MUSE 355 String Pedagogy Handbook

Name: Joel Garcia Date: 10/13/19

Revised: 11/30/19

Required Topics

Violin and Viola Instrument Set-Up

Definition: The instrument hold is having a light bend in your left arm
while holding the neck. The left hand should be curved to reach the
top part of the strings. Put the chin on the chin rest and the shoulder
pad on the shoulder. Finish by bringing the bow to the strings while
keeping a box shape in the right hand.

1.Tell the students to grab the violin from the neck and hold it straight
out to the side. Bend your arm like you’re flexing and let it rest on
your shoulder. Keep the U shape in your arm and bring the right hand
with the bow over to the instrument.
2. Tell the students to grab the viola from the neck and hold it away
from them like it’s a stinky sock. You want to keep the stinky sock
pushed away from you. Let go of the sock and bring the hand back to
your face while trying to keep the arm straight. Bring the bow to the
instrument.
3. Tell the student to grab the violin from the neck and push as far
away to the side as possible. Imagine you’re mad at it, try to keep it
as far away as possible. Have the students forgive the violin and
bring it back to their chins as a sign of forgiveness. Keep the arm
bent at the wrist and point at yourself. Finish by adding the bow to the
strings.
4. Imagine you’re really tired and want to take a nap on your violin.
Hold it straight and then tuck it under your chin so it’s comfortable
and secure. Bring the chin/ side of your face down on it like a soft
pillow.
5.Tell the students to put the instrument straight to the side. Draw a
90-degree angle on the white board and have them imagine they are
creating that shape with their elbow joint. Rest the shoulder pad on
the top of the shoulder and chin on the chin rest like a soft sponge.
Next draw a box on the white board. Have the students imagine
making a box with the right hand.
Cello Instrument Set-Up
Definition: The cello should have the endpin pulled out far enough so
the scroll is by your ear. Let the cello rest on your chest with a slight
angle to the left so your bow has more room. Bring the bow to the
strings.

1. Tell the students to sit on the front of their chair with the cello.
Have the students hug the cello like they were hugging their parents.
This will bring the cello into their chest. Tell them to keep the cello
embraced in their chest, bring the left hand up to the top of the neck.
Grab the bow and place it on the strings.
2. You should feel comfortable with the cello in your arms. Let the
cello come to you so you can sit up straight.
3.Tell the students to imagine hugging a big tree while sitting down.
Wrap your arms around them and tilt the 2x4 to the left.
4. Imagine you’re dancing with someone 2 inches short than you.
Stand up and hold them across from you making sure the top is
around your nose. This is about how much your end pin should be
pulled out.
5. The scroll of the cello should to the left of your head. (Pull end pin
in or out as needed)

Double Bass Instrument Set-Up

Definition: Double bass set up includes standing and grabbing the
bass in a comfortable but playable manner. The scroll should be to
your head and the instrument should match the students height. The
weight will be held by the left hand thumb.

1.Double bass is a big instrument and not all students can play it
standing. Starting the students sitting down on a stool can help the
students balance the instrument. When sitting the student should lay
it comfortably into their left leg. It should feel like putting two LEGO
pieces together, nice and snug.
2.Imagine you are at a dance party and someone your same height
comes up to you. They look amazing and you start to dance. You
twist you partner and you end up holding them in your chest. This is
how the bass should feel on your chest.
3.Imagine hugging your parents. You don’t want to squeeze on them
hard because it will feel uncomfortable so you just embrace them.
4.Bass is hard on the left hand, you must be able to spread your
hands wide enough to get a whole step and never use your third
finger. When teaching the hand shape the students can practice the
shape by doing a bass man salute to make sure the shape is correct.
5.Mini basses are encouraging for small students. Do not avoid
having basses in your orchestra just because they are so different.
Teach bass and encourage the students to try bass, it will help your
string section sound complete. Start students on ¼ size bass and as
the students grow they can upgrade to a bigger bass. Make the bass
players feel important by not ignoring them so people want to play
bass.

Violin and Viola Bow Hold

Definition: This is the way the right hand holds the bow on violin or
viola. The set-up should include a curved pinky on the top of the stick.
The other fingers should be round on the top with the two middle
fingers lower on the bow stick. The pointer finger is now free to
pronate as needed.

