions, I have only found common ground in a few online friends. As my children near ages 7 and 10, I am questioning more and more our stance on certain things, like media usage within our home and family life. When our son is already asking for his own laptop, for instance, and his own Facebook account, we have to think long and deeply about our objectives. This is certainly a time to walk closely with the Lord, for every day that our children develop and mature. I am sure things have been relatively easy until now.

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A bright spot in our lives is the planning and preparation for our whirlwind trip out West this September. The trip is to be 23 days in length, and on the agenda are Mammoth Cave Nat'l Park (NP), Badlands NP, Black Hills, Needles Highway, Crazy Horse Monument, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Beartooth Highway, Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons NP, and Rocky Mountain NP. All in one big loop drive. It is amazing what can be discovered about potential campgrounds, sights, and stopover places simply through using Google Maps, Youtube, and R.V. Park Reviews. I can actually virtually drive by a place, and check out the surroundings. I can choose another campground if I don't like the looks of the area. I can check out a steep mountain drive and decide whether our van can make it over all the switchbacks. It is all rather amazing. But of course, the consistent flood of information across my field of view is probably the root cause of..... my........ scattered ............... mind!!!!

February 24, 2010 10:12 p.m.

So our regular violin teacher, Miss S, has about 30 or more students who participated in the Federation competition this past Saturday.

One of them is her nine year old grandson.

So almost all of her students achieved "Superior" ratings....... all of them, except....

her grandson.

In this audition, it is understood that students are not permitted to speak to the judge; they may only speak if the judge asks them any questions.

So Miss S' grandson walks into the judging room to perform, except first he stops and says to the judge: "I just want you to know that I really don't like classical music!"

Oops!

Miss S. couldn't keep a straight face as she told this story to us. We thought it was hilarious. You'd have to know her grandson, I guess.

February 22, 2010 9:04 p.m.

We've got four Federation Gold Cups on their way!

Sweet Girl earned her first Gold Cup this weekend, with a Superior Rating on her Solos!!

Chips earned three Gold Cups this weekend, with his Superior Ratings for his

Solos

Concerto

and Chamber Trio selections.

We are heading for State at the end of April.

February 3, 2010 4:32 p.m.

For many reasons, I have not been online all that much lately; therefore, no blogging. Not that my life is lacking in bloggability, because it isn't. I am forever thinking up bloggable things, only not to have time to bring them to life. Ah well..

Sweet Girl recently sent in her first real test to her first teacher at Calvert School. This was for lesson 20 of Second Grade. She seemed to have no problem taking the test, and was happy and proud to send in two or three compositions for feedback as well. We are looking forward to discovering who her teacher will be this year, as well as her reaction to Sweet Girl's work. Lessons are going well for her, although we do have some issues with motivation at times. When she is motivated, she can do amazing work; this frustrates me all the more on those days when she is not motivated, but it is a growing process... for Sweet Girl, and for me.

Chips is approaching his first test for Fifth Grade. He is not especially enthusiastic about any subject, although he does enjoy the Art History material, as well as the reading books. I am enjoying teaching him History the most.

I continue to be happy with Calvert, although I admit I do find the Science to be somewhat irritating at times. I can expand on that in another post, I suppose.

I think the most difficult adjustment for me this year has been the amount of time it takes us to get through a lesson day. There are some days where we get going around 9 or 9:30 a.m., only to find ourselves still at it at 5:30. These days bring out the grouch in me, for I feel resentful of any day that lessons drag beyond 2:30. Today went well, with both children wrapping it up around 1 o'clock. That's why I have time to post today! According to Calvert, lesson days should not exceed four hours. That means no later than 1:00 or 1:30. So I get very impatient with those days when things drag out all day. It is not that there is so much material on those days, but rather that the work to be produced requires a little more effort, more higher order thinking skills, or is not among the "favorite things" to do on the part of the student(s).

So every day, when we pray together in the morning, I ask for the Lord's help for our attitudes toward the tasks He places before us on that day. So when things go south, I can at least remind my children of that prayer we prayed in the morning. **smile and wink**

Another reason the days are busy is that it is violin competition time. We have the following events to look forward to....

Feb 5 - a recital in our local area, which turns out to be an opportunity for me to try out my new digital Camc*rder. The children are pretty well prepared for this, and they will be playing their competition pieces (at least some of them). I will try to upload the videos if all works out with the new camera.

Feb 13 - audition for state Federation of Music Clubs annual competition. Chips is still part of a chamber trio, and they will perform two pieces.

It has been a frustrating season with this group, because one of the pieces selected by the director has been exceptionally difficult to learn. It is very contemporary, and not at all intuitive to our ears, and I have no ability, myself, to distinguish correct from incorrect notes, even after hearing it played correctly immediately beforehand. Chips has been very challenged by this piece, and I have had to bolster up his motivation to keep on keeping on, at least for the next three months, when the trio will officially break up. It will be time for these boys to move on to other things.

Another thing -- we just learned this week that this audition is scheduled for the 13th, which means we have to miss a campout with 12 other families from church. It was so disappointing to us, but there is nothing we can do about it.

Feb 20 - auditions for Sweet Girl and Chips for various solo and concerto entries with the state Federation of Music Clubs again. This will be Chips' first chance to play Accolay violin concerto before a judge. I think he is doing wonderfully with this piece, and our teacher, Miss S, appears to be quite satisfied, too, at this point in time.

Mar 21 - "Otown" Music Club scholarship competition. Another chance to play Accolay. Chips especially likes this competition because the prize is $$money$$ and he won some of it last year.

Mar 27 - Music Teachers' Nat'l Assoc division concerto competition. You guessed it - Chips will play Accolay again. He'll be getting a lot of mileage out of this piece!

April 30- May 1 - State Federation competition three hours away in another city. But we aren't focusing on that one yet.

November 25, 2009 1:22 p.m.

We are at the fun stage now. Little Son has basically learned to play J. B. Accolay Violin Concerto in A Minor. It is a magnificent concerto, and a nice "bridge" piece to the world of romantic music for students.

As of now, the pressure is not on yet, as the competitions will not begin until February. Little Son has memorized the piece, and he is able to play the notes, although not at full tempo (certainly) and not with all the details perfected. We love Accolay right now. Two months from now, however, things will be a little more intense.

Someone was kind enough to point out to me that there is a nice clip on Youtube of Itzhak Perlman performing Accolay, and here it is, so my faithful readers can hear what a fantastic piece of music Little Son is learning: