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Violin Star Theory Violin Star Lt 6 ee An activity book for young violinists a RTE R PEW BH eio Violin § Theory |. An activity book for young violinists Kathy and David Blackwell 'Mlustrations by Tim Budgen welcome to Violin Star Theory he teacher: The aim of this book is to provide appealing and accessible theory activities for To the toe ts tts approach is designed to link the understanding of musical notation with practical ng and build aural awareness. The varied activities help pupils to consolidate their nd a the short pieces give real musical context to the topics covered. Guiding a young weet tabigh tiers engaging and fun earring activites for pupil and teacher. Who's the book for? A young player In the early stages of learning the violin. ‘What's in the’ book? Written and practical activities covering the note values, pitches, time signatures, rests, accidentals, dynamics and other symbols most commonly found in beginner violin tutors. There are short pieces to play OF sing, and rhythm activities to clap or play. at the end of the book there's a board game that gives the opportunity to practise all the theory learnt in a fun way. A pupil might teach 2 parent or sibling whois unfamiliar with music theory how to play this game and in the process deepen their own knowledge and understanding. How do use Violin Star Theory? The book can be used alongside any violin tutor to reinforce aspects teitten notation. A pupil can start from the first page and work through in order, or the book may be dipped into according to the pupil's skill level or particular need: a page on rhythm, e.g. page 4, could se ollowed by a page about pitch, e.g. page 10. Pupils can be encouraged to sing. and play the different fingered notes as they are introduced, e.g. on pages 18-20, to help reinforce tuning. The fingering charts provide avisual aid to the finger pattern. ‘Why does the book reference fractional time names? The labels quarter note, half note, etc. are alternative amos to erotchet, minim, etc, and also help pupils to understand the bottom number in time signatures What do the different icons mean? The clapping hands icon indicates a practical rhythm activity. Pupils can practise the concept \eamt on that page by clapping or playing the musical example. Alternatively, rhythms could be vocalised with rhythm syllables such as ‘ta, titi’. )_Thespeech bubble ‘count-in' icon encourages the good habit of establishing the pulse by counting the steady beats in a bar before playing. Sometimes the bubble i left blank for the Pupil to fil in, The violin icon indicates a short piece to play on the violin. These simple pieces use the concept covered on that page, which helps pupils to link theory with practical music-making. Pupils can use these pieces to practise reading rhythms, naming notes, and forsight-reading, Some of the Pieces have words; singing these will also help pupils to develop their general musicianship skills. We /ehope you and your pupils find much to enjoy in these pages. Kathy and David Blackwell There are a number of additional activity pages available at www.abrsm.org/violinstartheory Book and cove esi by eat thse aa a Fit published in 2020 by ADRSM (Publishing) Ltd, awholly owned sates A subsidiary of ABRSM spleen 8 {© 2020 by The Associated Board of the Royal Schook of Music wie yeh Israa7e 1736012099 Four coloured stings a Sa Allright reserved. Ne Hee dst aa lo part ofthis publication may bereproduced. TIDtremta coment an, srttor rtm nay fxm ory amet; ce lating usgicths, ‘chanical aecopyg recording othe, wo te P= aus sme Eres gemtion ofthe copies. tad Printed in England by Halston & Co, Lis, Amersham, Sucks, : ‘on materials rom sustainable sources. 15261 Crotchets and Minims Crotchet Draw some crotchets here: J =A beat j B Minim Draw some minims here: s| = 2beats | ao a G Walking with my friends 4 Clap this rhythm, Count a steady 1, 2, 3, 4 before you start and all the way through. oe | 1 |i J (J oe ERGs |Seeelseae |ae asl & Play this rhythm pizzicato. Play the crotchets on the open A string and the minims on the open D string. How many crotchets did you play? and how many minims? __ Rhythm boxes Choose the rhythm from one of these boxes and play it on each open string. Count a steady 1, 2, 3, 4 before you start. Calis i |i iJ REE S|eeeB Bee |e 2 [B@Geaipeoe Semibreves Semibreve Draw some semibreves here: BEGG Slow bow Fillinthe missing notes below. c a c 1 Le minim 2 crotchets “minim | ' 1 semibreve , Cam ¢ ee! ld | I BEBE |GRRH|PREe eee | & Now clap this rhythm. Count a steady 1, 2, 3, 4 before you start and all the way through. Play this rhythm on an open string with the bow. How many minims did you play? True or false? There is one semibreve in this rhythm. Time names A semibreve is also called a whole note. Because 2 minims fit into 1 semibreve, a minim is also called ahalf note, Because 4 crotchets fit into 1 semibreve, a crotchet is also called a quarter note. Rhythm grid a|e|ai|@a semibreve ° whole note (1) minims d df half notes (%) crotcrets| J | J | J | auarternotes (1) switch: Clap or play each of the notes in the rhythm grid. Start with the Semibreve then switch to minims then crotchets. Count 1, 2, 3, 4 throughout. 