[See Lesson Plan for Week 1 here]
It's now Week 2 of orchestra. My plan is to review rest/playing position and plucking the different open strings while adding a few new elements--transposing Barcarolle, improvising a 4-beat pattern, and finding the bow hold for the first time. There are lots of opportunities for students to fill in the blanks in what I'm saying, indicated by ..., which helps me see what they remember from the previous week. For all the "Are we playing with the bows today?" questions, I just say that we're getting there and move on. I try to answer student questions as briefly and quickly as I can so that there will be time to get through everything I had planned. I'm also modeling everything I'm describing, and playing along/saying letter names as much as possible.
Again, my disclaimer is that I'm not saying this is the best or only way to approach beginning strings; this is just the format that I have been using and that works for my teaching situation. Feel free to use as an example or to adapt and and use for yourself. Again, at my schools, we have 30-minute small groups once a week with 3-4 students per small group, by instrument. Full orchestra would begin the following week, which is 30 minutes, once a week, during recess.
For this more-or-less script, I will assume this is a violin group. For the other instruments, just substitute out the different sayings for the open string or unpacking directions etc.
ON THE BOARD:
- Welcome to orchestra!
- [my name]
- Agenda on screen
ON MUSIC STANDS:
ALSO NEEDED:
- Phone/camera to take a picture (to be shared in weekly newsletter and printed for STAR musician wall)
- Open-string phrases poster
- Have spare folders and Orchestra Expressions books handy in case students forgot theirs
- Sharpies/markers for students to write name in book who didn't the week before
- Keyboard
- CD player with Orchestra Expressions CD
- Spare instrument for me
- 1-page Google Doc condensed version of this lesson plan
AS STUDENTS ARE ENTERING:
Welcome! Go ahead and grab your case off the rack. Cases go on the left-hand side of the chair with the little end in the back.
UNPACKING:
Pull the handle in towards you to put the case flat on the floor. Unzip or unlatch the case to open the top of the case.
We'll start today by taking the violin out of the case by holding on to the neck. Sponge or shoulder pad goes on, then find rest position.
REST POSITION/PLAYING POSITION:
In rest position, the instrument is under the right elbow, the scroll is pointing up, and the bridge is pointing out, away from us. In rest position, we're sitting tall in our chairs, with feet flat on the floor, about shoulder-width apart, so that at any moment, without moving our feet, we could....stand up
Let's stand up. Playing position. Left hand underneath, way up high, end button aimed in toward the neck, coming in for a landing on the left shoulder, jaw bone on chin rest. L shape, thumb on the corner of the fingerboard, pointer finger reaching about an inch over the fingerboard to find the lowest, thickest string and give it a pluck. This string is called...the G string. Next is...D, then...A, and...E. The sentence I like to help remember the open strings is..."Good Dogs Always Eat." Let's do it: "Good Dogs Always Eat." Did anyone come up with another sentence to remember G, D, A, E who would like to share? [If yes, I jot down their phrase on my poster while the students say and pluck the new sentence; if no, we move on]
OPEN STRINGS:
And rest position. Have a seat. In your folder you have your purple Getting Started sheet. Let's take that out so we can play "Barcarolle," down on the bottom, by the French composer Jacques Offenbach. The pattern was G, rest, D, rest, D, rest, G rest. From rest position, let's find playing position. Left hand underneath, way up high, end button in towards the neck, jaw bone on chin rest. L shape, thumb on the corner of the fingerboard. The first string we need in "Barcarolle" is...G, Good. Ready, play. [I play melody with the bow while saying "G, rest, over to D, rest, D again, back to G, repeat..."]
There's a higher version of "Barcarolle" the we can play with the D and A strings. This time our pattern will be D, A, A, D. Find our L shape, thumb on the corner of the fingerboard, "Good Dogs," ready, play. [I play same melody but up a string, starting on F#]
There's even a higher version of "Barcarolle" we can play, this time using the...A and E strings. Our pattern will be A, E, E, A. "Good Dogs Always," ready, play. [Same melody, but starting on C#]
Rest position. We just played three versions of "Barcarolle," a low version with G and D, a middle version with D and A, and a high version with A and E. Which was your favorite of the three? [Ask each student their opinion]
Let's find playing position again. L shape, thumb on the corner of the fingerboard. Find the D string, "Good Dogs." Please echo what you hear. I'll play first. [pluck Ta, Ta, Ti-Ti, Ta, then cue for students to echo by saying "ready go," then pluck Ti-Ti-Ti-Ti Ta, Ta, students echo]
[Name the student sitting on one end], would you make up something on the D string please, and we'll echo you? [They pluck a 4-measure pattern, I say "ready go" to cue rest of students to echo] Thanks [Name]. [Next name], D string please. [Each student takes a turn plucking a pattern for the others to echo]
Rest position. Thanks everyone, and congratulations--you all just improvised! Thanks for letting me put you on the spot--I didn't give you any time to think and you were able to make something up right in the moment. That is called improvising. Nice job, also, using your ears to know what to echo back.
Now let's open our books to p. 8, "Two String Salsa." I see the treble clef at the beginning of the line showing us that this is violin music. Next I see the 4/4 time signature telling us 4 beats in the measure. Above that is the pizz. which stands for...pizzicato. Say "pizzicato." Pizzicato is the Italian word that tells us to...pluck. The two strings we need are...D and A. I see D just below the staff and A on the second space. From rest position, let's find playing position. Left hand underneath, way up high, jawbone on chin rest. L shape, thumb on the corner of the fingerboard. The first note is...D. "Good Dogs." Your challenge is to say the letters while we play. [While saying this, I am discretely taking off the name cards from the music stands and setting them aside as well as grabbing my phone so I can take a picture of the group playing this piece]
[Play #6 "Two String Salsa" while saying the letter names and taking a picture]
"Les Toreadors" by the French composer Georges Bizet. First note is...D. "Good Dogs." Again, say the letters while we pluck [no CD yet--it goes too fast to start out with]. D, D, D, rest, D, D, A, rest, D, D, D, rest, D, D, A and pause--is this the end of the piece? Why not? Right--we haven't run into a double bar line or repeat sign yet, and there's a second line. The second line begins on...ready play.
