Anyone who has studied a language knows that being in an environment where you must speak the language, where everyone around you is speaking the language, and where all the signs are in that language is a much faster way to learn the language than sitting in a school classroom filling out verb tables.  It's the same with music.  The more a student can immerse themselves in classical music, the more quickly and easily they will learn it.  Here are some suggestions for adding classical music into your (and your students') lives!

Go to concerts.  It's important to go to as many concerts as you possibly can.  I understand that in a recession, concert tickets for your family might be out of the budget.  However, depending on where you live, free concerts might be more available than you think!  If you live in my hometown, Washington DC, there is free music everywhere.  Here are some DC related links for free music:

The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage: http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/
The Army Strings and the Marine Chamber Orchestra:http://www.usarmyband.com/event-calendar.html
http://www.marineband.usmc.mil/downloads/season_brochure_2012.pdf
The National Gallery of Art:http://www.nga.gov/programs/music/
Other tips for finding free classical music: check into the music programs at your local universities.  Student recitals are generally always free, as are student chamber music concerts.  You could also look for Classical Revolution events (go here to find your local chapter: http://classicalrevolution.org/index.php?page_id=chapters)Aside from concerts, the next best thing you can do is to listen to as much classical music as you can.  The public library can generally be counted on to have a collection of cds, and thanks to YouTube and programs like Spotify, finding free classical music on the internet has never been easier.  Tune your car radio to classical music so that your kids are constantly exposed to it when you're on the go.  Even if they're doing homework, you can put a cd on in the background.  In addition to recordings of music, you can also find great children's programs and educational recordings on the lives of the composers.  Some of my favorites are the Classical Kids collection, which can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/quot-Classical-Kids-CD/lm/1CNTUYUIW3C1T
These programs use engaging stories to tell the lives of the composers and introduce young listeners to their music.  I admit, they're still fun for me to listen to as a grad student!

Watch music-related movies.  On the Hollywood side, movies such as Music of the Heart and Mr. Holland's Opus are wonderful choices for your family movie nights.  You can also find engaging documentaries such as The Art of the Violin and From Mao to Mozart to watch.  Additionally, a number of major artists such as Gil Shaham, Itzhak Perlman, and Anne Sophie-Mutter have released dvds of performances.  This is a great way to bring concerts into your home for no more than the cost of a dvd.  

Chances are that if you take violin lessons, there's something your teacher nags you about incessantly.  Maybe more than one thing.  Perhaps your pinky on your bow isn't curved, or the scroll of your violin tends to droop as you play.  There are any number of bad habits one can pick up when playing violin - sometimes when you don't even mean to.  The writer Margaret Silfe said "Choices become habits and habits become character."  So despite your passion for music and your hours a day of practice, if you keep playing with bad habits, that will reflect badly on you.

How exactly does one break a habit?  The first step is to want to break the habit.  You need to know (and hear) that your violin playing will be better if you can fix this.  The next step is to be aware of it.  Let's use the example of a straight pinky on the right hand.  If you aren't aware of your pinky and your teacher mentions it in every lesson, your first step is to figure out how to be aware of what your pinky is doing.  There are a number of strategies you can use. 

Videotape yourself playing.  Ask the person recording the video to zoom in on your hand so you can see exactly what is happening.  Experiment with playing small sections.  Consciously form your hand to do what you want it to do.  Watch yourself in the mirror.  Pick a passage of music and play it with your pinky straight, then with your pinky curved.  See if you notice any differences in the sound.  See if you notice any differences in how you feel.  Write these differences down.  See if you can describe exactly what is different.  For example, "I noticed that the bow changes sounded much smoother when my pinky was curved, and my arm felt less jerky."  Try to create a sound and a physical image that you can remember and come back to each time you practice.

I also find that it helps to know why changing the habit will help.  We all want to play better, right?  Ask your teacher why it's so important to keep your pinky flexible.   Generally, fixing habits will do two things: 1) make your playing sound better and 2) make the violin easier to play.  

Ask your teacher if there are any exercises you can do - for example, my high school teacher had a great exercise that involved sliding the left thumb along the neck to help relieve tension.  You might need to strengthen certain muscles.  At the moment, to combat my habit of hunching my right shoulder forward, I'm combining stretching exercises to release the shoulder, strengthening exercises to help hold it in place, and a lot of playing in front of the mirror so I can see when the shoulder goes up.  I'm also observing patterns of when the shoulder tends to tighten.  I'm generally okay in slow lyrical passages, but add some fast doublestops and my shoulder tenses up immediately!

