Fingering Chart Displays

 

After seeing a fingering poster online that another orchestra teacher had created, I knew I wanted to make a set for myself.  I cut strips of black paper at various widths to show the strings from thickest to thinnest (1/4", 1/2", 3/4", 1"), laminated the poster, then used Velcro to mark where each note would go.  Each letter name bubble was cut out, laminated, and Velcro-ed.  I also taped a plastic baggie to the back of the poster to store the unused notes.  At one school, I have a strip of cork board above the white board, so I use a push pin to display the poster.  At the other school, I ran a couple strips of Velcro just above the white board, so I attach those posters with Velcro.

With beginners, I can have all the notes removed to just show the open strings, and then I can add the D string notes as we get there.  With the second-year students, I can start with the D Major scale notes, or show those low 2 notes, or whatever it is we're focusing on.  

This year I'm color-coding the tapes rather than just using black pin striping tape.  For violins/violas, 1 = red, 3 = black, and 4 = blue (no tape for 2).  For cellos, 2nd finger is red, and the rest are black (thumb goes behind red tape).  On bass, first position 1 and 4 are red, and third position 1 and 4 are black.  For the posters, I kept the red paper for the red tape notes and otherwise used blue paper.  Maybe I should have added an extra column for the finger numbers, but for now it's working to stick the numbers on a string that we're not using at the moment.

Open string labels (Word doc)

Open string labels (PDF)

Fingering chart note bubbles and instrument labels (Word doc)--should be enough for two sets; I printed the first page on red paper, the rest on blue--just double check it has all the notes you want

Fingering chart note bubbles and instrument labels (PDF)

Prepping Folders for Fall 2020

 In preparation for in-person and virtual students in the fall and the possibility of going totally virtual at some point, I prepped folders with all the music/handouts students would need through winter break.  A local music store kindly donates folders each year.  I color-coded papers as I normally would so students can find sheets faster.  To ensure students would have a pencil (as I won't be leaving pencils on the stands for students to share throughout the day this year), I bought boxes of pencils, sharpened them, taped a piece of yarn to them, and taped them to the folder.  To the pockets of the folders, I taped in a "Contents" list and a fingering chart.

So far they're working out fine--and only a few students have totally dumped all the papers on the floor when they were pulling out the pencil.  Not quite sure how they managed that :)

Update: Now, a few years later, I'm also including concert dates and a reference sheet.  During the school year, I tape in the concert order for each of our concerts as well.  It takes quite a bit of prep time before school starts, but I am happy with the result :)

Fingering Charts for Folders

 

This fall I taped fingering charts into the folders for my students as a helpful reference for both my in-person and virtual students.  For second-year students, I included all the notes they should have learned last year and will be learning this year.  For first-year students, I included bubbles for the notes they will be learning this year so students can write them in as they learn them.

I used Finale to make the notes, using the Alpha note feature to add the letter name to the note head.  I made the bar lines and time signature invisible and played around with the spacing to get it to match the fingering chart above.  Then I took a screenshot and pasted that into Word.  For the fingering chart, I used Word and copy/pasted circles for the bubbles and text boxes without a border for the note names.  These just fit on the inside of a folder.  Feel free to edit to include the notes that you would like!

• Fingering reference chart (Word document)
• Fingering reference chart (PDF)

See also: Reference sheet for folders

2020 Mask Bulletin Board

 

My district is planning an in-person return in September.  I'm nervous about this decision, but one small thing I knew I had in my control was the message in my back-to-school bulletin board.  Here's hoping this is the only year I'll have to use this one!

I found a website that lets you resize a picture of a mask to a photo that you upload, so I tried to add a variety of string players and composers. 

• Photos and text (Word doc)
• Photos and text (PDF)