1.Have the students grab the bow with left hand. Put the right hand
on the bow stick and imagine having a bunny with buck teeth. Once
the thumb is tucked under, “kill” the bunny and have it lay into your
pointer finger. This will give them a story to go through before holding
the bow each time.
2.When holding the bow, it’s important to keep the thumb tucked in
underneath the bow stick. You will be touching the inside part of the
hair with your thumb while its sucked in. Show the students the mark
of a used bow and how “gross” the hair is where the thumb sits.
3.DO NOT ever grab hair with your hand. Make sure you are using
rosin to keep a good keep sound. Make in a daily routine for students
to either put rosin on their bow or check their bow everyday.
4.Have the students hold a pencil with their right hand. Put four
fingers on the top and the thumb tucked under. Keep the two middle
fingers together while let the pinky finger sit curved on the top of
pencil. The pointer finger can then just rest on the other side.
5. Once the student thinks they have the bow hold you can test them
by doing “pinky push ups”. The better your bow hold the fast and
more of them you can do. You can have the students play a game
between each other by seeing who can do more pinky push ups.
(Show the class what you mean before hand and after they try it
teach them the term pronate)

Cello and Bass (French) Bow Hold

Definition: The way the right hand holds the bow on cello/bass. The
right hand should have the thumb tucked under again but the other
four should be spaced apart gripping/ holding the bow. This set up
allows for maximum flexibility and ability to pronate.
1.Imagine the bow was a cliff and you were holding on to the edge for
dear life. That type of grip is used but not with a hard grip.
2. Show the students of a picture of a cat clawing. Have them all
make that shape with their hands. Next tell them to “control” their
claw and put it on their bow. Lastly, tuck the thumb in.
3. Reuse the cliff idea from the viola/ violin bow hold. Tell them to
imagine the bunny on the stick but without teeth. Next have them
bring the ears back down. It’s not as fun as the violin set up but it
gives them steps to follow before they play each time.
4. DO NOT ever grab hair with your hand. Make it a rule to never
touch the bow hair. Every time you see a student grab the bow hair
tell them you are hurting the hair of a nice beautiful horse. Make the
bow feel like something special and delicate so they don’t mess it up
and sound bad. Make sure you are using rosin to keep a good sound.
5. Draw an L up of the board. Explain how the L forms a 90 degree
angle and that your grip should mimic that. They can use the edge of
the chair or stand to get the 90 degree angle before they wrap the
tips around.

Détaché
Definition: Detache refers to the separation between each bow
stroke. Each change of direction will have some space between it.
Make sure the students are not playing the notes too short and with
no tone.

1. Have the students talk with a partner about their day and tell them
to speak in complete sentences. Have two students share to the
class after asking them to notice the natural gap between the sounds.
This is the break in the sound that the bow does on the string when
it’s changing direction. The students can relate to talking in full
sentences. Have the students play an open string and change
direction every time they start a new sentence.
2. On an open string, have the students play a whole note and whole
rest. Then do a whole note and three note rest. Repeat until you are
down to whole note and 1 quarter note rest. After this, speed up the
tempo. It’s important that the student stop their sound immediately
after each whole note to create a break in the sound. Eventually the
tempo will get fast enough where it will feel like a natural lift.
3. Have the students bow slow quarter notes. Next have them blow
air out with each change of directions. The air represents the bow
sound. Next have the student imagine having to hick-up on every bow
change. This represents the student’s separation between each note.
4. Imagine lying flat on your back. Staring up at the ceiling you, reach
back and grab a baseball. You start to throw it up in the air and
realize every time it comes right back to your hand. No matter how
long the break is, it comes back.
5. Its 8 am on a Saturday and you’re awaken by a loud TAP, TAP,
TAP. You look outside and there is your dad using the hammer. TAP
TAP TAP. You notice the space between each tap and the
articulation of each tap and the silence after.

Staccato
Definition: When bowing you should hear a long break between the
notes. Depending on the style of music, it’s roughly ½ of the length
cut from the note. This does not mean play louder or heavier. The
note is just shorter. There should be a clear start and end to the note.

