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Suzuki Twinkle Variations – Busy Busy Stop Stop

Hi Guys and thanks for dropping by!

Today I’ve decided to make a video to help master your Suzuki Twinkle Variations. Although I’m not a Suzuki method teacher per say, I certainly respect the ideology behind this method and indeed use aspects of Suzuki teaching with my own students.

If you’re following the Suzuki method, either solely or simply as a component of your wider learning program, you’re no doubt looking to develop strong and reliable technique. Indeed, when intermediate or even advanced students come to me with technical issues I will often spend a month or so working through the Twinkle Variations in order to identify and rectify any issues with basic technique.

Take your time to read this post, watch the video and really master all the technique that is addressed in this seemingly simple set of variations!

Why I start My Teaching With Suzuki

When I began teaching, I noticed a stark contrast between the technical ability of Suzuki trained students compared to their traditional, music reading counterparts. Having been taught to read and understand music from the time I first picked up a violin, I was baffled as to how these students seemed to have such beautiful technique and yet were seeking something different in terms of their learning pathway.

So, when my own daughter began learning the violin, I purchased my very first Suzuki book 1 and we started working through the Twinkle Variations together. It all suddenly made sense; instead of focusing on reading notes and understanding the music in front of us, we were totally focused on the development of accurate technique and a beautiful quality of sound. No wonder the Suzuki students I’d encountered previously had such great technique!

From that point forward, I used the Twinkle Variations as part of the first three to twelve months of every new student’s learning pathway.

Introducing Busy Busy Stop Stop

This is the first bowing style we encounter in the Suzuki Book 1. Although it may sound silly, when you play those four semi quavers followed by two staccato quavers, the sound really resembles the words ‘Busy Busy Stop Stop’

You might like to put a bright coloured sticker in the middle of your bow so that you can aim to keep to small notes moving across the sticker. Later on, you could try it in the top or bottom parts for some variation.

The advantage to this bowing pattern is that you can’t go too wrong in terms of how you are moving your right hand and arm and this allows you to focus more on the left hand and fingers.

Before starting the fingered exercises, why not play some busy busy stop stops on the open A and E strings. How about four on each string to start off with? You could increase this number as you get better. 

Introducing Fingers!

CORRECT!
Fingers are standing up tall on the strings and the unused finger is 'flying' above the strings.
CORRECT!
Mouse hole is maintained by keeping the left wrist and hand loose and relaxed
INCORRECT!
Fourth finger is lying beneath the fingerboard!
INCORRECT!
The fingers are lying down. You need to keep them standing tall.
INCORRECT
The wrist is leaning on the violin neck! There is no mouse hole and the cheese is squashed!
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The following exercises are shown on the video and are not designed to be completed in one go. Repeat each exercise as many times as you can but only as many as good technique will allow. Look out for maintanence of the following important technique:

    • Be sure that your fingers are standing up tall and that your pinky finger is not lying beneath the neck of your violin
    • Ensure that your mouse hole and cheese are well shaped.

Exercise 1 - First Finger On The E String

CORRECT!
The first finger is standing tall on the E string and the correct position of the left hand is maintained.
INCORRECT!
The finger is placed on the A string instead of the E string. The mouse hole is squashed so that the finger collapses onto the E string instead
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The first exercise I’ve shown you on the video is to play open E followed by first finger on the E string. You want to ensure that you’re super careful of your left hand position here. I find that when students start playing on the E string, they tend to squash the left hand and thumb together and push the wrist out to the left.

To avoid this, keep focusing on the mousehole and ensure that you are actually placing your fingers on the E string, not the A string. Most times when students present with this problem, they have placed the tips of their fingers on the A string and are leaning the fingers over to the right to touch the E string. This is not what you want to do! Focus on ensuring that the tips of your fingers are placed on the E string.

Use the busy busy stop stop rhythm and repeat E, E1, E, E1 as many times as you can whilst maintain good technique.

Exercise 2 - The 3, 2, 1, 0 Build

A3 looks like this
A2 looks like this
A1 looks like this
A0 looks like this
Be especially careful to maintain your left hand and wrist position here - It's hard!
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We now move across to the A string where we want to build the fingers up to A3. Start with your first finger, then add the second finger and finally place the third finger directly on top of the second finger.

Before adding the bow, ensure that your left hand and wrist are loose and relaxed and that the mouse hole is evident.

Now use the busy busy stop stop rhythm to play A3, A2, A1, A0

Take a moment to build the fingers up one by one. You should not try snapping the fingers on at this stage. Repeat this exercise over and over again, ensuring that you build your fingers up confidently and correctly each time.

Exercise - Playing The Middle Section

This is the most difficult part of the piece and it’s important that you practice it in isolation until you’re confident with the E to A3 build.

Use the busy busy stop stop rhythm to play E0. You then want to take time to build your fingers up on the A string. Now, you want to play A3, A2, A1. You should then repeat the whole sequence: E0, A3, A2, A1. Notice that there is no A0 in this exercise.

