Composition #1--Pizzicato Open Strings

Composition is an important component of my students' experience in orchestra.  From the very beginning of the school year, students are composing music that they can play on their instruments and that their classmates can play too.  I use composition as a way for students to dive into music literacy and to reinforce what they are learning about reading music.  It is an opportunity for students to be creative and actually create music to play instead of just read what others have written.  They start identifying as composers as well as string players.  It's very gratifying to see how different all the compositions are from each other within the limitations I've placed for them (open strings, pizzicato, four measures, quarter notes/rests).  I do type up everyone's compositions and turn them into packets so students can see what their classmates have created, see their own piece in print (they are published composers by the end of September!), and have lots of pieces to practice at home.  We also feature a few student compositions at our winter concert.  In their end-of-the-year orchestra surveys, there are always students who write that what they are most proud of with their work in orchestra that year are their compositions.

My example composition plus check-list

Composition #1 (open strings, pizzicato):

• Word document
• PDF

Template for composition packet:

• Template for open string composition packet (Word document)
• Open string VIOLIN (Google Doc)
• Open string VIOLA (Google Doc)
• Open string CELLO (Google Doc)
• Open string BASS (Google Doc)

Enjoy!

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Links to other composition worksheets: 

• Composition #2 (D-string notes, pizzicato)
• Composition #3 (A-string notes, arco)
• Composition #4 (G-string notes, arco)
• Composition #5 (C/E string notes, arco)

Link to Templates for composition packets

Supplements: Extra Music for Orchestra Expressions Method Book

I really like the Orchestra Expressions method book for beginning orchestra.  It was designed with the National Standards for the Arts in Music in mind, includes music from many different parts of the world, includes pictures of children demonstrating proper playing position, begins with the fourth finger and works down to promote good LH position, and connects to other disciplines and history through timelines and art connections.  It encourages improvisation, conducting, listening, movement, composition, as well as proper technique from the start.  I especially like the authentic, varied recordings on the CD that accompany each piece in the book.  They are performed on real instruments, and there are so many different genres of music represented on the recordings.  I could go on and on about why I chose to use this method book with my beginning students.

But, as with any method book, there are a few weaknesses.  Instead of introducing all four open strings at once, the book begins with just the three that all the string instruments share (A, D, G) and leaves E and C until much later in the book.  The 3/4 time signature also isn't introduced until much later in the book.

To address these issues, I wrote a short supplement packet that corresponds to the beginning of the book but includes the C/E strings and the 3/4 time signature.  I also added some harmony parts to familiar tunes that students can sing along to while they're playing.  Feel free to use with your students!

Orchestra Expressions Supplement:

• Word document
• PDF
• Audio files

Contents:

1. Rollin' on D and A
2. Plucking Open E/C
3. Waltzing Up High/Down Low
4. Shake 'em Up
5. Mary Lee (Harmony)
6. Au Claire de la Lune (Harmony)
7. Ode to Joy (Harmony)
8. Bile 'em Cabbage Down (Harmony)
9. Pumping Iron #3
10. E/C String Level
11. Sidestep Shuffle
12. Crossword Puzzle
13. Crisscross
14. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (Harmony)
15. Jingle Bells (Harmony)

Once students have learned their D string notes, I give them a packet of familiar melodies they are ready to play, including a few with B on the A string.  Students enjoy playing these familiar tunes, and they are a bit more rhythmically varied than their books at this point.

D String Notes Supplement:

• Word document
• PDF
• Audio files

Contents:

1. Hot Cross Buns
2. Go Tell Aunt Rhody
3. Barcarolle
4. All Through the Night
5. The Huron Carol
6. Dreidel Dreidel
7. Jingle Bells
8. Twinkle Twinkle
9. Old MacDonald
10. Lavender's Blue
11. This Old Man
12. London Bridge

Enjoy!

**See this link for the post about the audio files to accompany the Orchestra Expressions Supplement!

Musical Timeline Wall

My classroom has a music timeline wall with the different musical time periods.  Composers of music that students are studying get added to the appropriate timeline so students have a visual of each composer and his or her place in history.  Each time period has a little collage of the architecture, art, fashion, and music of the time.  Composers studied in 5th grade are on top; 6th grade is on the bottom.  Each time period is color-coded, and each composer poster includes a pictures, dates, country, and title of piece the students are playing.  By the end of the year the cupboards are pretty full!  

I have more wall space at my other school, so here is the PDF of the larger composer posters and a Word document to add your own composers (scroll down to the bottom to see an example of the finished product).  If you're tight on space, here's a much smaller version with just composers from the Orchestra Expressions method book, book one.

Flashcards

As students are introduced to notes on each of their strings, I give them flashcards to cut apart and practice with.  The note on the staff is on one side, and the letter name and fingering is on the back.  Here are pdfs for each instrument--just print double-sided and you're all set!  There are eight notes per page, and I've included the open strings and the first notes typically learned for each string:

Violin

1, high 2, 3, 4/0

Viola

1, high 2, 3, 4/0

Cello

0, 1, 3, 4

Bass

0, 1 and 4 in first position, 1 and 4 in third position

Check out flashcards on Quizlet here.

Classroom Rules: I Respect

For my first three years of teaching, these were my classroom rules.

I respect...

• myself
• others
• instruments
• music

I connected each line by stringing ribbon through each hole, linking each word like a ladder.

Classroom Rules

My school's four rules are:

• Be responsible
• Be safe
• Be respectful
• Be kind

Underneath each rule are examples of what this looks like in the elementary band/orchestra classroom with positive language.

Rules

• PDF
• Google doc

Feel free to use or to make a copy of the Google doc to update for your needs!

Beginning of the Year "Changes" Bulletin Board

For this beginning of the year bulletin board, I wanted to highlight changes in music throughout the years and have students start thinking about how they will grow in their learning this year.  I used a different colored background for each category and linked them with black yarn:

• history of the trumpet
• keyboard instruments
• recorded sound
• violin bows 
• me as a beginning violinist in elementary school up until more recent years

 Feel free to use!  And here are the labels along with approximate dates.

"Welcome" Bulletin Board

For the beginning of the school year, I made a welcome back bulletin board with instruments and greetings from all around the world.  With a world map and black yarn, I matched each instrument and greeting to its corresponding country.  Feel free to use!

Here's a list of the different string instruments and countries represented:

• Balalaika, Russia
• Celtic Harp, Ireland
• Charango, Peru
• Electric Guitar, U.S.A.
• Erhu, China
• Goje, Sudan
• Guitarrón, Mexico
• Hardanger Fiddle, Norway
• Koto, Japan
• Molo, Ghana
• Mountain Dulcimer, U.S.A.
• Oud, Iraq
• Pipa, China
• Sitar, India
• Ukulele, Hawaii, U.S.A.
• Violin, Italy

Solfege and Major Scales

Here's a colorful solfege scale, complete with hand signs.  I also made squares of letter names for the different major scales introduced in beginning orchestra (D, G, and C Major) that line up to the solfege.

Using long strips of colored paper as the background, add Velcro stickers to turn these into interactive  teaching tools.  Scramble up the notes of the scale and have students arrange them in the proper order.  Or have students point to notes of their choosing for their classmates to play for a quick way to practice new notes being introduced and to explore composition and improvisation.