Performance Opportunities

Students in grades 4 to 8 will have an opportunity to play music at the Children's Holiday Workshop on Saturday, December 5. See below for times. All music performances will be in the 1st grade classroom. Students are encouraged but not required to perform.


4 and 5 and 6 to 8 choirs will sing at 10am.

4th Grade I will invite any 4th graders who want to play either pieces they have been working on outside of school or songs from Smart Violin with me. This is not a required performance but is instead a low-pressure way to allow some motivated students play in public. I will be glad to lead students in our Exercise in A, Twinkle Twinkle, Green Light, and Woke Up Early. Students can join in for any songs with which they are comfortable. Time 12:50pm (right before the 5th & 6th grades play Christmas music).

5th & 6th Grade We had a good time reading through all the Christmas music in Strings Extraordinaire. I invite all students to join me in the first grade room to play these songs, and possibly old favorites such as Largo, Tumba, and Country Gardens. I will be available to play violin, cello, or viola as needed. Time 1pm

We will also begin the Autumn Assembly next Thursday and play Largo, Tumba, and Country Gardens as the lower grades and parents enter.

7th & 8th Grade After the choirs sing, guitar students are invited to play guitar for a Christmas and children's song sing-along. We will be practicing the following in class: Silent Night and Jingle Bells (Backpacker's songbook); as many songs in the PLAY section if Rise Up Singing as we can get to (e.g. Baby Beluga, Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Fox, Puff the Magic Dragon, I Had a Rooster, Wheels on the Bus, and more). The nursery children adore it when the older students play, and this will be a wonderful bit of community service to play for young children and parents at the Workshop. Middle Schoolers who join me on that day will be excused from a performance quiz the following Monday.

The 7th & 8th grade will also support the 5 & 6 orchestra next Thursday at the Autumn assembly.

Some students have missed a number of classes. It will be important for them to practice at home, especially because other students are ready for more challenging material, and I plan to move the class along quickly--this is what some of our students are ready for, and all students will be ready for with enough practice at home. If a student feels she or he is falling behind, daily practice at home will be important. I will be able to give some 1 on 1 lessons in December, but home practice will be essential. I will expect all students to be able to play the following chords by Monday, December 7: C, A, G, E, D, Am, Em, Dm, and F. (Some students who are proficient on the guitar in other ways would do well to take time to make sure they know these basic chords as well).