Musicians know the value of a warm up routine. I will admit, my students often just want to skip the warm ups and go straight to the music. I can’t blame them! However, I try to help them see the…
Recently I have been reviewing some rhythm fundamentals with my youngest students. Therefore, we have been working on the basics of rhythm – whole notes, half notes, quarters, and 8ths. We’ve also been working on performing together, feeling the pulse…
For the past two years I’ve led an after school string ensemble at my school focused on jazz and improvisation. I called it the Jazz String Orchestra. Unfortunately, this year I was not able to hold that ensemble, but I…
Here is another very simple activity to engage students in the remote setting. This is a follow up to my last post where I discussed creating note identification slides in PowerPoint. Similarly, I have started to create slides with different…
I was recently inspired by a colleague of mine who was creating interactive Power Point slides to use with her students in the remote teaching setting. The focus was on note value identification. The activity worked like this. Students could…
I was recently working in a sectional with a small group of middle school bass players at an honors ensemble rehearsal in my region. These students had a few years of experience, but were still at the beginning stages of…
Building a strong time feel is essential for a bass player. We are, after all, the foundation of the music. The role of the bass is one that provides the glue between the rhythm and harmony of the music. Our…
Choosing concert repertoire can be exciting, fun, and also, a challenge due to the number of arrangements and pieces to choose from. Programming music for our students takes careful consideration. After all, performances are where our students skills, musicality, and…
Developing a comfortable bow hold is challenging for young string players first starting out. Rather, maintaining a comfortable, relaxed, and flexible bow is a process that continues even today for me as I develop and grow as a musician. Over…
Learning the double bass is a challenging pursuit. Building the endurance, muscles, and dexterity to get around the bass takes time and diligence. Young musicians looking to learn the bass will have to work at developing both solid left hand…