5 Quavers Quavers This isa single quaver: do 6 Two quavers joined together Look like this: SaeCf Itlasts for Yea beat. Two quavers fit into Draw some pairs of quavers here: 1 crotchet beat. i 4 ae Lf Ga a I like playing quavers Play this rhythm arco on an open string, counting in before you start. Cale) 1 eae like play- ing qua-vers, two ‘ry crot. - chet. 1 ee ey ee ee Draw circle around each pair of quavers. Because 8 quavers fit into 1 semibreve, a quaver is also called an eighth note. Rhythm grid alalala semibreve | © whole note (1) minims d d half notes (¥2) crotchets J Bi J Al quarter notes (¥4) guavers | JT] Je Jas) ob a)| eighth notes (%) ‘Switch: Cla »P or play each of thi i : ie note values in the rhythm grid, é Dotted Minims Dotted minim Draw some dotted minims here: J, =3 beats J GB A dotted minim is also called a dotted half note. A dot after a note increases the length (value) of the note by half. Take the value of the note, halve it and add the two together to make a longer note. Eee beats:2 + 1 = 3 LRAT Rhythm clocks vow many bats aetneach ogg, (oe.| ea Oe em Write the answers in the empty boxes. The first one is done for you. 1 Now use these notes to show the time as a musical sum. The first one is done for you. d. a sre) = 4 o'clock. = woo ene OES AVIS 3HL The Stave Music is written on the stave. ath SPACES, ard FOUR 2nd HAS ‘st _ AND We can say that notes are divided into two teams: the space team and the line team. ‘The space team notes are written in the spaces in between the lines. —< = Draw a semibreve in each space ‘The line team notes are written on the lines. Draw a semibreve on each line. a ee How many space notes did you draw? and how many line notes? High sounds are written at the top of the stave, and low sounds at the bottom. Space note or line note? Write an S under a note in a space, and an L under a note ona line. The first one is done for you. 2 2 — = Ss oO > s How many notes are written in spaces? How many notes are written on lines? ‘Which team has the most notes, the space team or the line team? Stems The stem is the line that joins to the notehead: 4 ] <— stem 4| / Notes can be written with the stem going up or down: up stem ——> 2 come Stems go up on the right: _| _) and down om the let: (ate Draw some crotchets with up stems, and some with down stems. d f Notes written below the middle line of the stave have stems that go up. ra Notes written above the middle line i of the stave have stems that go down. Notes on the middle line have stems SS that can go up or down. = Stem expert! Add stems going up or down to these noteheads, Keep the stems stright and not 100 long or too short! o ara eo =e a 5 oe = low to fit on Did you see? Some notes are too high or too low 1 the ave, so they need extallines called ledger tins) The Treble Clef and Musical Alphabet The treble clef This is a treble clef. Trace treble clefs on the stave below, starting at the purple dot. Draw some more treble clefs on the stave below. 6 eo The treble clef is written at the start of each stave of violin music. Itis also called the G clef, because it wraps around the line where we write the note G. We need to know the musical alphabet to name all the notes on the stave. The musical alphabet Allthe notes in music are named using the first seven letters of the alphabet: Test yourself! Say the musical alphabet going forwards, starting S> with A. Say it twice through without a gap in the middle. Now start with G and say it backwards ~ a bit harder! Follow the musical alphabet Fillin the missing letter name under each note. Some have been done for you. | qe GABCobD EE Open Strings and Bowing Si Open Strings Draw some open strings as minims on the stave below. copy G copy D copy A copy E zB Which open string is written with adown stem? G D A E ee & Note spotter write the correct note name under each note. Draw a circle around the highest note in each pattern and then play the patterns on your violin. Bowing signs TM is adown bow sign. Move the bow this way —————> \)_ isanup bow sign. Move the bow this way <—————— When we use these signs, we write them above the notes, like this: Write a down bow sign above the Ds, and an up bow sign above the As: Now I know... nea A J lasts for _____ beat. Ao lasts for ___ beats. | Ad lasts for __ beats. A ge lasts for ___ beats. Now I know... my open strings Draw a line to join each note box to the word box that matches it dotted minim D crotchet E minim G ee face] |€* fy crotchet A i q semibreve D Now I also know... 1. How to draw the stems correctly on these notes: 2. How to draw a treble clef: 3, All the notes in music are named after the first. letters of the alphabet. 