1. The best way to explain staccato is to say the syllables dah for
long, dit for short. Write 4 measures of quarter notes on the board
and tell the students to match you saying dah dah dah ect. Next,
repeat the steps with dit. Have them hear the difference between the
long note and the short note. Tell the students to play on an open
string as they continue saying dah and dit. The point of this is to
match the verbal length to the length of string vibration.
2. Tell the students to imagine a clock ticking. The ticking represents
when the bow moves. The ticking is short and there is space between
each tick. This idea will help the students understand a quick short
note.
3. Tell the students to imagine their bow is a match and the strings
are the match box. You have to bow quickly to cause enough friction
to light the match but you also have to stop quickly to avoid putting
the match out. Young students love fire and the quick lighting will
represent the bow weight required to light the match.
4. When playing staccato make sure the note still has tone. The note
should not sound screechy or with bad tone. Some things to practice
is keeping the bow light. Some students are too heavy with the bow
and the shorter notes sound like a scratch. Have the students play
with less pronating.
5. Tell the students to imagine they are at home and they hear a light
knock at the door. You don’t hear it at first but then it gets louder
while still maintaining its shortness on the wood. This represents the
tap and space you should play.

Spiccato
Definition: This bowing style is used to play quick notes with a
bouncing bow. This is an off the bow stroke. This creates a separated
sound and a light bouncy sound.

1.Have the students imagine bouncing on a trampoline. Each time

they jump and land, the momentum pushes them back up. This
allows them to then come back down. This is how the bow should feel
except the bow has to have more weight to keep it as close to the
string. Pronating while bouncing the bow off the string like a
trampoline will help students understand the bouncing effect.
2.Tell the students to play the bow on the string and bounce it like a
bouncy ball. The bow represents the bouncy ball. (Bringing one into
class is a cool illustration) Once you get a consistent bouncing speed
have the class imagine like there is a small weight on the ball pushing
it down on the string each time it bounces. (Pronate). This will give
them a basic understanding on the light and quick bouncing motion.
3. Tell the students to place their pencils in their hand and extend
their other hand out. Take the pencil and bounce on the hand to feel
how the pencil bounces off their hand. This gives a physical
representation on how the bow feels when bouncing on the string.
4. Have the students imagine a kangaroo jumping. The animal jumps
from place to place. When it moves quickly, it uses its weight to push
it back up and the momentum gets it to speed up. This same feeling
is in the bow as it pushes off the string and back down.
5. When playing Spiccato it helps to play closer to the frog. This will
help balance the bow stroke.
Louré
Definition: Bow strokes in the same direction that are smooth and
connected. Even though they are connected, at the beginning of each
note there is weight to bring out the reticulation.

1. Begin by having the students play two measures of legato detache

notes. Then, have them switch to 4 notes up and 4 notes down while
keeping the same sound as before. This will give them the familiar
legato feel before moving on to the new material.
2. Begin with 2 measures of slurred staccato notes. Once that sounds
good have the students lose the separation between the notes and
keep it smooth but with some weight on each note. This gives them
the familiar slurred staccato feel before moving on to new materiel.
3. Tell the students to imagine the ocean on a windy day. The waves
seem to grow and fall almost rhythmically with the wind. The wave
represents the bow, never stopping in one direction but having weight
on each note. This sea motion is how your bow should feel, with
pronating on each note.
4.Tell the students to imagine a ball bouncing down a long staircase.
The ball represents the bow. The ball continuously falls but every
time it hits a step it bounces up and then back down to hit another
step. Between each step the ball stays moving. This should be your
bow, the hits, and the pronating on the bow.
5. Tell your students to imagine stepping throw heavy wet snow.
There is resistance and weight when stepping in this wet snow. This
represents the bow feel.

Slurred Staccato
Definition: Slurred staccato are short notes played on the same bow
direction. Each time the slur ends you switch bow directions. The
note length is short and crisp.

