Erin's Violin Blog 21

Erin took her violin to the local agricultural fair ("Buskers Welcome" said the posters) and played her review repertoire for about 25 minutes whilst standing beside her open violin case. Technical clarity: B+. Cuteness factor: A+. Proceeds: $70!

Erin's Violin Blog 20

Two weeks ago Erin moved onto a really nice eighth-sized violin and is really enjoying the depth and clarity of tone the new instrument is affording her. It's still a little bit of a stretch, but she's coping fine. Starting next week we'll be back into a regular routine of weekly lessons, so I guess it's time for an update.

Erin's summer workshop experience this year focused on piano at our local music summer school. She did participate in the beginner orchestra on violin, but unfortunately there just wasn't a realistic option for a Suzuki violin institute for her this year. Nonetheless, she's continued to barrel ahead in her learning.

She finished the Book 3 repertoire up in mid-July and is now ready to start polishing the second piece in Book 4. Her note-learning continues to come readily, and her posture is generally reasonable. Her vibrato has gained stability in the past few weeks and is occuring freely throughout her repertoire. Last year at this time she was working on The Two Grenadiers in mid-Book 2 and now she's easily mastering Book 4 repertoire, with decent vibrato, much-improved posture, good shifting facility and reasonable sight-reading skills. So it feels to me like she's finally reaping the rewards of her early start, rich environment and diligent work.