4, How to draw a down bow sign:___and an up bow sign: 5. Jd arecalled — minims quavers _crotchets | 6. The Italian word that means pluck the string is arco _pizzicato eae Bars and Bar-lines , abar \ fi a bar a bar-tine if a bar Music is divided into bars. A bar-line separates one bar from the next. : A final bar-line always comes at the end of a piece, just like a full stop comes at the end of a sentence. It has two lines, a thin one and a thick one. Draw three bar-lines on the stave below. Draw them from the top line of the stave to the bottom line. z jy Draw is: here = | t 3 Draw fil ber ineatheend or teeenyeteamaiam How many bars can you count in the stave above? Choose a piece that you are learning and write the title here. How many bars are there in this piece? Can you find the final bar-line at the end of your piece? 4 This is a time signature. It's written just once at the beginning of a piece of music. rTM 4 means count 4 crotchet/quarter-note (%4) beats in each bar. When the time signature is #, bar-lines are written after every 4 crotchet beats, lke ths: eT i biel BERR PRR RS Ee el Besa SS z means count 3 crotchet/quarter-note (¥%) beats in each bar, like this: Coal i IL A I — sealgaen alos o lage! rhythm, write the time signature for 2 crotchet beats in a bar. Poems (J 9 l la oo la eo le @ ! oe a thythm pattern. Clap each one or play 1umber of beats in each bar. Gone mi: The time signature has gone missing in this rhythm. Can you add it? Top tip: add up the number of beats in each bar. (D Ji The bar-lines have gone missing in this one. Can you add them? Top tip: look at the time signature. (Diuni. A Some notes have gone missing in this rhythm. Add one note under each *. Top tip: make each bar add up to the correct number of beats as shown by the time signature, sing! * 37 I 2iMy_In the speech bubbles, add the count-in for each rhythm pattern. Clap or play each one, counting the correct number of beats in each bar. The time signature J can also be written as C Both can be called ‘common time’. Time signature tally Look at the time signatures for the first 10 pieces in your violin book. Count how many times each different time signature appears, and fill in this tally chart to find out which one is the winner. 2 \ets|aarac + The winner is Did you notice in your violin book that the time signature ‘comes only once at the start of apiece? 3-beat and 4-beat Patterns Work out which of these hythm pattems add up to 3 beats and which is t you off. write for atthe start of each box. The frst ones done to start y twat 5 j fan. |. add up to 4 beats. ime UE: eer. Ee J | | [ rpateaies arse ——— F | | [SPAre eT ae My 4 rhythm Choose four different 4-beat patterns and arrange them in the bars below. Remember that the time signature is written only once, at the start. baad My 3 rhythm _ Choose four different 3-beat patterns and arrange them in the bars below. | l Pe through clap or play your rhythms, ‘ 4 a Crotchet Rests Crotchet rest S= =isitent ~~ ae a Draw some crotchet rests by joining the dots: Draw some more here. Top tip: draw a sloping letter z then add a sloping letter c. Now draw some crotchet rests on this stave. Look carefully to see where the rest starts and ends on the stave. Ss ® Sharks! clap this rhyme, and say ‘shh' silently in your head when you see a rest. Out at sea, (shh) sharks a- bout, (shh) Hey (shh) there, (shh) (shh) watch out! (shh) BaEGe\GGRR Bees leeee | Draw a circle around each rest in Sharks! Play it on your violin, pizzicato or arco. » Restful rhythm Draw eithera # ora ¢ for each beat in these bars, then clap your rhythm. Gams | Lea l gpoe8|8 8 |B & |e | v 3 GNV d ‘S4LON DNRUS @ EEE D String Notes: D and E = D E fy Draw some open D string crotchets and E crotchets here: copy D copy E Which line of the staveisEwrittenon? ‘1st 2nd 3rd = 4th = Sth Musical words — write the letter name of each note to find out what words these notes spell Ff Play each of these note patterns on your violin, pizzicato or arco, Copy cat ‘Some Ds and Es have gone missing! Copy each bar in t sen nd a sr py urn to complete this tune n Ga) Mi ie D String Note: F# o 4 a i>) D E Ft © (F sharp) This is @ sharp sign #. (i) Did you notice that Fé sounds higher than F? It's written in front of anote to make it sound higher. Draw some sharp signs here: # It looks a bit like a hashtag or noughts and | we Draw some crotchet and minim Fis on the staves below. Did you see that the ‘box’ part of the sign goes in exactly the same space as the note? a We say ‘F sharp’, but on the stave we write the sign first. Au clair de la lune ‘Aminim F# and a crotchet F# are missing in this tune. Work out which note goes in which bar and draw it below the *. Remember to draw the sharp signs in the same space as the notes. as ; : How many Es can you count in this tune?