1. Have the students start by playing normal short staccato notes.

Once it’s short and crisp, have the students do two notes down and
two up, keeping it in the same bow direction. Add more notes slowly,
forcing the student to use less bow and pronate more. This helps
students by starting with something they know first.
2.Have the student play normal slurs first, 4 notes per direction. Tell
them to use even bow length for each note. Next have the students
shorten their note until there is space between each note while
keeping the same bow direction. This technique lets the student do
slurs and staccatos first, separate from each other.
3. Tell the students to imagine a dead silent house in the middle of
the night. They hear their parents sleeping in their room but you really
want a cookie without waking them up. You tip toe through the living
room and into the kitchen doing quick short steps with space in
between to make sure no one wakes up. Once you grab the cookie
you switch directions and do the same back to your room. The short
quick steps represent the bow. This helps students imagine short
quick bow strokes in the same direction.
4. Imagine you were in a pool with water up to your waste. Tell them
to hold their arms out and tap the water with their fingertips. This
represents the shortness and left of the bow.
5.Tell the students to imagine being at a zoo. You’re walking around
seeing all the different animals growl and make their weird noises. All
of a sudden you hear a short tapping noise and you turn around to a
wood pecker. The wood pecker gives short and articulate pecks.

Retake
Definition: A retake is a quick bow movement from the tip to the frog
so you can down bow again. If you just bowed down but you’re at the
tip, then you lift and move to the frog again. This helps reposition bow
for another down bow.

1.When doing the retake, you should do it quick but gently. You can
imagine having a solider parachuting from the sky. He wants to land
as quickly as he can without hurting himself in the landing. The bow
represents the solider. This helps illustrate the gentle but quick
landing.
2.Imagine you’re driving your car and you stop at the store to go to
the bathroom, you all use the bathroom and start to drive away when
all of a sudden you realize you forgot your little brother! You quickly
turn around to get your brother and then continue your drive down
again. This image paints a picture of urgency to get back up to the
frog before continuing.
3. Draw a half moon on the board before starting. Have the students
imagine they are going to draw the half-moon with their bow. One
long down stroke followed by a left and half circle back to the frog of
the bow.
4. When practicing, you can have the students do a quick down bow
and have them do a pretend up bow but right above this string. This
will teach them the feeling of doing a retake.
5. A retake should feel like a quick left movement and the more
advanced you get the faster you can do it.

Hooked Bow
Definition: When two notes are played in the same bow direction. The
notes are always long-short, long-short, long short. Each pair is in the
same direction and many times have space between each note.

1. Have the students play two even notes down stoke and two even
notes upstroke on an open string. Then have them make the second
note short with a quick bow change. This helps walk them through the
quick bow direction change.
2. Have the students imagine a heartbeat. Long-short-long-short-
long. The heart beat imitates the bow. The heartbeat can also speed
up or slow down just like your bow. You can have the kids stand up to
do some jumping jacks. This can help them feel their own heartbeat.
3. When playing hooked bow, it’s important to think of the short note
almost as a pick up. This note usually leads into the long note.
4. Have the students play a slurred staccato half note to quarter note
in 3 over 4 time. This is a drawn-out hook bow.
5. Everybody knows what the beginning of the National Anthem is.
Imagine playing that rhythm but on the same bow direction and
quicker.

Slur
Definition: When you play two or more notes in the same bow
direction, up or down.

1. Have the students play normal even quarter notes, changing bow
directions on every note. Now have the students stay in the same
direction for two notes and keep expanding to more notes each time.
The more notes, the less bow you use and the more weight you add
on each note.
2.Tell the students to imagine your two hands having a fight with each
other. The left hand argues that it’s playing quarter notes and the
right hand is doing a whole note. Playing out a scene for the student
will give them a good laugh and a good way to remember.
3.The articulation comes from the left hand. A slur in a connected
note but the left hand should be pressing down quickly on the string.
This makes the notes cleaner.
4. Tell the students to visualize the 3 colors of a stop light. Green to
yellow to red. Every time you are running late you are always stuck
on red but sometimes you can speed through a yellow. Imagine the
yellow being what connects the green and the red light. This is the
smoothness you should play with.
5. Tell your students to visualize a domino line following. Imagine you
just finished building the long line and you’re about to tip the first one
over. As the dominos fall, you notice they all touch and fall in the
same direction. This is same direction and touching effect that we are
looking for.

Tremolo (Bow)
Definition: A tremolo means to play a note or as quickly as possible.
How quickly you should play the notes is dependent on the style.

