Hi everyone, Joel Kennedy here with Kennedy Violins.

Today we’re digging into Perpetual Motion from Suzuki Book 1. On the surface, this is one of the shortest, simplest songs in the book — but don’t be fooled. Suzuki never includes a piece just for fun. Every song is designed to teach you something new, and this little piece can actually unlock some huge skills if you practice it well.

Let’s walk through it together.

DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE

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Key and Finger Patterns

The piece is in A major — which means we have three sharps: F♯, C♯, and G♯.

That tells us something important about our left-hand setup:

• High 2 on the A string → C♯

• High 2 on the E string → G♯

(If we played on G or D, we’d also have high 2s there, but this song doesn’t use those strings.)

So the short version: when you see three sharps, think “all my 2s are high.” High, high, high, high.

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Time Signature

We’re in common time — also written as a big “C” on the staff, which just means 4/4. Four beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat. Pretty standard.

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What Perpetual Motion is Really Teaching

At its heart, this song is just an A major scale in disguise. Suzuki is sneaky like that.

• You’re learning finger placement for A major.

• You’re learning the relationship between notes — where the half steps and whole steps live.

Here’s what to notice:

• Between high 2 and 3 → half step (they should feel like they’re touching).

• Between 3 and 4 → whole step (there’s space between them).

• Between 1 and high 2 → whole step.

If you start training your fingers to feel these distances now, it’ll make every scale and piece down the road so much easier.

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Open Strings vs. Fourth Finger

Another Suzuki trick: this piece introduces the idea of choosing between open strings and your fourth finger.

For example, in measure 2, the E could have been written as an open string. But Suzuki writes it as a fourth finger on the A string. Why?

• To show you the distance between 3 and 4.

• To strengthen that fourth finger (which always feels weak until you use it more).

So here’s the rule: if Suzuki tells you to use a fourth finger, do it. If the music says open string, play it open. Learning to switch between them is part of the training.

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Bowing and Staccato

You’ll notice lots of dots above the notes — that means staccato. Play each note short, stopping the bow between them.

• Practice it first in the middle of the bow. Don’t go too close to the frog or tip.

• Stop the bow cleanly between each note so it doesn’t blur together.

Once you’ve mastered the staccato, try playing the whole thing legato (smoothly connected) as well. That way you’re building two different bow techniques out of one song.

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Speed Challenge

This piece is perfect for working on speed. Here’s how:

1. Start at a comfortable tempo with a metronome.

2. Each day, bump the metronome up a little bit.

3. See how fast you can get it without losing clarity.

When I was a kid, this was one of the first “speed test” pieces. It’s short, it repeats a lot, and it’s the perfect laboratory for fast, clean playing.

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Things to Focus On Before Moving On

Before you check Perpetual Motion off the list, make sure you’ve gotten the most out of it:

• Notice the half steps and whole steps (feel the distances).

• Practice both staccato and legato versions.

• Use the fourth finger whenever it’s written (and compare it with the open string for intonation).

• Challenge yourself to play it faster and faster with a metronome.

Do all that, and you’ll be building solid left-hand spacing, strong bow control, and a dependable fourth finger — all from this little song.

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Final Thoughts

Perpetual Motion might seem simple, but if you use it to train your ear, your hand, and your bow, it can make you a much better player. Don’t just learn the notes and move on — squeeze every lesson out of it.

And remember, at the end of my video I always throw a dart at the “dartboard of destiny” to see what we’ll cover next. This time it landed on May Song from Book 1 — so that’s what we’ll be doing next week.

Until then, be patient with yourself, practice slowly, and you’ll get a little better every day.

Happy practicing!