UPDATE April 2013: Suzuki Violin Project in Goa/India

By 17/04/2013Black Board

On Stage For the First Time After Three Months

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The five boys in this picture are on stage for the first time in their life, enjoying the privilege of showing something exceptional that no one in their circles has ever witnessed before. Not only did they begin taking violin lessons only three months ago with Clare Raybould, but for certain reasons these children never would have dreamed that they would one day be recognized for their efforts, let alone receive applause for something they had done. This was a big day for these children and their parents, a day that might have more influence on their lives than one would think….

Why? Because they come from the slums of Goa and belong to the fifth and lowest caste in India, the so-called “untouchables”. They live under roofs of plastic. Their “houses” are made of cardboard and towels. Most of them don’t even have a birth certificate and are therefore ineligible for any kind of education. In other words, they simply don’t exist according to the government of India.

Inspired by the music education program in Venezuela, the London based Suzuki teacher, Clare Raybould, has made it her goal to give these children a chance to break away from a seemingly hopeless situation in life with the help of music.

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The Suzuki violin project is called “Shining Light” and cooperates with the charitable organization, Educator’s Trust India. Approximately 45 children receive daily music lessons and a meal, occasionally some clothes and, most importantly, personal attention and instruction.
Clare Raybould’s concept involves the voluntary work of free-lance Suzuki teachers, who come for a minimum of one month to Goa to teach. In this picture, surrounded by children, you can see two Suzuki teachers, Charlotte Biddle from England and Karen O’Connor from Ireland. Mónica Linares and Guillem Calvo from Spain were also here for a month to teach these children and they hope to come back again some day soon. In 2014, the German Suzuki Association is planning an exciting project: the first phase of Suzuki teacher training for Indian teachers is to take place in Goa under the direction of Kerstin Wartberg and a team from German Suzuki Association.

Teachers can look forward to a lot more than just violin instruction in Goa. The picture below shows Charlotte Biddle getting an unexpected cool-down.

Clare (in the blue dress) at the European Teachers’ Conference in Remscheid, Germany, Nov. 2012

Clare Raybould is looking for more Suzuki teachers,
who are willing to volunteer
at least one month of their time
to work with this project in Goa.

Donations have already been given to cover
teachers’ costs of living during their stay in Goa.

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Here’s what these children have learned in their 2nd, 3rd and 4th months of instruction.

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Standing still isn’t as easy as one would think! The hanging swing of monkeys isn’t allowed to move as long as the song on the CD is sounding.

It’s especially important for the younger students that the instruction is full of variation and fun. The entire spectrum, from concentrated exercises and musical games to small improvised solo and group concerts, should be part of the instruction. There are no limits for a teacher’s pedagogical fantasy.

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Each child gets to catch one fish, on which a small assignment is written. For example: "Clap the rhythm of the 1st (or 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th) Twinkle Variation." OR "Play one of your violin pieces while standing on one leg!"

Both the fish game and the cup game stabilize and strengthen the hands for holding the bow, and besides that, they're a lot of fun.

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Done! Today everything went really well. I can even play the beginning of “Lightly Row”. Let’s see how far we get tomorrow…

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7 Short Videos (filmed with a cell phone camera):

Video No. 1: The Three-Finger Song from Step by Step
Clare and her team use the Step by Step books & CDs so that the Indian children have not only the repertoire from the Suzuki Violin books, but also many small preparatory pieces for all of the little learning steps along the way.


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Video No. 2: The 2nd Twinkle Variation with spoken rhythm: 1 / 2 / sh / 4
How good is your concentration? Distractions allowed!

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Video No. 3: Twinkle Theme with STOP before the 3rd finger from Step by Step.
Twinkle Thema – superstars!

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Video No. 4: Ollie Tunmer, a good friend of Clare, came for two weeks to Goa and taught the children lots of rhythm games and exercises. He was offered a wild greeting.

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Video No. 5: Here he is working with the younger children.

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Video No. 6: And here was the climax of his time with the children: the performance of the rhythm and violin groups at the marketplace in Anjuna.
Water bottle & plate percussion — with Ollie Tunmer.

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Video No. 7: The violin group presenting itself — with Clare Raybould, accompanied by the sound of the ocean in the background.
Who would have thought, during the recording sessions of the Step by Step CDs, that the notes of Rudolf Gähler (violin), David Andruss (piano) und Gino Romero Ramirez (djembé) would someday sound along with the performance of the Indian violin group at the marketplace in Anjun/Goa….

For more information on how to support this project, please click here.

Part 1, December 2012: Our very first steps!

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Teachers and parents with your children, please come and visit us!

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