Hi everyone! Look for your orchestra to see what we did on Monday:
This week, we learned how to use our bows!
Bows are really tricky, and this is where the scratching and screeching may come into play! There are a few things that are difficult in this stage:
We will continue to work on these things, but don’t be surprised if your student is a little discouraged at this stage. The best thing they can do is to practice! They will start to get it after a while.
This week, students should practice pages 4 and 5, but with the bow.
Our first playing check-in is next week! You will go to a practice room and record yourself playing measures 5 through 13 of Maiden’s Rescue. This will help me know what we need to work on and also determine where you sit in the orchestra. Be sure to practice!
This is what we practiced on Monday:
Our first playing check-in is next week! You will go to a practice room and record yourself playing an excerpt from Fantasy on Greensleeves. You will play these excerpts, based on your instument:
This will help me know what we need to work on and also determine where you sit in the orchestra. Be sure to practice!
This is what we practiced on Monday:
Happy Practicing!
We had a great first week of the Orchestra Academy. This week was mainly just getting to know each other and we started introducing some things to each class. Look below to see the review for what we did in each class.
Check out the videos below to see what we did in class this Monday. Everyone has the same video for parts of the instrument and quarter notes and quarter rests, but when it comes to how to hold the instrument and play the D and A strings, the videos are instrument-specific.
I will do these reviews together because they were very similar! We spent some time getting to know each other, and we listened to each of our pieces. We also worked on the D Major scale and did a round.
One thing that Intermediate and Advanced Orchestra members should be aware of is that we are doing something new this year — playing check-ins. Each month, I will have a short assignment from one of their pieces that I want students to play. On that day of the month, they will go to a practice room to record themselves playing that section. I am doing this mainly so that I can keep a pulse on the orchestra — this can let me know where we are struggling and what I need to focus on. We will also use these playing check-ins to determine where people will sit in the orchestra. The first check-in will be on Monday, September 25th, and the assignment will be as follows:
Happy Practicing, everyone!