All three instrumental ensembles sounded great in their recent rehearsals. Thank you to the students, parents, and private teachers for all the hard work. Some of the songs are challenging, yet as an ensemble, even the challenging songs came across well. I think it a good experience to realize the group can support you even if you cannot play every note--this is helpful not just in music, but in life.
PLEASE REMEMBER INSTRUMENTS AND MUSIC THURSDAY.
Please forgive some jokes and antics on my part on Thursday. I imagine some of the students are or will be nervous, and I am trying to help them relax and enjoy the performance. I have never seen Itzhak Perlman perform when he hasn't made a number of jokes, so I don't think I'm being disrespectful to the music.
Special note to 4th grade parents. I told your students that I would tell you to come early to watch the rehearsal if you think it will make your child more comfortable (10:45am). I told them I'd tell you to come late (at 11am) if your presence would make them more nervous. They laughed. You will have to decide for yourself when to come.
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
CDs for 4th grade, songs for 7/8
4th Grade
Two home-made, low-tech CDs of every song in Smart Violin are in the "Dolde" parent folder. Feel free to borrow one and return it when the time seems right. If all the CDs are gone, and you would like a copy, please let me know--if you provide me with a blank CD, I will burn a copy for you to keep.
I was talking with one of the private instructors about how many students are progressing rapidly; if your student seems to be thriving, don't feel you have to get a CD. Other students seem more uncertain, however, and if hearing the songs frequently help them support the ensemble on January 28, I encourage you to support them in that way.
I had my first rehearsal for our upcoming Saratoga Chamber Orchestra concert. The music is all from 20th century American composers and is quite challenging. I practice a lot and can't make the violin parts sound great by the first rehearsal, but by concert time, our ensemble and individual work will make beautiful music. I want the 4th graders (and older students) to get this sense, too--it is OK if something seems really challenging; the group will help carry the music along, with students participating in the appropriate way.
Guitar
I will send home with students Wednesday the entire repertoire for our January 28 assembly. Guitar students are playing 9 songs (3 with 4th grade strings, 3 with 5/6, 1 with a Spanish class, and 2 sing-alongs for the audience).
I recommend that students with younger siblings playing violin play duets at home.
If you have a 4th to 6th grader and would like the guitar chords to the songs they are playing (so you or they could play along at home), please let me know, and I will make extra copies for you (I received permission from the publishers to make copies for the purpose of providing guitar chords).
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Two home-made, low-tech CDs of every song in Smart Violin are in the "Dolde" parent folder. Feel free to borrow one and return it when the time seems right. If all the CDs are gone, and you would like a copy, please let me know--if you provide me with a blank CD, I will burn a copy for you to keep.
I was talking with one of the private instructors about how many students are progressing rapidly; if your student seems to be thriving, don't feel you have to get a CD. Other students seem more uncertain, however, and if hearing the songs frequently help them support the ensemble on January 28, I encourage you to support them in that way.
I had my first rehearsal for our upcoming Saratoga Chamber Orchestra concert. The music is all from 20th century American composers and is quite challenging. I practice a lot and can't make the violin parts sound great by the first rehearsal, but by concert time, our ensemble and individual work will make beautiful music. I want the 4th graders (and older students) to get this sense, too--it is OK if something seems really challenging; the group will help carry the music along, with students participating in the appropriate way.
Guitar
I will send home with students Wednesday the entire repertoire for our January 28 assembly. Guitar students are playing 9 songs (3 with 4th grade strings, 3 with 5/6, 1 with a Spanish class, and 2 sing-alongs for the audience).
I recommend that students with younger siblings playing violin play duets at home.
If you have a 4th to 6th grader and would like the guitar chords to the songs they are playing (so you or they could play along at home), please let me know, and I will make extra copies for you (I received permission from the publishers to make copies for the purpose of providing guitar chords).
With warmth and light,
William Dolde
Friday, January 8, 2010
More specifics for repertoire for January 28
4th Grade
My goal will be for us to perform Dana the Manatee (p 9), Eclipse (10), and Seesaw (11) from Smart Violin at the assembly (with guitar students backing us up). Although March of the Crazy Ants (8) is a good song, the sheet music is harder to read, so we will skip over that as a group for now (I know some students have mastered it individually) and return to it after the assembly.
I think a number of students will become quite proficient with 3 songs, and students who feel unsure will be able to contribute and be carried by the group.
I am of course ready to adjust if it becomes too stressful (these will be new songs for many of the students).
5th & 6th Grade
6th graders made a reasonable plea to keep Handel's Processional off the program for January 28--they've performed it at assemblies for 2 years in a row. We will aim to perform the Chorale (all students should practice both the A and B parts for this one), the Gavotte for 2 violins, and King William's March (again with guitars backing us up).
My goal will be for us to perform Dana the Manatee (p 9), Eclipse (10), and Seesaw (11) from Smart Violin at the assembly (with guitar students backing us up). Although March of the Crazy Ants (8) is a good song, the sheet music is harder to read, so we will skip over that as a group for now (I know some students have mastered it individually) and return to it after the assembly.
I think a number of students will become quite proficient with 3 songs, and students who feel unsure will be able to contribute and be carried by the group.
I am of course ready to adjust if it becomes too stressful (these will be new songs for many of the students).
