IRENE BENNETT MUSIC STUDIO WEDNESDAY, 30 JANUARY 2019

News from the studio “Character first, then ability.” -Shinichi Suzuki

First Quarter
2019 Calendar

February 5
Travelling to the US. I will
be personally emailing you
with regards to
rescheduling individual
lessons next week.

March 10/11
Online Group lesson

April 1-5
Tag, You’re It! Recital (More
details will be shared next
month.)

Quick reminders
Studio Policy Reminders & Updates
• LESSON CANCELLATIONS: If you cancel a scheduled lesson for any reason, your 2018 Year-End
monthly tuition remains the same. Provided advance notice is given (BEFORE the Questionnaires
day of the lesson), you may reschedule your lesson. If your lesson falls on a holiday, To the parents and students
who submitted answers for
you may reschedule. There is no refund if you choose to cancel instead. Unless the last year’s questionnaire,
teacher cancels a lesson, students may not adjust their monthly tuition by reason of thanks a lot! Your feedback
reduced attendance that month, even with advance notice. helps me how to make your
experience with my online
• LOST MINUTES DURING LESSON: Be prompt to your lesson. Lesson time starts when studio more meaningful
and efficient. If you haven’t
I call, not when you answer the call. Please make sure everything is set up and ready given your feedback yet, it’s
to go by the time I call (i.e. your child is already by the piano and ready to play; not too late! Would really
computer or phone adequately charged or have enough battery to last throughout appreciate to know what
you think.
the lesson; chair or footstool is already at its proper height, etc.). You are considered
late to your lesson if we have to spend time setting up and you will only be given the
remaining time after that. Show me some
love :-)
• MAKE-UP LESSONS: Due to the volume of students I have this year, I cannot easily I would also really
appreciate it if you can
schedule individual makeup lessons. Aside from being a teacher, I’m also an active
leave me a review on the
missionary in the field. The lesson times I reserve for your lessons are ‘sacredly studio Facebook page —
guarded’ so that I can freely do my other missionary duties. Please ‘sacredly guard’ “Irene Bennett Music
your piano lesson schedules as well. In the event that we have to make up lessons, it Studio.”

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IRENE BENNETT MUSIC STUDIO 30 JANUARY 2019

will be in the form of longer lessons the following weeks, if scheduling allows. If you cancel your lesson on the day
of the lesson, or forgot to show up, no make-ups will be given, and there will be no refund or credit. If you cancel a
make-up lesson, no further make-ups will be scheduled.

Suzuki Book Graduation

I am so excited that several students are almost ready for their Suzuki 1
book graduation this quarter! “What’s a Suzuki Book Graduation?” you
might ask. Basically, it’s that point where your child can fluently and
musically play all the pieces in the book with both hands from memory.

When this point of mastery has been reached by your child, I will be
recommending you to prepare an uncut video of your child playing the
whole book. This video will then be submitted to the president of the
Asia Region Suzuki Association (ARSA) and Philippine Suzuki
Association (PSA) where I am currently registered. A panel of teachers
will be viewing the video and will determine whether your child’s
performance of the pieces is up to standard. Upon successful
graduation, you will be given an annotated copy of the panel’s
comments and suggestions of the performance, as well as a certificate
of completion. This signifies that the child is ready to move on to the
next level. A $15-fee is required for graduation application per child.

The mindset for Suzuki success

All the effort and hard work you put into this is worth it. There
are a lot of tasks you will be given each week in order to parent
a Suzuki student — practice everyday, attend lessons and group
classes, listen to recordings daily, and attend recitals and
performances. Your teacher will ask you things like, “Did you
listen this week?” Or “How many days did you practice?” Or
“Are you able to come to XYZ event/class/workshop?” Our lives
are already busy, and this can seem like a huge list of things to
do.

But I would like to say to all the parents reading this that it’s not
really about all that — it’s not about what your child does today
that is most important. Ten years from now, the fact that your
child practiced on a random Monday in July is not a life-
changing event. But who your child has become because they
practiced daily is. This process is about more than a list of things
to do — it’s about who we are raising the children to be.

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Ten years from now, the fact that your child has both the self-discipline to get what they need done but the
grace for themselves to know not every day is going to be exactly ideal — now that is life-changing!

Ten years from now, when your child encounters a big obstacle or goal in life and knows they can succeed if
they just break it down in little pieces and work on things one at a time — that is a skill that sets them apart.

When asked what they learned from studying the Suzuki method, adult Suzuki students don’t usually
answer with the names of pieces or by listing instrumental techniques; instead, they list character traits:
discipline, love for music, ability to break big problems into small pieces, persistence…

This is the life-changing work we’re really doing when we practice Twinkles, attend group lessons, and
practice those review pieces yet again. As parents and teachers, let’s focus more on what’s important:

• Practicing daily: Yes, because of whom we become when we do it (not because everything was done
perfectly everyday)

• Listening to our music: Yes, because we learn that when we need to learn something, we can immerse
ourselves in the knowledge of those who have already learned it and get a clear picture of where we will
go. Not to mention, we will gain an appreciation for beautiful music.

• Attending events in the Suzuki community (like group classes/workshops/institutes/camps): Yes,

but not because it’s required by the teacher or because it’s the thing to do, but because we learn about
community, cooperation, and time spent around inspiring people we can learn from in every part of our
lives.

“Don't worry about doing it all perfectly.

Don’t worry that your child is going their
own speed. Don’t worry that today’s practice
was short and you only got through part of
what you should practice. It’s what you
practice today that’s important — it’s what
you do over time with the bigger picture in
mind.”
—-EXCERPT FROM “BEYOND THE MUSIC LESSON: HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL SUZUKI FAMILIES” BY
CHRISTINE GOODNER

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500-star challenge results
Wow, wow, wow! I am so proud of all the parents and students for exceeding the star challenge I put out in
the beginning of this year. The original challenge was to reach 500 stars for the first quarter. Yet here we
are in the first month, and we’ve reached 277 stars already! Everyone certainly did their best in practicing
so hard and let me tell you, since the beginning of this challenge, there has been a lot of improvements in
your child’s performance during lesson.

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73 STARS! 94 STARS! 110 stars!
Thanks to the efforts of: Thanks to the efforts of: Thanks to the efforts of:
Aiesha, Aleah, Alyssa, Eunice, Kimberly, Nayeli, Sachelle, Saneron,
Anthony, Dafne, Elam & Paola, Lyn and Sarah Sharelle, Timothy and
Enrico Zach

Basis for the stars:

• Daily practice & listening — as logged in ALMOST HOME: HYMNS ON THE

the student portal SECOND COMING OF JESUS

• Lesson performance — based on Create a musical environment for your child by

individual assignments completed, goals exposing them to quality piano music! Aside from
reached and the small efforts and listening to Suzuki recordings and other classical
victories achieved during the lesson pieces, listen to my very own recording of the much
beloved
Seventh-day
FOCUS ON HYMNS Adventist
Beginning February, part of the lessons will hymns themed
be spent introducing hymns, particularly for on the second
students under the Suzuki method. If you coming of
check the ‘Repertoire’ section of your Jesus. Even
account in the student portal, you will see better, get
several copies
the hymn assigned to your child. A
and share with
recording of this hymn can be downloaded
family and
from the ‘Online Resources’ which is also in
friends!
the student portal.
Now available
in CD and