1.Have the students imagine it’s raining outside and you’re running to
get to their house. They are soaking wet and just want to dry off but
as they get to the door they realize it’s locked. What do you do next?
You pound on the door as quickly as you can to get someone’s
attention. This is how you bow should act.
2.The bow should be doing down and up bow directions as quickly as
possible. Students can try focusing on seeing how little movement
they can get per each bow stroke while keeping a good sound. This
will make it faster.
3.Tell the students to imagine rain on a roof, a storm. The roof
sounds like it’s being repeatedly tapped by the rain and giving a
quivering effect.
4. Imagine you’re out in the cold snow in just shorts and a t-shirt. You
start to shiver really quickly and uncontrollably. You feel your whole-
body shake. This is the effect of the bow on the string.
5.Tell the students to imagine a tornado spinning fast. The fast
motion sounds like a swoosh going through as the tornado moves.
This quick motion is what your bow needs to be doing.

Sul Tasto
Definition: The biggest difference between this and a normal bow is
you play over the end on the finger board. This makes a softer flute
like sound.

1.Imagine you are about to hit an empty solo cup. You hear the
sound obsorbed by all of the dead space in side the cup. This soft
sound is what it should sound like when playing over the finger board.
2. Have the students play a scale normal and then play the same
scale with the bow over the end of the finger board. Have a class
discussion about the different sounds you hear. Explain when you
might want to use this. You need the students to be able to hear and
understand the difference between the two styles and be able to
identify it.
3. Show the students a video of a slow and calm animal, like a sloth.
You can see how mellow the sloth is compared to a hyper animal like
a dog. That mellow feel of the sloth is what your students can imagine
for the sound. They will also be very entertain during the sloth videos.
4. Make sure you don’t pronate too much into the finger board or else
you will get a harsh sound. When you pronate into the finger board is
is easier to hit the finger board since you are right over it.
5. The hollowness in the sound is what you want students to
understand. Imagine yelling in a classroom. The sound is cutting
through and sharp. Now imagine yelling at the Grand Canyon and
you hear the openness in the sound.

Sul Ponticello
Definition: The biggest difference between this and a normal bow is
you play it right next to the bridge. This makes a nasally sound.

1.Tell your students to imagine a day they were sick and they couldn’t
breathe out of their nose. Whenever they talked it sounded like a
nasally sound.
2. Have the students remember a day they watched an old black and
white movie and the music they played in the back ground was
creepy and kept cutting out. This is the sound you want.
3. You need to make sure you don’t actually hit the bridge and stop
the sound. Have the students play with the boundaries and try to get
as close as possible and then find a sweet spot. This gives them
muscle memory on how close to get.
4.Embrace the odd sound and don’t shy away from it. The sound
would be super bright and pointed.
5. Have the students imagine they were in a haunted house and you
hear creepy, screechy, and distorted music playing throughout the
house. The feeling of shivers and chills you get is the effect you want
while playing.

Collé
Definition: Collé is similar to detache but with extra weight at the
beginning of the note. Collé can be used on any articulation where
you want more weight.

1. When doing colle the students can imagine cutting with dull
scissors. You must press harder to get them to cut throw paper. That
weight is what you want in the sound.
2. Have the students remember when they were a little kid in art
class. They were gluing paper together and some got on their hand
and their fingers and started to get stuck. To keep the finger open
they had to push them open to get them free. This glue feeling is
what Collé is.
3.Have the student think of the last time they used a saw or a
hammer. The hammer gives a strong and heavy attack of each hit.
This is how the playing should sound.
4.Imagine you are walking on a sandy beach. You’re barefoot right
next to the wet sand and you see your best friend on the other side.
You start running towards them when you notice it’s hard to run on
sand because of the weight. This extra weight gives resistance to
your running.
5. The closer to the tip you are the more you should pronate. The
closer to the frog, the less you should pronate to keep the same
sound.

String Crossings
Definition: String crossing is playing a line of music on more than one
string.This action of moving between more than one string is string
crossing. This can be with same direction bowing or during change of
bow direction.

