Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Week of Sept. 21

Song of the Week
Grade 6: #32
Grade 7: Creepy #21-33
Grade 8: Viva 37-53

FUND RAISER KICK OFF is on Wednesday, September 23! We will be selling cheese, sausage, and candy items as well as accepting free-will donations to help fund some of the "extras" in the Orchestra program. Your fundraising help is greatly appreciated. Order forms are due Tuesday, October 6.

Assignments

Grade 6
Teach your Parent to Play Night and Ice Cream Social: Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 7PM in the NV auditorium. Enter Door 5.
Book pgs. 4-12
Boil em Cabbages
Twinkle (See last post for note names)
Scary Story intro (Thursday and Friday)

Grade 7
North Country - practice playing it all the way through, performance in less than 2 weeks!
Creepy Crawl - practice playing it all the way through, performance in less than 2 weeks!
Indigo Mountain - are you looking at this, even though we are not playing it a lot in class?
La Rejouissance - all quarter notes are still short!

Grade 8
Sinfonia - practice playing it all the way through, performance in less than 2 weeks!
Irish - practice playing it all the way through, performance in less than 2 weeks!
Viva - 37 to end needs attention, G#!!
Waltz - practice the pizzicato sections carefully

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Week of Sept 14

Songs of the Week:
6th: #22
7th: North Country 24-40
8th: Waltz 54-71

Congrats to all students for playing quizzes well done last week!

Assignments:
6th Grade
TEACH YOUR PARENT TO PLAY NIGHT + ICE CREAM SOCIAL!
Tuesday, September 22
7-8:30PM
Northview Auditorium on stage
Please RSVP to assure a spot and ice cream

Boil 'em Cabbage Down
F# F# F# F# G - G -
F# F# F# F# E - E -
F# F# F# F# G G G G
F# F# E E D - D -
Practice also with down kitty up kitty and double stop version

Twinkle
D D A A B B A - G G F# F# E E D -
A A G G F# F# E -
A A G G F# F# E -
D D A A B B A - G G F# F# E E D -

Book pages 4-11

7th Grade
North Country - count! finish learning all the notes. I would like to hear a run through by early next week.
Creepy Crawl - watch out for all those new notes!! Put your fingers on those new spots
Indigo Mountain - how far into the song can you figure out the notes and rhythms to??
La Rejouissance - don't forget that ALL QUARTER NOTES ARE SHORT!

8th Grade
Sinfonia - clean it up - tuning is especially suspect during class
Irish - focus on 40-60 for counting, beautiful sustained sound
Waltz - practice slide/shifts at 54!
Viva - practice all 3 #'s

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Week of Sept. 8

Songs of the Week:
8th: Sinfonia 64-67 and 75 to DS al Coda
7th: North Country 16-24
6th: Book #16

Playing Quizzes on FRIDAY for all grades. Your quiz is the same as the Song of the Week above!

6th Grade Assignment
For Posture review, look at the links on the right and click on your instrument for detailed instructions!
Posture review - set up instrument, bowhold, left hand position, target practice
Book pages 4-9, review and practice
Bowings: Mississippi Hot Dog, Down Kitty Up Kitty, Red Light WAIT Go!, Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich
Practice some with fingers as well.
Hot Cross Buns
Beginning of Twinkle (D A B A G F# E D)
D Scale

7th Grade Assignment
North Country: 16 to the end - figure out the notes, we'll work on rhythms later!
Creepy Crawl: careful thinking about where each finger belongs
Indigo Mountain: Learn notes after 17
La Rejouissance: SHORT bows on ALL quarter notes!!!!

8th Grade Assignment
Sinfonia: Close look at 64 for tuning, learn notes from 55-75
Irish: 40-80 needs some work. Learn your notes and play confidently.
Waltz: G#, G-flat - where are they? What is the difference?
Viva: 37 to end - learn notes and rhythms!

BEGINNING BASS POSTURE INFO

BASS POSTURE
Bowhold on a pencil:
Right Hand holds the pencil!
Monkey Hang
Thumb TIP touches pencil.
Thumb is curved.
Flop all fingers over the pencil.
Middle finger folds over the pencil. This finger will hang all the way over the bow and touch the ferrule.
Check for space between fingers.
Ring finger folds over pencil. Hug the FROG!
Index finger flops over with one finger-width space between index and middle finger.
Pinky flops over pencil and rests on the first joint of pinky.
All joints should be rounded, flexible, relaxed. In case of double joints, the joints should be eased into the right position with the help of the other hand. The more you practice un-sticking the joints, the sooner they will stop locking up.