_and how many Ds? Trad, French n Did you see this sign: at the end of this piece? It means repeat from the beginning. ‘Add the correct count-in in the speech bubble and play Au clair dela lune on your violin, counting in before you start. —S—7—"" D String Note: G D. ©) D E Fe G ®) @ Draw some crotchet and quaver Gs here: copy G crotchets copy G quavers Write the notes D E F# G here as minims. Will the stems go up or down? 4st line E, 2nd line G some notes on the D string are missing from this tune. Write them as crotchets. Top tip: write the Gs on the 2nd line and the Es on the 1st line. ° More on sharps A sharp sign lasts for a whole bar, so in this piece all the Fs in bar 1 are Fis. Abar-line cancels a sharp, so we need to write the sharp sign again in bar 2. these notes are Fas sois this one! v How many Fés are there in this piece? Sharps last through-out the bar, so says ev - ‘ry theo-ry star! f Play the two tunes on this page, each time counting in before you start 2 . Now I know... 1. isa sign, It makes a note sound 2. Bar-lines divide music into. 3. A final bar-line comes atthe ____ of a piece of music. 4 4 isa______ signature. This one means count, crotchet beats in Now I know... my time signatures Work out how many beats the notes in each box add up to. Colour the outline of the box in red, g or blue to match the time signature star — red for 4 beats, green for 3 beats and blue for 2 beats. One is done for you. wid al dite Now I also know... 1. The letter names of these notes: 2. How to draw a crotchet rest: 4, How to draw a treble clef and the time signature for 3 crotchet beats in a bar: 3. How to write a sharp sign in front of this note: A String Notes: A and B ®) ers > 2 5 2 Draw some open A crotchets and B crotchets here: copy A copy B with up stems copy B with down stems Animal rhythms Say the name of each of these animals, then draw a line to the rhythm that matches it. a Freer] a oe eee My animal band Arrange the animal rhythms in any order to make your own piece, Write the thythm for Antelope and Ant-eater on open A and Brown Bear and Busy Beaver on the note B. eit) True or false? B is on the middle line. iia How many As did you write?__and how many Bs?. How many crotchets did you write? ¢ Play My animal band, counting in before you start. pe A String Notes: C+ and D aa 2S = ny ®) (c a) @ ©) Which of these notes are written in spaces? and Which of these notes are written on lines? and Name the note: Write the correct note name below each note in these patterns. write a tune Draw a treble clef on the stave below and then the time signature for 3 crotchet beats in a bar. nd write the notes on the stave below, Now choose three different patterns from above ar one pattern in each of the blank bars. & Play your tune on your violin. Minim Rests and Semibreve Rests ‘Aminim/half-note rest sits on the middle line of the stave. Minim rest ‘Aminim lasts for 2 beats, so a minim rest lasts for 2 beats. 2silent beats d FE fanfare prawa minim rest under each *. Be sure to draw it sitting on the middle line, * * * * $1Sau JAIUSIWAS ONY SLSIM WINTW Seee|eeee | seee| Bee | f Now play F¢ fanfare, counting steadily all the way through. This is a semibreve/whole-note rest. Semibreve rest It swings down from the 4th line. Asemibreve lasts for 4 beats, so a semibreve rest lasts for 4 beats. BBBE ° 4 silent beats Keep on counting Drawa semibreve rest under each * in the middle of the bar. Be sure to draw the rest swinging down from the 4th line. * Keep on count-ing 1 2 3 4 keep on count-ing 1 2 3 4 Now play Keep on counting, saying the words to help you keep a steady beat. cy Rest Round-Up Restful grid semibreve rest whole-note rest minim rests half-note rests crotchet rests quarter-note rests Rest rhymes say each of the rhymes and draw the correct rest on the blank staves. Asemibreve rest is a clever thing, The 4th line's where it likes to swing: 4 silent beats Aminim rest will do just fine, Itsits like this on the middle line: 2silent beats Acrotchet rest - draw z then c, One silent beat in a melody: silent beat Time for a rest! Fillinonly onerest under each * to make the correct number of beats in each bar. * * * * > This sign is an accent. It means play a note louder or with more energy. = Stop—start Add the correct rest under the *. Be carefull You need to add a clever rest here~do you remember which one? * £ Play Time for a rest! and Stop-start, counting the rests carefully. iy : Semiquavers This isa single semiquaver: i of p Four semiquavers joined together look like this: coer It lasts for % of a beat. Jape] es i772 - 4 Four