Practice is required and ESSENTIAL to any musical group. Every child must practice at their own pace, alone, to make regular progress. We will discuss how to practice during class, and specific techniques that work. Here are things to listen for at home (you should listen to them at LEAST once a week at home) They must practice at the VERY LEAST 3 days a week at home. More practice will make for better results. Private lessons are highly recommended.
5th graders- It is incredibly important that you help them build string practice habits. Make them stick to a schedule and help them remember. The first few months of playing an instrument will drastically impact their success later on.
They should be working on 1. Posture and holding position 2. Bow hold and a straight bow 3. Note reading 4. Pluck songs until perfect, then add bow. 5. Play in front of a mirror to watch holding position and posture
scales and exercises - all students will be learning scales. Orchestra students will learn at least D and G Major scales. Scales are the foundation over which music is built. Exercises teach them necessary skills to play their instrument They must practice them! 6th graders should know these scales from memory.
-proper posture and position - all students should be sitting up tall and never leaning against the back of the chair. Examples of correct position are on the videos page and photos. Violin and viola player should practice standing up at least half of the time. Have them check their position in the mirror.
-sheet music - they should be repeating difficult sections over and over to shoot for correct notes, rhythms and bowings. They should not just come home and play through songs. They need to pick a small section, and perfect it slowly. Then another section. They can play through the whole song at the end if they like.
LESSONS - Private lessons can help a great deal and are recommended if possible. Learning an instrument is much easier with some one on one instruction. Here are a few teachers I happen to know. There are many great teachers in the area, and also some high school students who may be willing to help out.
Private Music lessons:
Summerhays has a list of local teachers on their site, as well. CLICK HERE
Here are a few people I know.
violin- Tina Cho Johnson (near hillside) 801-879-1237
violin and viola-Mary Danzig (North Salt Lake) 801-918-3015
Viola and piano- Ramona Meyer (near Beacon heights) 801-699-3194
Cello -Allison Dale- (Sugarhouse area) [email protected]
Cello- Andy Speirs (Salt Lake area) 801-643-6004
Cello- Marty McMillan (Salt Lake) (801) 201-0038
Bass- Thomas Zera (Salt lake) 801-560-9992
Bass- Matt Larson ( salt lake) 801-809-9559
Bass- Hillary Fuller 801-389-9046