Exercises:
Bunny munches the pencil
Bunny ears wiggle
Tap the pencil with different fingers (TAP TAP taptap Tap; T-A-P T-A-P; Pinky pinky pinky tap; Circle circle; Pet The Frog)
Elevator
Rocket ship
Place pencil on head, shoulders, forehead, nose (any place would be great to add taps).
Windshield wipers, fast and slow
Wrist waves Hello, Side to side, Circles
Rhythm exercises with pencil in hand and focusing on opening and closing the elbow
What time is it?
Hills and Valleys
Mississippi Hot Dog (Pepperoni Pizza)
Down kitty Up kitty
Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich
Red Light (STOP!) Go
Also do rhythm exercises without bow with right hand moving along the
left arm. Start each rhythm by going in the “DOWN’ direction.

Bass Posture
1. Stand with feet a hip width apart. Left foot is slightly back. Knees are not locked.
2. Endpin height - adjust endpin so that first knuckle row meets the bridge
3. Leaning tower of Pisa - bass edge should lean into dent between hip and belly
4. Hug the bass to get used to all that wood in your personal space.
5. Left hand pre-setup: 1 Left thumb in ear; 2 Index on eyebrow; 3 Middle finger on nose; 4 Pinky on mouth
6. Pop can hand - space between hand and bass neck
7. Floating arms as if you are playing in a hot tub
8. Straight wrist
9. Thumb is behind 2nd finger
10. Finger tips touch the string and fingerboard. Fingers are curved.
11. Fingers have "K" spacing. 1 & 2 are far apart. 2, 3, 4 are close together
12. Hold bass neck where it meets the body of the bass between fingers 1 & 2 in rest position
13. Finger taps - target practice!

Beginning Songs
Ant Song
E E E- A A A- D D D- G G G-
(Each each each, each and every
Ant, ant ant, digging in the
Dirt, dirt, dirt, underneath the
Ground, ground, ground)

DAD Song
D A D -
D A D -
D D A A
D A D -

Hot Cross Buns on D string
F# E D -
F# E D -
DDDD EEEE
F# E D -

Boil Them Cabbages on D string
F#F#F#F# G-G-
F#F#F#F# E-E-
F#F#F#F# GGGG
F#F#EE
D- D-

BEGINNING CELLO POSTURE INFO

Bowhold on a pencil:
Right Hand holds the pencil!
Monkey Hang
Thumb TIP touches pencil.
Thumb is curved.
Flop all fingers over the pencil.
Middle finger folds over the pencil, touching at first knuckle across from thumb.
Ring finger folds over pencil, also touching at first knuckle. Hug the FROG!
Index finger flops over and lands on the pencil between the first and second knuckle.
Pinky flops over pencil and rests on the first joint of pinky.
All joints should be rounded, flexible, relaxed. In case of double joints, the joints should be eased into the right position with the help of the other hand. The more you practice un-sticking the joints, the sooner they will stop locking up.

Exercises:
Bunny munches the pencil
Bunny ears wiggle
Tap the pencil with different fingers (TAP TAP taptap Tap; T-A-P T-A-P; Pinky pinky pinky tap; Circle circle; Pet The Frog)
Elevator
Rocket ship
Place pencil on head, shoulders, forehead, nose (any place would be great to add taps).
Windshield wipers, fast and slow
Wrist waves Hello, Side to side, Circles
Rhythm exercises with pencil in hand and focusing on opening and closing the elbow
What time is it?
Hills and Valleys
Mississippi Hot Dog (Pepperoni Pizza)
Down kitty Up kitty
Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich
Red Light (STOP!) Go
Also do rhythm exercises without bow with right hand moving along the
left arm. Start each rhythm by going in the “DOWN’ direction.

Cello Posture
Sit on FRONT EDGE of chair. (Put tissue box between back of chair and your body, to see where front edge is)
Feet are one shoe length in front of chair legs.
Sit up straight - puppet string pulls up top of head.
Put enough space between knees to place cello in between.
Knees should be under C bout.
Feet are under knees.
Cello comes toward body.
Rest top of cello on "Tarzan" bone (sternum).
Cello is at 45* angle.
The neck of cello is over left shoulder. Make sure there is space for an animal on your shoulder.
No "Miss America Sashes."
C peg is behind left ear.
Hug the cello to get used to all that wood in your personal space.
Stabilize cello by moving body around cello without moving cello!
Pop can hand - space between hand and cello neck
The "Arch" is strong.
Palm to chest.
Straight wrist
Thumb is behind 2nd finger
Finger tips touch the string and fingerboard. Fingers are curved.
Fingers are equally spaced
Finger taps - target practice!