That was a lot of open As near the end. How many As in a row did we have? 7? Wow, that's a lot! Let's play with the recording now. Just a heads up that it goes a little faster than we just did.
[Play #7 "Les Toreadors" while saying the letter names. If running behind time-wise, skip the repeat]
Turn the page to p. 10. Let's look at "Two String Reggae." What are the two strings that we need in "Two String Reggae"? Yes, G and D strings. You'll remember that the G string is our lowest string and it's so low it doesn't fit on the staff and is found below the two ledger lines. Playing position, L shape, first note is...G, "Good." Again, your challenge is to say the letter names while we play.
[Play #10 "Two String Reggae" while saying letter names]
[If running behind on time, I will skip the white packet and go right to bows]
Rest position. Let's take out our white packet so we can play "Waltzing Up High." I see the treble clef, so I know this is violin music. I see the 3/4 time signature which is telling us how many beats in a measure? Yes, 3 beats, then the barline. I see pizz. up above which stands for...yes, pizzicato, which is the Italian word telling us to...pluck. The two strings that we need are...A and E, starting on...E. Playing position, L shape, "Good Dogs Always Eat." Again, your challenge is to say the letter names while we play.
[I play on the piano]
Holding the neck of the instrument, let's set it in the case. You can keep the sponge or shoulder rest on for now; we might be coming back to it. [Or, if running tight on time, just take the sponge/shoulder rest off at this point]
BOW HOLD:
Let's take the bow out of the case by moving the flap or dial, hold on to the black frog part, and gently slide the bow out of the case. The first thing we do is tighten the bow by turning the screw righty-tighty, clockwise. You'll notice the stick and hair are getting farther apart. Keep tightening until you can fit about a pinkie or pencil between the stick and the hair at its narrowest point.
There's a special way to hold the bow that looks like this. I will show you how to find the bow hold today. First, with the left hand, so not the bow hand, hold the stick of the bow out in front of you so that the frog end is on the right-hand side. Now, with the right hand, the bow hand, shake shake shake, and let the hand flop. Notice how the fingers are naturally curvy, and how they are loose and relaxed feeling. Now turn the back of the hand in towards the nose [I bring my hand all the way to my nose]. Believe it or not, this is pretty much our bow hold. Now we just add the bow to the hand.
We're looking for pinkie up on its tip, on top of the stick of the bow. Middle two fingers hug the black frog. If your bow has a white dot, that's a good place for the ring finger. Or maybe you have an imaginary white dot for the ring finger. We leave a little space for the pointer finger. The thumb in back here is bent, and it's bumped up right against the edge of the frog, right where the frog meets the stick of the bow.
I'm going to come around and help as we're finding our first bow hold.
[I start with a student on an end, prompt them to "shake shake shake, flop, back of hand towards nose; is it okay if I touch your hand?" and walk them through finding their bow hold. "Now, shake shake shake and do it again," as I move on to the next student. Ideally I do two or three rounds with each student, but if short on time, sometimes just one round]
We had tightened our bow before, so now we need to...loosen the bow. Turn the screw lefty-loosy, counterclockwise. You'll notice the stick and hair are getting closer together. Keep loosening until the stick and hair are just about touching. You might even see some individual hairs start to separate.
Holding the frog of the bow, gently slide the tip of the bow back into the case. Turn the flap or dial to hold the bow in place.
[If there happens to be an extra minute or two, I may take a request of something on p. 8 or 10 or on the first page of the white packet]
PACKING UP:
It's time to pack up the instrument. Sponge or shoulder pad comes off, rubber band stays on. Holding on to the neck of the instrument, set it flat in its case. Sponge goes on top of the scroll or pocket area. Close the top of the case and latch or zip it up.
PRACTICE ASSIGNMENT:
Let's talk about the practice assignment. For practicing this week, you're ready to keep playing the different versions of "Barcarolle" on the purple sheet. All the pieces on p. 8 and 10--remember the challenge is to say the letters while we play. White packet, p. 1. Then, this is new, find your bow hold 10 times every day--shake, flop, back of hand towards the nose--you can even use a pencil. 10 times every day to help this become more automatic.
If I scroll down on our Canvas page, you'll find our violin resources with what the open strings look like on the staff, and the links to our different audio files, so you can play along with our different pieces at home.
Let's check the small group schedule. We're the __ group, so the next time I'll see you is ___. Next week we also start our first full orchestra rehearsal, so on [day of the week], be sure to bring your instrument to school. When it's time for recess, everyone in orchestra will come to the orchestra room so we can play all together, with all the instruments.
Then, farther down on Canvas are the bonus videos for this week. These are videos of everything we did today, so if you want a refresher at home, you can click on any of these videos, like how to find the bow hold.
Okay, it's time to put cases back on the rack. Folders can go back on the rack, or you can put them right in your back pack. See you at the end of the day when you come to grab your case!
--
At the end of the week, I tape up the open-string phrases posters near the instrument racks. I also add the photos to the weekly orchestra newsletter and order prints to hang on the STAR musician wall.
[Go to Lesson Plan for Week 3]
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