Getting ready for the annual Back to School is a mixed blessing. As the Summer Vacation wears on, students become bored. They miss their friends, and secretly they miss the routine that the school year imposes.
The student musician needs a more regimented approach to returning to school than many students. Like student athletes, musicians are expected to hit the ground running. They had achieved a certain skill level before school ended, and the orchestra, band, or chorus teacher usually hopes that the students will have continued their practicing through the Summer so that there has been no deterioration in their performance. Ideally the students will have even progressed due to practice or participation in Camps at which they can interact with other student musicians and teachers.
Sadly, not every student musician has the means, the time, or the desire to work on their musical skills through the Summer.
Brush up on the grammar of music. Spend ten or fifteen minutes per day for the last three or four weeks before school resumes studying key signatures, musical terms, and basic theory. Just having the vocabulary immediately available makes the first month of school so much easier for student and teacher alike.
Check your instrument for required maintenance three or four weeks before school starts. Does your violin need new strings, your cello need a new bridge, or your clarinet need new reeds? Check your supplies. Rosin, peg compound, lubricant and the like are all required. If you don't have them available, now is the time to order what you need. And if you find that something has occurred which requires professional attention, late July and early August would be the right time to take the instrument in for repairs rather than losing it for the first two weeks of the semester.
Look at your sheet music. Do you have the lesson books that you teacher will want you to have when school begins? If the teacher didn't tell you what your next book would be at the end of the year, check to see if there is something listed on your school's website. You might even be able to e-mail your teacher to ask for suggested materials. Most teachers continue to check their e-mail throughout the Summer.
The last few weeks of Summer is the time to start developing the physical strength, stamina, quickness and flexibility you will need to play your best. Finger exercises, whether on your instruments, using some sort of exercise device, or playing your instrument are invaluable. String players frequently complain about sore fingertips when they begin playing after a long lay-off. Now is the time to start developing those calluses and prevent the soreness you've had the first weeks of prior semesters.
Finally, start practicing early. Practicing thirty minutes or an hour a day for the month before school starts can dramatically improve your performance. Trying to impress your teacher? Play your instrument! Trying to move up a stand in your section? Etudes, scales, and arpeggios will help you do that! Just wanting to feel good about your playing? The dexterity, skill, and confidence that little bit of time you put in toward the close of Summer will develop will be invaluable as the leaves start to show their Fall colors.
Read about music. Maintain your instrument. Acquire the supplies you need. Spend some time with your instrument. Do these things and the harmony between you and your instrument as school begins will be something wonderful to hear!
Arthur Haule studied violin in a traditional program for ten years. He participated in several orchestras and an opera company in the New York City area and founded a string quartet. He has taken part in several music festivals and even acted as a violin coach. He is currently webmaster of http://www.violinstudent.com/ Although Art learned violin in a traditional setting, his daughter Adriana studied with a Suzuki Violin teacher. So Art has personal experience in both traditions. And you'll often hear him say, "It Doesn't Matter How You Learned, All That Counts Is That You Play!"
A fan of classical music, Art is dedicated to promoting the violin no matter what type of music is being played. If there is a melody there, Art probably listens to it.
Art Haule lives, plays violin, and designs T-shirts for http://www.cafepress.com/violin_student in Flower Mound, Texas with his wife Kathy and his daughter Adriana.
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