Beginning Songs
Ant Song
A A A- D D D- G G G- C C C-
(Ants, ants, ants, digging in the
Dirt, dirt, dirt, underneath the
Ground, ground, ground all the way to
China, China, China!)

DAD Song
D A D -
D A D -
D D A A
D A D -

Hot Cross Buns on D string
F# E D -
F# E D -
DDDD EEEE
F# E D -

Boil Them Cabbages on D string
F#F#F#F# G-G-
F#F#F#F# E-E-
F#F#F#F# GGGG
F#F#EE
D- D-

BEGINNING VIOLIN & VIOLA POSTURE INFO

VIOLIN & VIOLA HOLD
Bowhold on a pencil:
Right Hand holds the pencil!
Thumb TIP touches pencil.
Thumb is curved.
Middle finger folds over the pencil, touching at first knuckle across from thumb.
Ring finger folds over pencil, also touching at first knuckle. Hug the FROG!
Index finger flops over and lands on the pencil between the first and second knuckle.
Pinky tip rests lightly on top of pencil.
All joints should be rounded, flexible, relaxed. In case of double joints, the joints should be eased into the right position with the help of the other hand. The more you practice un-sticking the joints, the sooner they will stop locking up.

Exercises:
Bunny munches the pencil
Bunny ears wiggle
Tap the pencil with different fingers (TAP TAP taptap Tap; T-A-P T-A-P; Pinky pinky pinky tap; Circle circle; Pet The Frog)
Elevator
Rocket ship
Place pencil on head, shoulders, forhead, nose (any place would be great to add taps).
Windshield wipers, fast and slow
Wrist waves Hello, Side to side, Circles
Hills and Valleys
Rhythm exercises with pencil in hand and focusing on opening and closing the elbow
Mississippi Hot Dog (Pepperoni Pizza)
Down kitty Up kitty
Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich
Red Light (STOP!) Go
Also do rhythm exercises without bow with right hand moving along the
left arm. Start each rhythm by going in the “DOWN’ direction.

Getting the violin/viola into playing position:
Make sure you have a sponge or shoulder rest on!!
Feet together
Make a “V”
Step left foot out a little
Sway like a tree in the breeze/Rock-n-Roll
Slide left hand on “magic X”
Place left hand over "high dot" of violin
Statue of Liberty
Flip
Land the violin/viola on your SHOULDER (not chest / collar bone)
Nose, scroll, and left foot should all be lined up, "V" with arms
Try “no hands”
Violin/viola is parallel to the floor.
A little animal lives between your arm and ribs, tickle space
Slide “magic X” toward the scroll
NO PIZZA SERVER!!
Check for light in the valley and/or mouse hole
Place finger TIPS on the tapes on the fingerboard
Does your wrist look like a pizza server?? (Straight wrist please)
Fingertips should look “square” and be able to balance a penny on the tops - you might need to cut your nails!!
Elbow under the violin/viola

Beginning Songs
Ant Song
E E E- A A A- D D D- G G G-
(Each each each, each and every
Ant, ant ant, digging in the
Dirt, dirt, dirt, underneath the
Ground, ground, ground)

DAD Song
D A D -
D A D -
D D A A
D A D -

Hot Cross Buns on D string
F# E D -
F# E D -
DDDD EEEE
F# E D -

Boil Them Cabbages on D string
F#F#F#F# G-G-
F#F#F#F# E-E-
F#F#F#F# GGGG
F#F#EE
D- D-

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Week of August 31

Congratulations to all 7th & 8th graders for a job well done on last week's playing quiz! Keep up the great work. Practice cards are due MONDAY and TUESDAY! 6th grade first practice cards will be due on September 14.

6th Grade Assignment
You should be working on the following items daily:
PERFECT POSTURE
Book p. 4-5
Bow hand on a pencil and on bow
Playing open strings with all rhythms in the "Kreisler Highway"
Opening the bow arm from the ELBOW!
Left hand fingers on the targets (tapes)

7th Grade Assignment
Warm-up with D, G, C, and Chromatic scales
Creepy Crawl - work hard at 21 for notes
North Country - Rhythms! Where does "F" belong?
La Rejouissance - ALL quarter notes are short
Indigo Mountain - continue learning notes

8th Grade Assignment
Warm up with shifting and vibrato exercises
Try to tune your instrument!!
Sinfonia - 64 and 75 focus for next quiz
Irish - 40, look at the rhythms
Viva - keep a steady tempo! Watch out for F#, C#, G#!!!
Waltz - keep learning notes. Dynamics!