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Neil Fong Gilfillan
Oct 22, 20192 min read
Call and Response Jam for You and Your Students (Get Your Instrument Ready for this one!)
Your turn! Call and response is a great way to get students connecting their instruments to what they hear. It’s also a safe way to lead...
290 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Oct 13, 20191 min read
Ninja Shifting: Successful Shifting with Slurs
A key to shifting is knowing exactly where you're going and taking deliberate action--easier said than done. These are the 3 steps I...
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Neil Fong Gilfillan
Oct 13, 20191 min read
The Non Fancy Guide to Starting Vibrato
An unscripted emergency tutorial has turned into one of our most viewed videos. Local orchestra teachers requested a vibrato video to get...
141 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Oct 2, 20193 min read
How to Use a Looper (and more) with Students
A step by step process on how to develop string playing students' creativity through looping.
178 views1 comment
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Jul 17, 20192 min read
July Chili Dog State of the Studio
It's been a crazy Summer y'all. Our travels took us to Philly, Los Angeles, Louisiana, Miami, Ohio, and now we're settling back in Texas....
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Neil Fong Gilfillan
Dec 23, 20182 min read
TWINKLE ARCADE News and Updates!
It's been a few months since the release of TWINKLE ARCADE in D, which gives us plenty of time to review how it's going...and you know...
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Neil Fong Gilfillan
Sep 16, 20181 min read
Creative Strings Workshop Recap!
We wrapped up our first year as faculty at the Ohio Creative Strings Workshop with one video :) If you're reading this, hopefully you get...
17 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Jul 25, 20181 min read
Summertiiiiiiiiime at Chili Dog Strings
What's up blog buddies. Rachel and I are in Summer mode! We've been all over the place. First stop: Minneapolis for the Suzuki...
40 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Mar 16, 20182 min read
What it's All About - Thoughts on the 'Why' of Long Distance Lessons
Yesterday one of my online students had his best lesson of the year. He moved recently, and when he said he wanted to keep taking lessons...
52 views1 comment
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Mar 1, 20185 min read
Repetition and Practice Strategies: What We Learned From Playing String Commander
About a month ago, I was working with a student who was struggling with focusing on smaller sections of his music with practice. His mom...
194 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Dec 21, 20172 min read
What's Driving the Next Generation of Musicians?
Friends who like classical music, consider this...instead of dwelling on audiences that "just don't get it" for whatever reason, or...
78 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Sep 13, 20174 min read
Are You Sure about that Instrument?
Buying an instrument can be tough. It's time to say what a lot of teachers don't want to say, because it's no fun letting someone know...
245 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Aug 18, 20172 min read
Review - Beyond the Music Lesson: Habits of Successful Suzuki Families
Christine Wilson Goodner’s Beyond the Music Lesson is a well-thought out resource written for Suzuki parents and teachers alike. My...
138 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Jun 6, 20172 min read
From Soybean Fields to Note Reading in Louisiana
Just a cello hanging out by the soybean fields I just got back from teaching at the Acadiana Suzuki String Instutute in Lafayette...
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Neil Fong Gilfillan
May 22, 20171 min read
Our first Texas recital!
Last Saturday, we had our first recital since moving to Frisco. We have had recitals regularly in our studio at Ann Arbor over the years,...
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Rachel Samson
May 15, 20176 min read
Mother: The Most Noble Heart of Them All
Today’s post is dedicated to all the moms who give their children the gift of music. From the work-in-progress noble heart of a student...
267 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
May 8, 20171 min read
Keeping it Real at the Spring Festival
Last week, Rachel and I were invited to the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD Suzuki in the Schools Spring Festival! We're so grateful for the...
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Rachel Samson
May 1, 20175 min read
Practice Ideas for You
Often studio parents will fill us in on their practice week like this: “We did x, y, z, and then, because we felt like it, we made a...
199 views0 comments
Neil Fong Gilfillan
Apr 24, 20172 min read
Adding More to Our Website, Bit by Bit!
A behind the scenes look at a recent studio development session, complete with a smiley face Working on our website is something I really...
17 views0 comments
Rachel Samson
Apr 17, 20174 min read
High Definition for the Practicing Parent
Chili takes a moment to self reflect. Photo cred: Keli Cardoso de Melo Ever feel like you're only getting a fraction of the work done at...
108 views0 comments
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