Treasured Practice
A Fable
Written by Darla Musson
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Chelsea who played the violin.
When she practiced the violin, she played pieces that she already knew and the new piece she was just learning. One day, Chelsea decided she didn’t like to play her review pieces anymore.
“I already learned how to play those pieces!,” Chelsea said. “Why should I keep practicing them?”
Chelsea’s mom knew that the more she practiced her review pieces, the easier it would be to learn new pieces. A new Suzuki piece is about 80% review, with only about 20% new material.
Her mom wanted to find something that would motivate Chelsea to practice her review pieces. Luckily, she knew her daughter well. Chelsea’s favorite things were things that sparkled!
They went to a craft store together and bought a small cardboard treasure chest, some paint, and a package of sequins. Chelsea got to pick out all the colors.
When they got home, Chelsea’s mom painted the treasure chest silver, just like Chelsea wanted, and they made a deal. For every review piece that Chelsea practiced, she could pick out a sequin. After practice was over, Chelsea would be able to glue all the sequins she had earned onto the treasure chest to decorate it.
That first day, Chelsea practiced and practiced, wanting her treasure chest to sparkle! When it came time to glue the sequins on the treasure chest, she had lots of trouble trying to glue the tiny sequins because she was so young. So her mom helped, happy to decorate the little treasure chest exactly to Chelsea’s specifications if it helped get her excited to practice her review pieces again.
So every practice time from then on, Chelsea’s mom would get out the little container of sequins, and each practice would end with Chelsea picking out the sequins she’d earned that day so her mom could glue them on the little chest.
As each side of the treasure box was filled, Chelsea was very proud of all the practicing she had done. Finally, all four sides and the top sparkled, and Chelsea proudly showed off her new treasure to her violin teacher, friends, and grandparents.
Then one day, Chelsea encountered a new problem.
She loved to practice review pieces now because they were so easy. She could easily remember all the notes and bowings because she practiced them so often. But she had a new piece that was difficult for her. “Two Grenadiers” just wasn’t the same as all the other pieces she had learned before! She really liked listening to it, but one day she decided new pieces just weren’t any fun and she wasn’t going to practice them.
After several days of struggling to get Chelsea to practice the whole piece instead of just the easy parts that she had already learned, her mom said, “Chelsea, aren’t you going to get very bored playing the same songs over and over for the next 10 years?”
“I don’t care,” said Chelsea. “I don’t ever want to learn another new piece again. It’s too hard!”
Talking didn’t motivate Chelsea, and fighting doesn’t motivate anyone, so Chelsea’s mom got an idea. “Let’s go to the craft store after practice today.”
So once again, Chelsea and her mom went to the craft store. This time, instead of looking at sequins, Chelsea’s mom brought them to the bead section. Chelsea had always admired the “diamond” beads, but they were more expensive than the sequins so she didn’t have any yet.
Chelsea’s mom suggested a new deal: today they could pick out a package of diamonds, and when Chelsea’s violin teacher said that “Two Grenadiers” was ready to be put on the review list, she could have one of those diamonds for her treasure chest.
Chelsea very carefully studied all the packages of diamonds. They came in many different colors, and there were so many to choose from. Finally, she picked out the pink diamonds and they headed home with the new treasure.
In practice time, Chelsea approached “Two Grenadiers” with new inspiration! She followed all the instructions her mom gave her, and even practiced small sections over and over to get them right.
Finally, Chelsea’s teacher said that “Two Grenadiers” was ready to be put in her review list. Chelsea was ecstatic! When they got home from lesson, she picked out one of her pink diamonds and raced upstairs to her tiny sequined treasure chest. She carefully placed her diamond inside, excited to see her treasure grow. But just one diamond in the treasure chest looked so empty…
So for every new piece Chelsea learned, she earned another diamond for her treasure chest, and she watched her treasure grow and grow. Each time a package of diamonds was emptied, Chelsea and her mom went back to the craft store where Chelsea picked out a new color of diamonds, until finally her treasure chest was filled with diamonds of all different colors!
