Beginning Orchestra

• On a Swing — We reviewed this one at the beginning of our rehearsal. Our biggest problem is people not realizing when the rests are — make sure that you know what to play, but also that you know when NOT to play!
• Royal Promenade — We reviewed this piece and then quickly learned the end. Please try to practice the whole thing at home and we will review it next week.
• The Salamander Samba — We didn’t get to it this week, but it was so perfect last week that I wasn’t worried!

Intermediate Orchestra

• The Abandoned Funhouse — You all sound great on this! We played it without a hitch.
• Guldfaxe — I can tell how much you all practiced! Thank you so much!! I think we are going to pull it off. Don’t forget that we are making a cut from measure 27 to measure 43.
• Icicles — This is also sounding great — we worked on keeping a steady tempo even without me talking, and also bringing out the melody.

Advanced Orchestra

• Turbulence — We played it through and then worked on the transitions a bit, since sometimes they can be rough! We also worked on doing some dramatic dynamics.
• Appalachian Sunrise — This is sounding great! We worked on the 1st violins being quieter while the others have the melody and we worked on perfecting the ending.
• Bones — This one is going really well, but sometimes we struggle with the transitions so we practiced those a lot. We should have a drummer next week!

Beginning Orchestra

• On a Swing — We started with this, and although we mostly have it down, many people are still a little confused on where the rests are. We will rehearse this more as time passes.
• Royal Promenade — We spent most of our time on this this week, and it’s sounding great! We learned the middle section, which is from measure 21 to measure 29. Most parts only have 2 different notes in this section, so it should be pretty easy. After that, the beginning repeats, so now all we need to learn is the end!
• The Salamander Samba — You guys know this one so well! We had no problems at all. Way to go!

Intermediate Orchestra

• Icicles — We started with this and it’s sounding great! We just need to get all of us on the same amount of shortness for the staccato, since some are a bit longer and some are too short. I didn’t have to tap my stand to get us to be steady, so that’s great!
• Guldfaxe — We will be making a cut in Guldfaxe. We will not play any of the music from measure 27 until measure 43, so cross them out of your music! Our music is fairly similar from 43 to the end, but please practice it so that we can get more comfortable with this one.
• The Abandoned Funhouse — This is sounding great! You guys don’t really need me, which is awesome!

Advanced Orchestra

• Appalachian Sunrise — We did some work on this and then tried speeding it up. My goal for us is to play this at a quarter note = 120, since that is closer to the written tempo.
• Bones — We were a little rusty on this one at first, but we found our groove. We worked a fair amount on your playing check-in sections, which are from measures 47 until the D.S. al Coda. Make sure you play the A#’s!
• Turbulence — This is sounding great! My biggest concern is that there are some places where the whole orchestra rests, and we don’t want one person sticking out in there! Make sure you know where those spots are and circle them.

Beginning Orchestra

We started our rehearsal by reviewing our patterns in Royal Promenade. Each section has their own repeating pattern that is used throughout the piece. Starting next week, we will begin our final playing check-in on these sections. They are:

• Cello and Bass: Measures 5-9
• 2nd Violin and Viola: Measures 9-13
• 1st Violin: Measures 13-17

These patterns also repeat starting in measure 33, so they are really important! I am hoping to teach you all the middle section next week.

After we finished that, we ran through Salamander Samba and On a Swing — both are sounding great! We just have to work on having everyone play at the same time and not having anyone play during the rests. We will not be playing Momentous for the concert, so don’t worry about that one!

Intermediate Orchestra

• Icicles — This is sounding great! We had to work on violins and violas playing more confidently between 29 and 33, but when you did it sounded amazing! Someone pointed out that the whole song is forte, so next week we will decide on some dynamics to write in.
• Guldfaxe — This will take up most of our rehearsals in the future! Next week, we are starting our final playing check-ins for the semester on Guldfaxe — measures 59-end for violins and violas and measures 19-27 for cello and bass. We spent some time going through these this week. Make sure to practice!
• Abandoned Funhouse — We ran through it without the piano, and then with the piano later. Violas, make sure you have measures 41-53 down, it’s your solo!

Advanced Orchestra

• Turbulence — This is going great! We did a little bit of work on the end — cellos and basses, make sure you get those 8th notes in the last 4 measures. If you have to miss the low B that’s fine, but we need the 8th notes!
• Bones — Next week, we will start recording our final playing check-ins — Violas and cellos will play measures 47-51 and Violins will play measures 51 until the D.S. al Coda. We started by reviewing these parts (cellos, I have an option that doesn’t make you shift, so if you didn’t get it this week I’ll give it to you next week!), and then we worked on the coda. After that we worked on the whole thing. I think this is really coming along — we just need to work on dynamics and then add drums.
• Appalachian Sunrise — We are getting the hang of this one! I think we will need to speed it up eventually, but it is sounding really good. We also worked on the ritard in measures 79-82. “Allargando” halfway through 82 until the end means that the ending will be slower. Very dramatic!

Our field trip is next week! If you haven’t already, please be sure to turn in your permission slips, or you won’t be allowed on the field trip. We will meet at PVHS at 9am and we will be back around 3pm. Lunch will be provided and you don’t need to bring your instruments, so just bring yourself! I’m so excited for you to see some really great musicians!