When you’re moving across from E0 to A3, don’t be tempted to snap your A3 on prematurely. Building your fingers up carefully will result in the ability to play the piece quickly and correctly later on. If you try to rush from E0 to A3 in the beginning, you may be able to play more quickly, but you’ll not develop a strong and confident frame in your left hand and your intonation will probably suffer.

Putting It All Together

Once you’re pretty confident with the three exercises, you are ready to play the first Twinkle Variation – Busy busy stop stop. As you’ll see on the video, I’ve played the piece with builds and then with snaps. I encourage you to focus on the builds for at least a week of practice. Only once you’re fingers are confident with their placement on the A string you could try snapping the A3 instead of building it.

Congratulations!

If you’ve made it this far, you’re on the way to some really solid beginner technique. It’s so important not to rush the beginner stages of your violin journey. Take the time to ensure that these exercises are easy and confident before moving on to the different Twinkle Variations.

If you do feel ready, take a look at my post on the Twinkle Variations; you can find it here. This post covers each of the different bowing styles that you need to complete the entire set of Suzuki Twinkle Variations

Best of luck with your beginner technique and remember that if you ever have any questions or need a hand with anything violin related you can ask me in the comment section below.

Congratulations on learning your very first piece!

Marketa 😉

(Founder of myviolinbff.com)

This Post Has 20 Comments

  1. Sylvia

    Thank you, Marketa, for this great article! I didn’t know about Suzuki, and I learn so much here. Everything makes sense; exercising the fingers is very important to get a good feeling. That is with everything we do, and especially for playing the violin. I always thought I would break my fingers; it looks so complicated, but it is training, practice, and it will sound marvelous. 🙂

    1. Marketa

      Thanks so much, Sylvia
      Suzuki is a great method but everyone is different so its important to find what works for your age, level, goals and ability
      Have a great day and thanks again 🙂

  2. Amy Smith

    This lesson was really helpful thankyou, and so easy to follow. You are an excellent teacher. looking forward to the next one!

  3. Randi

    You have such a simple yet comprehensive way of explaining the little variations in technique! Thank you so much!

    1. Marketa

      Hi Randi and thanks so much for your comment. I hope this is helpful for you
      Best wishes
      Marketa ?

  4. shirley

    Marketa, I’ve read your excellent lesson post and I’m impressed. Love the video and the images that show the correct finger and hand position. You have a very nice informative article here. Thanks. -shirley

    1. Marketa

      Hi Shirley and thanks for the feedback
      I hope you will find it useful and please do let me know if there is anything particular you’d like me to cover
      Have a great week ahead
      Marketa ?

  5. Bo lupe

    What a fantastic post! My girls have been learning how to play the violin since they were 3 years old. The clarity in your explanation makes you should a great teacher. Your video is exceptional and you now have a regular viewer.
    Thank you for sharing.

    1. Marketa

      Oh my goodness!
      This is so nice to read! Please do let me know if you have any specific things you’d like me to make videos for or write about
      You must have the patience of a saint to have gone through more than one three year old start! My eldest started at 3 and that was enough for me. The next one started at 6 and the rest of them learned piano
      Have a great weekend ahead ?

  6. Sheila Gea

    Wow! I love your blog post I’ve been wanting to start practising again. I learned to play the violin in 8th grade, I was in my jr high’s Orchestra, and when I moved to Mexico I joined a Mariachi band, then moved back at sixteen and picked up the drums but I’m so glad that I found your blog and to know that I can apply the Suzuki method, thanks!

    1. Marketa

      Amazing, Sheila
      Just let me know if you have any specific things you’d like me to write about or cover. Thanks so much for reaching out ?

  7. Jonah Eisenschenk

    I am not overly familiar with this process, but you did a wonderful job getting the information across in a way that I could understand 🙂 I love the use of videos as well. Way to go Marketa! Keep it up.

  8. Scott

    What age and how long does it take to do this?

    1. Marketa

      Hi Scott,
      It’s really hard to answer this. Everyone is different in terms of how quickly they learn and how able they are to grasp the basics. Whatever the case, you want to make sure you take the time to learn this thoroughly and correctly; there are so many good techniques to be learned from this one simple piece 🙂

  9. Carla

    This is a great post for beginner violin players like me! Very informative and you explain things well. I love the video as well. Makes it easier to follow when you can see it. I started learning violin many years ago but had to give it up when my life got too busy. Now that I’ve picked it up again, I think this is going to really help me

    1. Marketa

      Thanks so much for your interest, Carla
      Please do let me know if you need any help;I’d be more than happy to offer you any advice you may need 🙂

  10. Lovey

    Wow, what a cool site and your site just oozes with how into the violin and teaching you are. You have done an excellent job in setting up your site. Teaching and the methods you use certainly suit your desires and dreams. The site and each blog are easy to follow even for us less than musical people. Great job.

    1. Marketa

      Hi there and thanks so much for your feedback
      I really hope you find the posts useful. Don’t forget that there are plenty more videos on my youtube channel too 🙂

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