5th & 6th Grade
6th graders made a reasonable plea to keep Handel's Processional off the program for January 28--they've performed it at assemblies for 2 years in a row. We will aim to perform the Chorale (all students should practice both the A and B parts for this one), the Gavotte for 2 violins, and King William's March (again with guitars backing us up).
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
4th to 6th -- Instruments and Books, Tuning
Students in grades 4 to 6 need to bring instruments and books (Smart Violin in 4, Strings Extraordinaire in 5 & 6) to school tomorrow, Thursday.
Tuning Hopefully weather will cooperate and keep moisture in the air. Some 4th graders have been under the impression that a private teacher has said it is OK for a student to turn the pegs at the end of the violin. We have had some broken strings, bent bridges, and loss of class time. I have clarified with some of the private teachers--to my knowledge, teachers are consistent in stating the following:
Beginning violinists should refrain from trying to tune their violins using the pegs at the scroll.
Many teachers wait a number of years before teaching tuning in this way (because of the possible damage to the instrument).
I have observed some students in grades 5 & 6 successfully and responsibly tune their own or other student's instruments using pegs. This is fine, and I am glad to see students help one another. During the tuning fiasco of dry weather, I had some reports of students deliberately marring their tuning to delay class. Because this was not a problem when weather allowed most instruments to stay in tune (and would be really obvious when most instruments are in tune), I expect this potentially disrespectful behavior to vanish. It also signals that I should move the pace in class quicker and make sure the material is challenging (which means some students may need to practice more at home). Please contact me if you have concerns.
4th Grade
We will review Smart Violin from the start, now reading notes and using solfeggio techniques (do-re-mi and soforth; this will help us make sense of transposing songs from A major to D major). Students familiar with note reading and the songs in the first pages may find it best to work on complementary, appropriately challenging material with a private teacher (as some teachers already do). It is my intention to move through Smart Violin with steady progress throughout the coming months. For some students, this may be challenging; I have received permission from the publisher and am in the process of making a low-tech recording of every song in the book to assist students who may be struggling.
5th & 6th Grade
We will have new seating for the January 28 assembly. We will rotate seating for each assembly; our strings program is for all students, not by audition, and I am therefore resisting creating a hierarchy of seating; rather, I want students to sit in new combinations to work on their listening in an ensemble. Cellos and violas will sit in the middle with violins on either side; this will make it easier for the audience to hear the distinct melodie of the bass and alto registers, and will mean students (violins in particular) will have to work hard to listen to one another.
We will review--briskly--pre-Christmas material in Strings Extraordinaire and focus on Choral, Processional, Gavotte in D, and King William's March (pages 8 to 12), likely playing some to or all of these at the January assembly.
7th & 8th Grade
Our guitarists will back up the 4th grade and 5th & 6th at the January assembly, as well as one of the Spanish classes.
We will do a number of exercises to refresh our memory of chords.
I encourage students/parents to look through Rise Up Singing to recommend songs for us to work on (other recommendations are fine as well).
Tuning Hopefully weather will cooperate and keep moisture in the air. Some 4th graders have been under the impression that a private teacher has said it is OK for a student to turn the pegs at the end of the violin. We have had some broken strings, bent bridges, and loss of class time. I have clarified with some of the private teachers--to my knowledge, teachers are consistent in stating the following:
Beginning violinists should refrain from trying to tune their violins using the pegs at the scroll.
Many teachers wait a number of years before teaching tuning in this way (because of the possible damage to the instrument).
I have observed some students in grades 5 & 6 successfully and responsibly tune their own or other student's instruments using pegs. This is fine, and I am glad to see students help one another. During the tuning fiasco of dry weather, I had some reports of students deliberately marring their tuning to delay class. Because this was not a problem when weather allowed most instruments to stay in tune (and would be really obvious when most instruments are in tune), I expect this potentially disrespectful behavior to vanish. It also signals that I should move the pace in class quicker and make sure the material is challenging (which means some students may need to practice more at home). Please contact me if you have concerns.
4th Grade
We will review Smart Violin from the start, now reading notes and using solfeggio techniques (do-re-mi and soforth; this will help us make sense of transposing songs from A major to D major). Students familiar with note reading and the songs in the first pages may find it best to work on complementary, appropriately challenging material with a private teacher (as some teachers already do). It is my intention to move through Smart Violin with steady progress throughout the coming months. For some students, this may be challenging; I have received permission from the publisher and am in the process of making a low-tech recording of every song in the book to assist students who may be struggling.
5th & 6th Grade
We will have new seating for the January 28 assembly. We will rotate seating for each assembly; our strings program is for all students, not by audition, and I am therefore resisting creating a hierarchy of seating; rather, I want students to sit in new combinations to work on their listening in an ensemble. Cellos and violas will sit in the middle with violins on either side; this will make it easier for the audience to hear the distinct melodie of the bass and alto registers, and will mean students (violins in particular) will have to work hard to listen to one another.
We will review--briskly--pre-Christmas material in Strings Extraordinaire and focus on Choral, Processional, Gavotte in D, and King William's March (pages 8 to 12), likely playing some to or all of these at the January assembly.
7th & 8th Grade
Our guitarists will back up the 4th grade and 5th & 6th at the January assembly, as well as one of the Spanish classes.
We will do a number of exercises to refresh our memory of chords.
I encourage students/parents to look through Rise Up Singing to recommend songs for us to work on (other recommendations are fine as well).
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