1. Imagine you are on a road and the driver in front of you is going
super slow. You go to pass the car but you have to do it quick so you
can make it back into your lane. This quick back and forth motion is
what you bow should feel like.
2. Tell your students to imagine playing a game of hopscotch. The
squares are all the same distance and when you jump from square to
square you do it quick. As you cross through the squares you can
imagine a bow playing a scale ascending.
3. Lots of kids have played animal crossing on their video consoles.
In the game you must help your animals cross a road with traffic. The
must move quick without hitting any cars. This is how their bow must
move, smooth and quickly but without touching the wrong string.
4.While string crossing, your right hand must only hit one string at a
time. Some students might feel rushed or hit the wrong string while
string crossing. Practicing slow with long notes will help.
5. Practice string crossings can be started with scales. 2 octave
scales will require string crossing on the way up and down.

Hand Frames
Definition: Hand frames shapes are determined depending on the
key, notes, string, and accidental. They show the whole and half
steps.

1. Have the students imagine a house. You are watching the

construction workers build a house and hear the sound of the
foundation being built. This foundation sets a frame they will guide
and build the house on. This frame is the same concept as hand
frames because, depending on the pattern you have, you will set
yourself up for building up.
2.Hand frames are important for tuning as well. Have the students
practice the different hand frames to play in tune immediately as
opposed to trying to “find” the pitch.
3.Imagine you are playing guitar hero as a little kid. You start off
playing without any knowledge of the patterns but the more you play
the more you notice patterns.
4. DO NOT associate notes with numbers. This will have the students
playing wrong notes and unable to play accidentals. Instead test the
students over note names and hand positions. Once the students
master 1st position then they can learn 2nd position and so forth. This
will make sure they associate notes with numbers.
5. Hand frames should be thought in advance. You have to be
conscious of where you’re going in the melody so you don’t run out of
fingers or play wrong notes. Have the students practice sight reading.
Every week play a new piece they have never seen before, can be
slightly slower level, and see if the group can sight read it. This will
help them be able to think of hand frames on the spot.

Shifting
Definition: Shifting is when you change the position of your left hand
on the fingerboard. This can be done to produce different tones, or to
extend range.

1. Imagine you’re walking into the tallest tower in the world. You
probably will not take the stairs so you will get on the elevator. Each
time the elevator clicks as it goes up, you add another floor. In our
case, each floor up is a different position.
2. Shifting is like copying and pasting something into a word different
word document. You should be keeping the hand frame the same but
move down. (Raise the pitch)
3.Shifting is best learned through repetition. Have your students do it
every day so the muscle memory reminds the student where to place
their hand frame. Scales are a great way to start during warm ups so
you can then transfer them to your lesson.
4. Imagine you are out at the store shopping. You want to buy new
shoes but you know 3 different stores sell them. You call ahead of
time to get the price and you go get the cheapest option. The
cheapest option equals the easiest shift. Being productive with what
string/ hand frame you use will help the student play faster passages.
5.Shifting on a string instrument is like shifting a transmission. You
want to keep the car running at its optimal RPMs, so shifting allows
that. Shifting on a string allows you to change your hand to maximize
your playing.

Tone Production
Definition: Tone production is the sound you get when playing. Each
different is different and has different goals. For strings this means,
bow placement, bow weight, and bow speed.
1.Imagine going to the store as a little kid and walking down the
candy aisle. Your parents tell you to pick one piece of candy but you
just don’t know what to pick. You have so many favorites but you pick
the one that sounds the best at that moment. The candy is the tone
and the big selection is all the different type. Give association with
different tones/ colors. For example, if the piece you’re playing has
fast high runs in the violins then describe this sound as bright. Once
you have a “term” bank you can tell your students, play brighter, or
more mellow and the students will be able to follow. Allow the
students to make up their own!
2. Basic tone production should be taught as a pure, warm, even
sound. No bumps or harsh attack. (Unless noted) This can be done
by doing long and smooth bow strokes. Keeping the sound at the
same volume and tone.
3. Good tone can be like cooking a meal. You need all the ingredients
( bow placement, bow weight, and bow speed.) If you are missing
one you lose tone. Make a check list so students can refer back to it.
4. What string you place your bow on can make a difference in
sound. Have the students listen to the difference between an open A
and an A on the D string. Both are the same pitch but the tone or
color is different.
5. Give the students listening assignments. You don’t know what you
should be sounding like undoes you listen. Tell them to try to sound
like the professionals they are hearing and to pay extra attention to
their tone.