Beginning Orchestra

This week, we went over each instrument’s “pattern” in Royal Promenade. This pattern is found in these places:

• Cello and Bass: measures 5-9
• 2nd Violins and Viola: measures 9-13
• 1st Violins: measures 13-17

These measures will be your final playing check-in in April, so be sure to practice them! We also went through the beginning of Royal Promenade. These patterns return at the end of the piece, so if you learn this, you know most of it!

We also quickly went over On a Swing and The Salamander Samba. Be sure to practice with the practice videos at home!

Intermediate Orchestra

• Guldfaxe — We need to really start focusing on this one! This week, we went through the beginning until 43-ish. Violins and violas, your final playing check-in will be on measures 59-end, and Cello and Bass your final playing check-in will be on measures 19-27. We will start recording for these after Spring Break.
• Abandoned Funhouse — This is sounding great! We played with the practice videos which ended up helping a lot.
• Icicles — We are pretty solid on this one, but we did have to talk about making all of our staccatos the same. We want our bows to do a U shape, not a V shape — we still want some bow on each note so it doesn’t sound scratchy.
• Momentous — We are cutting Momentous from the program — no need to practice it!

Advanced Orchestra

• Turbulence — We were still having some difficulty around measure 44 until the end, so be sure to practice it! Cellos and Bass, be sure to practice measure 60 until the end especially!
• Bones — We went through our next playing check-in spot, which will be measures 47-52 for Violas and Cello and measures 51-55 for Violins. Bass, yours will be on the Coda! We got through the whole thing, although the coda is a bit rough! Please be sure to play the whole thing at home.
• Appalachian Sunrise — We are still getting the hang of how all of the parts fit together, but we are getting there! We especially worked on measures 37-53, where 2nds, Violas, and Cellos have the melody and the 1sts have a counter melody. We still need to work on the end more — be sure to practice it at home!
• Momentous — We are cutting Momentous from the program — no need to practice it!

1st Violin

2nd Violin

Viola

Cello

Bass

1st Violin

2nd Violin

Viola

Cello

Bass

1st Violin

2nd Violin

Viola

Cello

Bass

1st Violin

2nd Violin

Viola

Cello

Bass

Look below to find the review for your orchestra. Please be sure to practice at home!

Beginning Orchestra

This week, students completed their playing check-ins for The Salamander Samba. If you haven’t recorded a video yet, you can send it to me via email or you can upload it onto our Google Drive Drop Folder. All students are supposed to play between letter A and letter B in Salamander Samba.

I also taught the students where to find the practice videos and how to use them. Practice videos can be found in two places — on our website under the Updates tab, or on our YouTube channel under “Spring 2024 Practice Videos.” Use these resources to practice at home!

This week, we reviewed all of The Salamander Samba. We also finished learning On a Swing. You should be able to practice all of both of these songs! (especially with the practice videos!)

We also started learning our “patterns” for Royal Promenade. This week, students have an assignment to learn 4 measures of Royal Promenade, as follows:

• Cello and Bass: measures 5-9
• Viola and 2nd Violins (new violin students): measures 9-13
• 1st Violins (returning violin students): measures 13-17

If students can practice these sections at home, it will really help us, because each is a pattern that repeats several times in this piece.

Intermediate Orchestra

This week, I taught the students where to find the practice videos and how to use them. Practice videos can be found in two places — on our website under the Updates tab, or on our YouTube channel under “Spring 2024 Practice Videos.” Use these resources to practice at home!

Here is what we accomplished during rehearsal:

• Icicles — We now know the whole thing, but it is a little rough, especially in the middle. We worked on measures 25-33 quite a bit because it is an important part. Make sure that when you don’t have staccatos, you are using nice long bows!
• Guldfaxe — This week, we worked on Guldfaxe from the beginning until measure 27. I would like to learn the middle part next week, so please practice measures 27-43 at home.
• The Abandoned Funhouse — Overall, this is sounding great! We need to get more confident on each part and work on the balance. Violas did a great job of bringing out their melody from 41-53 — make sure you play nice and strong there!
• Momentous — We are no longer going to be playing Momentous, so you don’t need to bother practicing it. I want to make sure we have enough time to get the other songs down before our concert. I’m sorry if this comes as a disappointment to anyone!

Advanced Orchestra

This week, I taught the students where to find the practice videos and how to use them. Practice videos can be found in two places — on our website under the Updates tab, or on our YouTube channel under “Spring 2024 Practice Videos.” Use these resources to practice at home!

Here is what we accomplished during rehearsal:

• Turbulence — We can almost play this one through without stopping, but we often have a section or two where we fall apart. We especially worked on measure 56 until the end this week.
• Bones — This is sounding great! We went through some rhythms in measures 24-32 for 2nds, violas, and cellos. Everyone should practice the music between measures 47 and measure 55, as this will likely be the subject of our next playing check-in.
• Appalachian Sunrise — We are still a little shaky on this one — okay, maybe a lot shaky — but we did get through the whole thing. This song has a lot of complicated interacting parts, so please get comfortable on your notes so that we can work on those details together.
• Momentous — We are no longer going to be playing Momentous, so you don’t need to bother practicing it. I want to make sure we have enough time to get the other songs down before our concert. I’m sorry if this comes as a disappointment to anyone!

1st Violin

2nd Violin

Viola

Cello

Bass