New Music Coming After Break

In all our ensembles, I have been seeking music that works well with the mix of instruments and ability levels.  I will have new books for all students after break.  Parents need not purchase these books, but students will be asked to return  the books at the end of the year.  If a student likes a book, you may, of course, purchase it.

4th and 5th Grade students will receive Basic Fiddler's Philarmonic.  The book has tunes in 3-5 versions, so students of all ability levels can find something to play.

A)  Simplified tune with note names printed.
B)  More advanced version of the tune.
C) Back-up part (violins) or bass line (cellos and basses).
D) Guitar chords to help students improvise easy parts (open strings) or challenge themselves with improvisiation.
E)  Lyrics for all the songs so that students can use their vocal skills to help them play.

Many tunes students will recognize; we will sing them.  I will encourage advanced students to improvise or play harder parts.  5th grade in particular has enjoyed the fiddle tune we've played already--it uses our basses to the best advantage to have them play a bass line.  I think 4th graders will be relieved to have more varied degrees of challenge.

Classes will continue to be separate, but I have hopes of 4th and 5th grades performing together in the future.


6th to 8th grade  While I still seek a longer, recognizable orchestral work to finish the year, after the break we will also have a new book, Fiddler's Philharmonic Encore, similar to our fiddle tunes book last year.  This also allows students to play at many different levels of difficulty, and this genre of music seems an effective way to integrate our guitar players with the rest of the orchestra.  We will continue to work on and polish songs from More Strings Extraordinaire but will likely take a break from Jazz Philharmonic--there was a great deal to learn from those songs, but the challenges were too great for our rhythm section (more advanced jazz chords and syncopated rhythms), and a number of our melody players felt similarly lost.  My intention is to work on improvisation for advanced players with the fiddle tunes of our new book.

No More Instruments Needed this Week

Dear Strings Families,

Unless your child has a private lesson, she or he does not need to bring an instrument to school Wednesday to Friday this week. We'll look forward to starting back into our repertoire the week after break.

William

5th Grade Classical Bash

5th Grade -- I'm sorry if I neglected to mention that 5th grade students will continue to work on "Classical Bash" from Strictly Strings Book 2 in addition to our work on fiddle tunes in parts. A number of students are quite excited to play "Classical Bash," which creates a medley of themes from Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Haydn's Suprise Symphony, Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

FIddle Tunes for 4/5

4th Grade: As the year progresses, some students seek more challenging music while others would benefit from simpler music. The time seems right in 4th grade to present music with different levels of complexity to allow students to progress gracefully at their different levels. I have passed out a copy of Bile 'em Cabbage Down to 4th graders. This has three parts: 1) the tune, which is relatively easy, all on the D string (and has lyrics that can be sung above); 2) the break, which is relatively difficult; and 3) a back-up part, which looks difficult but is not so hard once you get used to it. There are still more options. A) For students really struggling with the notes, playing an open A or D string in rhythm will still help the song along (that is, no reason to sit out this song); B) For students seeking more challenge, they can work on improvisation with their teachers. If this works well, I will procure books (no new charges to parents). I might still pass out one song at a time--the books have not in general held up well in 4th grade, and a number of students do not seem to know where their books are.

For teachers who know bluegrass--please note that some of the traditional fiddle tunes have been dropped a 5th to make it easier for cellos and basses.

We will still work on Jingle Bells and Mozart Serenade for a bit more.

5th Grade: We are blessed to have 3 cellos and 3 basses in our ensemble, and the time seems right to seek music that allows each instrument to sing in its own voice: that is, rather than the unison music we have been playing, I am seeking music with different bass, cello, and violin parts. In the short term, we will also work on Bile 'em Cabbage Down in D, with the idea that perhaps grades 4 and 5 can perform together in the future. See above for my description of parts. This also has the tune, which is easy for students who are struggling, and breaks and backups for students seeking more challenge, as well as a bass line that sounds like a bass line. Teachers are encouraged to help their students improvise as well (please note that we are playing the song in D, not A). I am passing out the music today.

6th to 8th Grade: No instruments needed Thursday--students will be auditioning for Man of La Mancha during our strings class time. We will continue refining Vive La France, Hymn of Praise, and Rigadoun for a future performance. We have begun reading through more of our Jazz Philharmonic book--at present, it seems this book works best as an occasional rhythmic exercise for in class and likely won't be something we perform from.

Update - what to work on

4th Grade -- Because some students had new violins without tape to help them place their fingers, they seemed very confused in class. We took a class off today, and I put tape on violins for students who remembered and checked in with every child. It was a positive experience. It will also be really helpful for students not taking lessons for their parents to review Strictly Strings with them at home. The information students need is at the top of every page.

We will continue to work on Jingle Bells and Mozart serenade on page 20 and Folk Dance and Can-Can on page 19. These songs only use the D and A strings. I have distributed copies of fingerings for students who feel helped by them.

5th Grade -- The songs on page 9 seem like they will be more rewarding than the songs on page 7. Next week we will work on San Severino, The Minstrel Boy, and Trumpet Voluntary, all on page 9. I have previewed Classical Bash for the students on page 10, and we will start this medley of 4 famous classical themes (Beethoven's 5th, Haydn's Surprise Symphony, Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and Beethoven's Ode to Joy) in a couple of weeks. Students could start previewing at home.

6th & 7th Grade -- Students have shown great sight reading skills as we have delved into a bunch of new music in More Strings Extraordinaire. We will continue working on to polish for future assemblies Vive la France (10), Hymn of Praise (15), and Rigaudon (18). I will add other songs to our list of songs to polish, but we will also continue exploring new music next week.

Jingle Bells -- 4th grade

Dear 4th Grade Parents in Particular,

I taught a lesson to the 4th grader right before the break.  After working through exercises on previous pages, we moved to Jingle Bells on page 20.  The student played it confidently and gracefully,  If your student is playing violin at home over the break, you might consider encouraging them to try Jingle Bells.  Some students may need a teacher to write in fingerings.  I will try to find a way to do this for students after the new year.

Blessings,

William Dolde

5th to 8th grade Specific -- Winter Festival

5th Grade  Our musical program remains the same as the one we have been practicing--Scarborough Fair, Jasmine Flower, Billy Boy, Carnival of Venice, O Tannebaum, Lovely Evening, Over the River and Through the Woods, and Jingle Bells.  Please have students bring instruments to the Butterfly Nursery Friday morning.  There is some chance your students will sit with me in the pavilion before the festival begins, and play music as parents enter.  If this happens, we may repeat songs; I may add solos that I play; or we may have to cut a song short if the rest of the festival needs us to.  I have asked the students to prepare to be flexible.

6th to 8th Grade  In recent weeks, students have shown remarkable recall (and strong technical improvement) on Christmas songs we played last year from Strings Extraordinaire (the first green book).  They also requested to reprise Pachelbel's Canon and played it well.  Because the students are so motivated, we have added some of these songs to our program and removed some of the less-rehearsed songs from More Strings Extraordinaire.  I have told students new to the school, students who have switched instruments, or students who have missed many classes in recent weeks not to worry if they feel unprepared for certain songs.  The ensemble as a whole sounds strong, and they can play what they can in a supportive way.

Friday's program will be:  (from the green book)  Pat-a-Pan, Two French Carols; then (from the blue book) Bluegrass Blastoff, German Dance, Daydreams, Fanfare Minuet; then (back to the green book) What Child is This, Carol of the Bells, and Pachebel's Canon.

Thanks for supporting our program,

William Geoffrey Dolde