How did food weasel its way into the Twinkle Variations?

I have my theory. :) Maybe all those private teachers slaving away teaching lessons for hours every evening started thinking about their missed dinner and decided, instead of ignoring the elephant in the room, to celebrate it in all its glory.

Think about it. In my day, we had Tucca Tucca Stop Stop. I still stick with that, by the way. I like Tucca because it describes the “k” sound—the articulation—a player ought to seek with their bow stroke for that passage. Nowadays? Tucca has morphed into Mississippi Hot Dog. If you know, you know. You see Down Berry Up Berry change to Hamburger Cheeseburger. Teeny Tiny Teeny Tiny (Variation E, or D in the old book)—again, I prefer that nickname because it tells the student exactly how much bow to use, yes, a teeny tiny amount, which is the secret for playing fast—Teeny Tiny morphed with some teachers to Wish I Had a Cheesy Pizza.

Now, don't get me wrong. The changes aren't all bad. Mulling over these ones did get me thinking of some other exercises involving food that I’ve used as a teacher. In other words, food analogies are memorable. Here are four examples:

1. Biting into a Cheeseburger for Cello Left Hand position
2. Stirring the Soup for a violin bow exercise, though I have adapted that one to “Stir the Cookie Batter.” As the kid holds their bow perfectly straight in vertical position and makes large clockwise-motion circles perpendicular to the floor with their right arm, all with a perfect bow hold, of course, I ask them to tell me their favorite kind of cookie. Then, as they're creating their cookie masterpiece by stirring the batter, “Oops! Some splashed out of the bowl onto your face. Now you have to wash your face!” And the bow circles change to vertical ones, with the frog making smaller circles around their face, bow still perfectly straight.
3. The “Twinkle Sandwich” to teach ABBA form: one piece of bread, two pieces of ham, and another piece of bread
4. Baugette-shaped bow circles for Gavotte by Veracini in Suzuki Book 6

Some foods never change, from generation to generation. I suppose in America, we’ll always have cheeseburgers, pizza, and hot dogs, which make them obvious choices to describe Twinkle Twinkle Little Star rhythmic variations. Of course, other foods seem to lose popularity over time. Though thinking of the “stirring the soup” bow exercise as being more old-fashioned is ironic, because I actually love making homemade soup for my family, from chilies to chowders. But I suppose the older analogies do make one nostalgic.

Tonight, I got lost in that nostalgia, remembering snacks I had as a kid that I never see in households in the 2020's. Comfort snacks for me that today's kids would probably have no concept of. Snacks like saltine crackers with cheese, bread and milk with molasses, tapioca pudding made on the stove, American cheese with each “slice” in its own individual plastic wrapping, and applesauce warmed with cinnamon and nutmeg.

I haven't figured out a way to incorporate those snacks into my violin teaching yet, but maybe someday I will. In the meantime, you can't always fight change. Seeing other teachers use popular food as a motivator for practicing correct hand positioning and rhythm gets a hesitant yet willing-to-be accommodating nod from me. Even if I myself continue to stick with “Tucca Tucca Stop Stop.”