Dynamics
Definition: Dynamics are the volume you should be playing at. Soft or
loud are subjective and have no universal set volume. Bow speed
and bow weight can affect dynamics. Dynamics also include
crescendos and effects involving volume.

1. Playing loud and soft is like using your inside vs outside voice.
They are appropriate but at different times. You can use this while
teaching a dynamic to the class. Forte is your outside voice and piano
is your inside voice. Switch back and forth to hear the difference.
2.Dynamics are like painting. When painting a picture, you want some
colors to stand out more than others and brightness and size will
impact that. Music dynamics are a way to bring out the more
important parts.
3.Dynamics are not always about hearing the most important sound.
Loud and soft both have very different effects. Effects like fort pianos
are different type of effects.
4.When playing soft, you should imagine a soft delicate flower. That
flower is a nice pure pink color and soft to the touch. You want to
bring people closer to hear the beautiful sound.
5.When you play forte, you want to project your sound to the back of
the hall. Imagine having a big ancient horn that rings all across a
battle field. Your sound should project out like by using more bow and
more weight.

Phrasing
Definition: Phrasing refers to the line or shape of a melody. Shaping
the phrase allows for expression and interpretation of the composer’s
line. Phrasing is sometimes written or implied but it always refers to
the connecting and breaking of passages.

1.Imagine phrasing to be like a conversation. Every time you talk, you

say a complete sentence and have a small pause before continuing.
Each sentence would equal a phrase. While keeping this in mind,
play your music like it’s a sentence. Feel where there are natural
breaks in the piece and talk/ pin point them.
2. Have the students write in the phrases and to think of their own
ideas of interpretation. This keeps the students engaged and uses
their creativity.
3.Many time phrases don’t have a definite location or duration. They
can be subjective and left up to the director or performer. In these
cases the director has the say in what they orchestra plays. However,
letting the students state their opinions or even allow them to pick can
help them develop a better musical ear.
4.When playing a legato short phrase on a string, the composer can
sometimes write it all in one bow direction. To keep the sound nice
and strong you need to pronate to not run out of bow. If you do run
out of bow then you need to pick a good break for a retake.
5.Phrasing can take your performance to a whole new level. Imagine
your interpretation as a new car design. All cars work and will get you
from point A to point B but depending on its speed, space, or mpg
goal, there are better cars out there. All these different options should
be your phrasing. The better your phrasing the better it will sound
when executed.

Vibrato
Definition: Vibrato is a rapid variation of pitch from the left hand. The
pitch is still the same note but the pitch is distorted a little flat and
sharp very quickly. This can be done to add expression.

1.Imagine you’re in the car, you hear a firefighter truck coming. The
siren has a pitch but to catch people’s attention it varies between a
little sharp and a little flat. This is similar to what your sound is like.
2.When playing vibrato, you do not lift or slide your finger. It is only a
light shake. Have the students show you the vibrato individually. It is
hard to hear if the individual vibrato is good when in a big orchestra.
3. Imagine an AC unit humming. The sound seems to give off a small
wave and the faster the fan spins the faster the wave is. The faster
you shake your finger the faster the vibrato will be.
4. Imagine an ambulance siren going off. This slow pitch bend is how
your student can practice vibrato slowly.
5.Think of vibrato as a wave. The ocean is all at one level but waves
disrupt that. The higher up the wave goes, the farther away from flat
the water is. The more you shake your finger the wider the sound will
be.

Five Elective Topics (These must be string playing skills)

1st Elective Topic._Brush Stroke________

Definition: Brush Strokes are a lift off each end of the note. The
articulation is light and playful.This is an off the string bow stroke.

1.Imagine you have a broom and you are sweeping away a small
section in the room. You bush away the dust each direction and you
do it lightly to go quicker. This lightness is the feel of the bow.
2.Imagine drawing a smiley face with your bow. Each end of the note
is equally as high with the middle being the string. The smiley face
represents the shape and the light attitude.
3. Brush stroke is supposed to be light, not heavy. Do not over
pronate and get a scratchy sound. Model this for the students. Have
the different sections echo you back.
4. Pretend its summer and you are back at the fair. The claw arm is in
the distance and you see it swing back and forth with even motion in-
between. This is the shape of the bow.
5. Brush stroke is similar to Spiccato except you are light on the front
and end of the note.
2nd Elective Topic.__Rubato___________
Definition: Rubato means to take a passage expressively while taking
tempo and rhythmic freedom. Most come in at a slow down, followed
by a speeding up section.

