Basic Skills
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Practice Motivation in a Class Setting
In a perfect world, students would practice consistently and effectively in order to achieve personal success and satisfaction and to help optimize their ensemble’s performance. Unfortunately, this is more the exception than the rule.
For 3 years, I have taught an after school non-graded Elementary Orchestra program. Finding ways to motivate these students to practice has […]
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007Improving Intonation for String Players
All string players, regardless of experience struggle with intonation to some degree or another. A violin (or viola, cello or bass) doesn’t automatically produce a correct note when a button or key is pushed (like a piano), but the fingers must make constant adjustments to achieve the correct pitch. Here are some tips […]
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007How to teach memorization
Many teachers simply say to a student, “Memorize this piece by your next lesson.” Without guidance, students can feel overwhelmed by such a daunting task. Teaching a musician how to memorize music is an important skill.
It wasn’t until I was in college that my private teacher taught me memorization skills. Having these skills […]
Practice Makes Perfect?
When asked to complete the following sentence, “Practice makes ____________” most students will answer with confidence “Perfect!” After shouting “NO!” (this always gets their attention!), I demonstrate the following:
I play a passage of music very poorly (poor posture, intonation, rhythm, etc).
I play the passage over and over (students are usually annoyed by the […]
Note Reading and Flash Cards
Because note reading is largely about memorization, students need their own set of flashcards by the second or third lesson (for the D and A strings). Although note reading while playing should not be introduced at this point, students should review note-reading flashcards on a regular basis to prepare them for this task later. […]
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007Tapes vs. No Tapes
There has long been a controversy in the string world on whether teachers should put finger tapes on beginning students’ instruments. In a perfect world, where students are regularly taught music from a young age and can hear whether a note is out of tune, finger tapes may not be necessary. However, students often […]
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007Introducing Rhythm
Once students have a clear understanding of beat (see previous post), they are ready to learn basic rhythms. In a group setting, teachers will encounter varying levels of rhythm comprehension among students. I typically begin my discussion by saying something like “Some of you may already know how to read these rhythms, but […]
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007Teaching beat and rhythm
As a classroom or private string teacher, you will encounter students with varying levels of comprehension of beat and rhythm. Even students with a significant amount of musical training (perhaps on the piano or other instrument) may not accurately understand the difference between beat and rhythm.
I usually begin a discussion on beat and rhythm by […]
Getting Started
Many new string teachers (often with much expertise in their instrument), find it overwhelming to teach a brand new student. This guide to teaching strings can help teachers organize all of the skills that need to be taught so that nothing is left out. All of these skills should be taught before the […]