I remember in my credentialing classes, there was much discussion of being a "reflective teacher", that is, taking time from the busy-ness of the day-to-day management of classroom and schedule to think about what works and what doesn't. I am a reflective person by nature, and therefore much of my drive time, early morning time, immediately-after-a-class time is spent in just such reflection. So in the spirit of collegial sharing, maybe I can spark a fellow teacher's own reflections by offering some of my own. Here, in no particular order, are some of the things I have learned. And in the interest of keeping this blog-length, rather than novel-length, and getting SOMETHING out in a timely fashion, I will publish as I go. So here is the first installment:
About Stringed Instruments....
- Dry weather makes tuning a nightmare. The solution for this is Peg Drops. One or two drops on each peg where it fits into the pegbox makes this nightmare go away.
- Playing pizzicato (as I do with beginner classes a lot) is likely to pull strings out of tune- especially on dry days.
- String classes need to be 45 minutes. If you have a large class you will need 15 minutes to tune all the instruments, adjust cello straps, fix broken strings, reset bridges, rosin bows. If you can't get a 45 minute class, then it can also work to have the students drop off instrments ahead of time, on their way to recess, say, or as they come in in the morning, so that you can tune, etc. before they even come. I recently read an article in American String Teacher (often a source of really good advice) about letting kids tune their own instruments, thereby giving you the time for the other things in this pre-class list, but I do not recommend this at the elementary level. You will just have more broken strings, and your group will not be in tune.
- Kids are fascinated by rosin. I usually don't supply rosin for every instrument, but do, periodically, rosin every bow as I tune every instrument. But once kids have seen rosin, they want it. And they want to know what it is, what it is made of, what it's for. They tell each other it is soap, grease, stuff for cleaning. Then when they have it on their bows, they are alarmed at the white powder it leaves. I tell them to ask for some for their birthday or Christmas. And then I give them a cloth with which to wipe it off the instrument and strings.
- Close is good enough at first. Even with tapes on the fingerboard for finger placement, it takes a while to get the hang of putting fingers ON the tapes. Even with a sponge for a shoulder rest, it takes a while to get good posture and straight wrists. Even with weeks of instruction on how to hold a bow, you may NEVER have every bow perfect. You just keep gently reminding. My mantra goes something like this "sit up straight and tall on the front edge of your chair, beautiful bow hands, both feet flat on the floor, straight wrist, violin parallel the floor, bow perpendicular to the string" (Do you like the math connection???) The important thing is to MAKE SOME MUSIC!
