One of my students told me she and a friend wanted to play Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring with piano and violin in church. She said their schedules were so busy, they couldn’t find time to practice together. I recorded the piece on violin sound at a very slow metronome setting on my digital piano. I then taped it from this recording. I raised the metronome setting ten points at a time until it reached performance tempo. Each of the higher tempi recordings were added to the tape. I repeated the whole process on piano sound, taping it. I gave my student the violin tape and her friend the piano tape. These became their practice partners and, although they were only able to rehearse together twice, the performance went very well. Of course, measures with accelerando and ritardando would need to be practiced together “in person,” but this trick cuts down on the number of those sessions considerably.

—Submitted by Jeanne Martens, Jeffersonville, Pennsylvania

A technology lab helps reinforce theory, ear training and sight reading, with the students working independently on the computer or keyboard.