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Process of Teaching Characteristics of Effective Teachers Pacing the Class Delivery of Information On-Task vs. Off-Task Student Behavior Keeping Students Involved During Rehearsal Introducing New Concepts Dealing with Technical Problems in Rehearsal Teaching Students How to Practice The Practice Environment Sample Practice Routines Classroom Management Methods for Starting Beginners
Holding the Instrument, Right and Left Hand Technique, Teaching Strategies
An Introduction to the Orchestral String Instruments, History of the Instruments, Care and Maintenance
Books on String Pedagogy, Classroom and Individual Methods and Materials, Videos, and Links to Other Sites
Posture
Posture is the foundation on which all technique is built. Posture affects every aspect of string playing. Bow hold, bow stroke, tone, intonation, shifting, vibrato are all affected by posture. Many students have problems with their posture that work against them as they try to develop technique.
Balance
Body balance is fundamental to proper posture. All movement is a result of balance. When students stand their weight should be evenly distributed between their two feet. Feet should be shoulder width apart. Student should fully lengthen their spine and stand tall. Slouching causes all sorts of problems with instrument holding position, and bow position. Standing posture should be addressed before the student learns to hold the instrument. For violins, violas, and basses, student should learn standing posture before sitting posture to establish the feeling of being lengthened and balanced. The biggest posture problems I see regularly involve balance - a student sitting with legs crossed, or standing with all the weight on one foot. The other big problem is slouching in the upper body.
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To determine if the violin or viola is the correct size, ask the student to reach under the instrument while holding the instrument in playing position. The teacher can assist the student with holding the instrument, if the student is a beginner. If the student extends the palm outward, the scroll should touch the base of the palm of the hand.
The student should be able to reach both her middle fingers around the scroll, while maintaining some bend in the elbow.
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Sizing Problems
For Beginners, especially children, correct instrument sizing is crucial for success. If the instrument is too large, it can cause fatigue, tension, and hinder progress. In these images, the instrument is too large for the student. This can be easily assessed by noting that the student's fingers cannot wrap around the scroll.
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Chin Rests
All violins and violas should have a chin rest. For smaller children, use a chin rest which attaches to the left of the tailpiece, and does not span the tailpiece. Chin rests come in a variety of shapes. Some poke into kid's chins and cause discomfort, depending on the size and shape of the student's head. Everyone needs chin support to keep the instrument from slipping.
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Shoulder Rests
All violinists and violists need a shoulder support to keep the instrument from slipping. Shoulder rests come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Adjustable rests are the best for children who are still growing. Small children don't need to use shoulder rests. A sponge or piece of foam 3/8 to 3/4 inches thick attached to the instrument with a rubber band should be adequate to keep instrument from slipping. Some adults also prefer a cloth or sponge to shoulder rests. It really depends on the size of ones' neck, and one's personal preference. However, everyone needs something to keep the instrument from slipping!
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1) Set the endpin to a length equal to span of students hand (tip of thumb to tip of pinkie when spreading hand as far as possible), plus the length of the pinkie (This is an approximate starting point). 2) Ask the student to hold the cello between the knees with knees on lower bouts, then lower the endpin until it reaches the floor. 3) Cello should be about chin height when student stands. 4) C peg should be across from left ear when endpin is correct length.
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Statue of Liberty
This is a one handed approach to putting the violin into playing position that was develop by Paul Rolland. A one-handed approach is useful so the student can hold the bow while bringing the instrument into playing position.
I have found that 90% of my students hold the instrument correctly after the first attempt using this technique. A couple of repetitions will bring along the other 10%.
Since the instrument is brought to the body from above, it is easier for the student to maintain a correct posture for a longer period of time. It also helps students learn to balance their weight correctly.
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Elbow Position
A general rule for playing a string instrument is "No part of your body should touch any other part of your body." If the violin/viola is held correctly, when the left hand is placed in 1st position, the left arm will form a natural 90 degree angle at the elbow. The elbow will not rest against the body.
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Cello Position
While sitting, the student should be able to stand up without moving feet. Cello should contact at three points: Both knees should touch the side by lower bouts. Students' chest should touch top of cello back at around the sternum height. Have student place arms around and hug the cello. Rock back and forth.
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Bow Hold
For over two centuries, there has been much debate among string teachers as to the "correct" way to hold the bow. The truth is there are many ways that the bow can be held and still produce an artistic result. If you closely studied the bow holds of today's greatest performers, you would find that they all hold the bow slightly different. In the past, string pedagogy had different "schools" of bow holds based on geography: the German School, the Russian School, and the Franco-Belgian school. The difference between these "schools" had to do with finger placement, pronation of the hand and wrist, and several other factors that would result in a different quality of sound production. As people have become increasingly mobile, pedaogical styles have blended, and many teachers have taken the best features from the varied approaches and incorporated them into their own teaching. There seems to be widespread agreement on a few general conceptual ideas regarding the bow hold: 1) The thumb and the middle finger have a special relationship. For the hand to be balanced, the thumb should be across (opposed) from the 2nd finger. 2) The hand should be comfortable, and free from tension. 3) The ideal bow hold is one that permits the musician to execute all the on and off the string bow strokes.
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Incorrect
Correct
Thumb should be bent at the first joint. If the tip of the thumb is touching the pencil, pencil should roll back and forth.
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Incorrect
Correct
The first joints of the middle and ring fingers should touch the stick. The index finger should touch the stick at the second joint (or between the first and second joints, as shown). Some teachers advocate the index finger touching at the first joint.
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Important! Have the student hold the bow with their left hand so right hand can be free from any possible weight of the bow.
Step Two: Touch the bent thumb to the bottom of the stick.