As one of the professors in Harry Potter says, 'CONSTANT VIGILANCE!' You are going to need to consciously practice for months.  My teacher says that habits are never really broken, but that you can learn to contain them.  Designate part of your practice time every day to only work on changing your habit.  It's especially important to be aware of your habits when you're preparing for an audition or a performance.  In your focus on the goal, you might try to play through your music a lot.  This is when your habits might come back - still devote part of your practice for fixing them!  Keep your awareness in ensemble rehearsals, too.  In chamber music or orchestra there are so many things to focus on.  Make sure you practice your ensemble music before rehearsal and try to fix some of the habits.  I find that my old habits come back the most when I'm playing unfamiliar repertoire or when I don't have much time to learn something.

The work can be tedious and frustrating, but ultimately it will pay off!  Progress is not playing pieces of increasing difficulty with the same bad habits.  Progress is growing as an artist and a musician and learning to improve the quality of your playing.

For a great article on practicing, check this out: http://www.bulletproofmusician.com/how-many-hours-a-day-should-you-practice/

School is over, and the broad expanse of summer stretches out before you.  You seemingly have all the time in the world to do anything you want!  Hopefully one of the things you want to do is play your instrument!  Summer is a great time to improve your skills as a musician and a violinist.  Here are some tips:

1. Give yourself a break.  Everyone needs some downtime.  After my semester at music school is over, the first thing I do is allow myself to sleep until I wake up - without the alarm clock!  Take some time away from your school environment.  Reconnect with nature by taking walks in a park and soak up the sun, especially if you've spent the last several months in a practice room.  Listen to music that's completely unrelated to what you've been working on.  Give yourself permission to practice only if you want to and only music that you want to play! (note: this is not for the whole summer.)

2. Go to a summer festival.  If you haven't already been accepted to one, chances are that it's too late for this summer.  However, take some time and do some research to find a summer music festival that you're interested.  If you're going on vacation at all, see if there are any festivals nearby and go to a concert.  Summer festivals are great, because they allow you to learn music in a completely different environment from your school or your teacher.  It is so easy to get caught up in our own little worlds and to forget that there are lots of other schools and teachers out there.  Festivals are wonderful for networking.  For students beginning an application process for college or graduate study, it's worth it to try and study with teachers you are interested in for the summer.  It's a good way to make a connection and to have an edge when application and audition season starts.  Here are a couple of links with lists of festivals to get your research started:http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/960
http://www.peabody.jhu.edu/2748

3. Focus on technique.  This summer, when I'm not at the National Orchestral Institute, I'll be playing scales.  Lots of them.  All of them, hopefully.  My teacher and I have been working very carefully on a lot of changes in my fundamental technique, so scales are a great way for me to integrate the changes.  It's hard to do this at school - you have classes, ensemble rehearsals, other commitments, etc.  Summer is a wonderful time to reduce the intensity of your schedule and to increase the intensity of your focus in your practicing.

4. Create your own masterclasses.  Even if you don't have the opportunity or means to go to a festival this summer, if you have an internet connection you can still expose yourself to great artistry.  Check out the videos from the Queen Elisabeth Competition on their website.  Purchase dvds of the famous Jascha Heifetz masterclasses, or of other famous teachers.  There are a lot of resources out there.  Decide that you're going to listen to all nine Beethoven symphonies and do it.  You have unlimited resources at your fingertips - take advantage of this and spend some of your summer listening to great music and learning from masters.  There are also a number of books out there written by great violinists that you could learn from.  Of course, you should always, always, talk with your violin teacher about any changes you want to make to your playing.  Remember that your teacher knows you and that the videos you're watching and the books you're reading are aimed at a general audience.  

5. Be careful about taking time off. Taking time away from your instrument can be a good thing.  It gives you a physical and mental rest.  However, it's not the time off - it's how long it will take you to get back in shape when you come back to the instrument.  Last year, my mom and I went on vacation to Italy for ten days and I didn't take my violin.  I experienced a little bit of withdrawal, but I found that gelato is a suitable substitute for violin. ;-)  When I came home, though, the violin felt incredibly unfamiliar and my stamina was gone.  I could play for maybe ten minutes at a time before I needed a break.  I think it's Heifetz who is quoted as saying, "If I don't practice for one day, I know it.  Two days, the critics know it.  Three days, the audience knows it."  So, make sure to plan your time off - and your return to the instrument - accordingly!