1. Imagine you are signing your name in cursive. As you write your
name you put different emphasize on different letter and shapes.
These shapes tend to speed up or be bigger. Rubato has the same
effect on music.
2.Rubato can be very expressive. Using the melodic line to guide you
will help the line speak more. The music has natural pauses and
dynamic variations. Talk in class about these expressive moments.
Make the students think about the music.
3. On a string instrument make sure you use vibrato on held notes
while playing rubato. Playing with the widening of the vibrato will help
give a sense of motion to the line.
4.Think of the best time of your life with a friend or family member.
You never want that day to end but you also want to live in the
moment. Holding those long notes longer than written will give this
effect of pushing and pulling the note.
5.Rubato CAN NOT be done whenever you want. The music has to
call for it, be pre-discussed, or taken by a soloist. When rubato is
decided or written it must be practiced to sound natural as if he group
was all one person moving.

3rd Elective Topic.___Portamento_________

Definition: Portamento is a smooth slide from one note to another on
the same string. The slide should be completely smooth when going
from note to note.

1. Imagine portamento as being one big slide. When you go down a

slide, it’s one smooth motion from top to bottom with no bumps. This
is how the left hand should move.
2.You might be skipping notes in between but you still need to know
where to stop/ land. Practicing the landing is just as important as the
slide itself. Try hearing the landing pitch in your head before you start
for accuracy.
3. Who remembers watching old cartoons like Tom and Jerry? They
would not talk much in the show so sound effects were big. The slide
whistle was a sound used to show someone or something falling into
a hole. That slide whistle is a smooth fall. Imitate this in class with the
orchestra.
4. Always make sure you start and end on the right note. Have the
pitch in your head before you start so you know where to stop,
especially if it’s in an ensemble.
5. The Theremin is an electronic instrument controlled by dials. This
allows you to play virtually any note or fraction of a note. The dial
allows for a smooth transition between notes.

4th Elective Topic.__Pizzicato_______________

Definition: Pizzicato is when the string player plucks the strings
instead of bowing. This give a different sound and color.

1. Imagine you are watching a professional ping pong match. Every

time they hit the ball back and forth you hear a short snap as the ball
bounces off the paddle. This quick snap is what your pizzicato should
sound when you pluck.
2.When plucking you need to line up your pluck to the left hand.
Plucking before or after will cause grace note sounds that sound
messy and muddy. Practice this with a metronome slowly.
3. Have the student start to practice pizzicato on open strings first to
get the right amount of string. Over pulling on a string can cause
harsh sounds or even break a string. Under plucking can then sound
soft and flat.
4.Plucking is a very unique characteristic of string instruments. The
sound is soft and when using it in an ensemble, the group should play
very soft to hear the pizzicato. Make sure the rest of the ensemble
knows to play under them.
5. Have the students try and snap their fingers together. Once the
group is in unison, add the plucking. Many beginners feel like they
need to leave their finger by string or pluck too hard. This will give
students a sound to copy with looking for the right sound. The snaps
act as the target sound.

5th Elective Topic. Legato__________

Definition: Legato means to play the notes as smooth and connected
as possible. There should be no silence between notes.
1. Imagine watching 100-meter dash sprints. Once the runners get
speed and momentum, their steps become one big connected blur.
Right Left Right Left. This smooth transition between steps is the goal
when playing legato notes on string.
2. When playing legato and making bow direction changes, you
should make the change as quick as possible without disrupting the
sound. Practicing connecting two whole notes can help have a
smooth connected tone.
3. Have the students imagine a tire rotation on a bike. Every time it
does a full spin it goes seamlessly into the next rotation. Similar to the
sprinter, it makes the visual of having no break.
4.Practice playing legato with scales during warm up. Scales are an
easy way to ignore the left hand and only worry about the right hand.
Some weight can be applied to the change of notes.
5. Begin teaching legato by singing connected syllables. It is hard for
students to understand what connected sounds like. Once they sing it
correctly, you can begin connecting 2 single notes at a time until you
are able to do a melody.