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Step Three: Place middle and ring fingers on top of the stick at first joint.
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Step Four: Turn the bow over. Lay index finger on bow at 2nd joint. Roll thumb until thumb nail stops bow. Repeat this several times to get the feel of the bent thumb touching the stick and the thumb nail touching the hair .
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For violin and viola, tap little fingernail on the bow-on top of stick. This insures that it is curved. A curved and relaxed pinkie is essential for bow control. Note the placement of the pinkie is next to ring finger. It does not need to be touching the screw. In general, there is a small amount of space between the fingers. Some teachers advocate the fingers touching. The fingers of the hand are not spread, as this will cause tension in the hand.
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Incorrect
In this image, the student is spreading out the fingers of the hand too much. The pinkie should not sit on the screw. Also notice the hyperextended thumb, and the first finger extended up the stick. This will cause stiffness in the wrist, and prohibit freedom of movement in the bow. Correct
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Incorrect
"Tippy" This student has placed her finger tips on the stick , but the tip of the thumb is not on the stick. She will have problems controlling the bow and the bow stroke will likely be very, very short. Notice in the model that the first joint of the middle and ring fingers contacts the stick. The index finger contacts between the first and second joints.
The tip of the ring finger should contact the frog near the eye of the frog.
Correct
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Incorrect
Correct
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Incorrect
Correct
In the correct image at left, note the bent thumb. The TIP of the thumb touches the stick. This insures flexibility in the wrist.
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Incorrect
Correct
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Bow Stroke
Once the bow hold is established, then we can teach students how to move the bow through space. Before attempting to put the bow on the strings and make sound, it is a good idea to try some bowing away from the instrument.
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The Helicopter
The Helicopter is a good game to play for fixing bow holds, learning the names of the different strings, and learning the seven basic bow angles. It also is a great way to assess whether your students know the names of the strings. 1) Students place bow on string (Ex. D string) without making any sound. Fix bow hold:
q q
Tap pinkie nail on stick Turn hand over and look at thumb. Is it bent the right way? Can you wiggle the bow and get the hair to touch against the nail of your thumb? Place bow back on string. Are the fingers too spread apart? Fingers are friends. They should stay close to each other.
2) Now the fun part. Pretend the bow is a helicopter and it takes off into the air, and lands on another string (i.e. the A string). Ask the students to make helicopter sounds with their voices. When they land their bows, play a rhythmic pattern to them, they play back, etc. The objective is to play on the A string without bumping the adjacent strings with the bow. 3) Periodically check the bow holds during this game. Remember to also land the bow on two strings at a time and practice playing double stops (e.g., D string and A string together). Also try landing the bow at incorrect and correct sounding points on the string, for example, over the fingerboard, too close to the bridge, and then at the correct sounding point (as shown in the movie).
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Hooked Bowings
These types of bowings are typically used in compound meters such as 6/8, or for playing dotted rhythms so that the shorter, unaccented note remains unaccented. The bowing can be indicated in music with bow markings, slurred articulation markings, or both. Often, a composer provides no indications, and the performer must make a decision about whether to play a passage using a hooked bowing.
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Staccato
According to Elizabeth Green, any on the string stroke with a stop at the end of it may fall under the term "staccato." Staccato notes can be played with separate bows, or several staccato notes may be played in a single direction, known as "slurred staccato."
The staccato is usually indicated with a dot above or below the note. Unfortunately, not all dots indicate an on the string staccato stroke. Dots are used in string music to indicate off the string strokes as well, such as spiccato, sautill, or ricochet. The performer needs to study preformance traditions, style, and often make an artistic judgement about how to interpret passages marked as staccato. Staccato notes on a string instrument may use the upper half of the bow with short strokes, but can also involve the use of the whole bow in a rapid motion. The note may use a long or short bow, but if it is followed by a momentary stop, it is some variety of staccato. Upbow staccato is easier than downbow. Most slurred staccato is done upbow.
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Lour
The lour bowing can be thought of as a legato version of slurred staccato, or as several detach stokes in the same direction of the bow. In the lour bowing, the bow remains in continuous motion. The weight is released slightly between notes so the notes are articulated. The lour bowing is generally indicated by several notes under a slur with legato markings.
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Spiccato
Spiccato is an off the string bow stroke. It is called a variety of different names depending on the speed, character, and musical context, including: controlled bounce, brushstroke, thrown bow, saltando, or sautille, The bowing prerequisites to learning spiccato are control of the detach and Martel strokes.
Playing spiccato requires a relaxed bow hand, free from tension. A teacher should review the basic strokes and bow hold when introducing spiccato.
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Spiccato Basics
All spiccato involves a combination of vertical and horizontal motion. The more vertical the bow stroke, the sharper and percussive a note will sound. The more horizontal the bow stroke, the rounder and softer a note will sound.
Slow spiccato may be played in any part of the bow. An approach to learning slow spiccato is to begin by dropping the bow without moving the bow horizontally.
The bow is easiest to control in the middle. As the bow moves towards the frog there is less bounce. As the bow moves towards the tip, there is lots of bounce, but it is harder to control. Another approach to become familiar with the bouncing bow is to let the bow bounce freely in the hand while moving in a down bow direction. This is called ricochet.
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By moving the bow more horizontally and less vertically, a smoother sound can be achieved. This is sometimes called the brush stroke.
When playing the brush stroke, the stick of the bow should be tilted toward the scroll so the side hairs will strike the string first.
Giving greater emphasis to the horizontal motion will give greater substance to the tone.
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Excerpt 2 Gavotte by Gossec. This excerpt demonstrates spiccato at a medium tempo. In this excerpt, the spiccato is slightly more vertical than in the Haydn excerpt, and is played near the camber point.
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