semiquavers fit into 1 crotchet beat: Semiquaver—quaver Copy each bar in turn to complete this tune. — Draw a repeat sign at the end of this stave. Look at Out of breath! on the opposite page if you need to see one! f Play Semiquaver-quaver on your violin, counting in before you start. Because 16 semiquavers fit into 1 semibreve, a semiquaver is also called a sixteenth note. Compose a rhythm Write acrotchet, two quavers or four semiquavers in each of the Some have been filled in to start you off. Pianl boxesine\of; >| a [a lela) eet ia ® Clap your rhythm, counting a steady beat all ‘the way thr rough. Semiquaver Rhythms ; ‘Aquaver and two semiquavers J vis rhythi make this rhythm, ec RFE Two semiquavers joined to a a) quaver make this rhythm: sage ; Both these rhythms fit into 1 : | ol hytt into 1 crotchet beat. SNE oak f Out of breath! play this tune on your violin. Run - ning, jog, run - ning, jog, jeg, nun - ning, walk. a a |f a it Build a burger Say the name of each burger ingredient and then write in the box the rhythm. relma ord od or dd 4 thatmatches it. The first one has been done for you. beef burger J yl J pickled gherkin ‘ cheese topping crispy bacon toasted bun onion rings | Now choose four ingredients to make your perfect burger. Arrange the ingredients in any order and write their rhythms in the bars below, one for each crotchet beat. Cae | ll & Play your rhythm on any open string. Theory Hunt Look at this piece and answer the questions below to complete the theory hunt. SS Theo-ry hunt |. Circle the time signature, It means count crotchet beats in each bar. 2. There is a crotchet G in bar 3, How many Fés are there in this piece?__ YY 4, The sign above the first note is a___ bow sign. 5, What is the sign above the first note in bar 3? a8 6, The letter names of the notes in the last bar are__, ___and ___. 7. Find the rhythm that matches the “Theory hunt’ rhythm in bar 1 and drawa circle around it. 8. The letter name of the lowest note is _and the letter name of the highest note is 9. There are four semiquavers joined together in bar_and their letter name is Theory Hunt notes Here are the notes in this piece from the lowest to the highest. Write the correct note name below each one. ‘What's this pattern of notes called? Name the notes below to find out! See Ee Sis eee oO = MAJOR Now I know. Thisisa_____rest. It lasts for Thisisa__—=— rest. The correct rest to draw under each * is: silent beats. Torna These notes are called : Now I know... my A string notes Crass) 11. Write the correct note names in the boxes. 2. Draw a circle around the pairs of quavers. 3, How many beats is the rest in the last bar worth? _ Play this tune ‘on your violin. Now I can... circle the highest note in each box f Play each box on your violin. | = | == 2D ¢4 J ‘S3LON DNTULS E String Notes: E F#G Fe Ge (F sharp) (G sharp) Draw some minim Es, Fés and Gés here: copy Es copy Fis copy Ges Star-gazing Colour the outline of the stars: yellow for E, green for Fd and blue for Gf. One is done for you. Stars in the sky Write the rhythm f° (_/” °° in each blank bar using Es, Fs and Gts. draw Es draw Fés draw Gis Play Stars in the sky on your violin, ‘counting in before you start. E string A and B are too high to fit on the stave, so they need an extra line called a ledger line. <— ledger @ <— ledger Aiswritten ona line Bis onenote higher than A,so $e line ledger line ike this: XE it sits on top of the ledger line: Space mission Some notes are missing in the tune below. Complete the space mission P iz by writing the correct E string note as a crotchet under each letter. A B Fe Gt E ‘Another way of writing the time signature C is Circle a low B and a high B in this tune. The sign over each of the last two notes is an__. means Tell us a joke! p=> Why did the cow take a trip ina space- ship? To see the moooooon! How many As are there in this tune? and how many Bs? _ Thelast note isa _crotchet___-minim —_semibreve. egg Htlastsfor 2 3 4 beats. ‘Add the correct count-in to these space tunes and then play them on your violin. a Key Signatures This key signature has two sharp signs. eS + The first sharp is written on the top wa Seay line, where we write the note F. ec oak + The second one is written in the third space, where we write the note C. FR CH It means that every F and C- high ones and low ones — in a piece will be sharp. STYUNLWNODIS } Look sharp! Fis ts a inane arial ‘Add the correct count-in and then play Look sharp! on your violin. ¢ signature detective Find a piece in your violin book that has sharps in the key signature. How many sharps are in the key signature? ‘Which note or notes is it telling you are sharp? Did you notice? The key signature comes after the treble clef and before the time signature. What goes where? Copy the signs on to the blank staves. The order is: Clef - Key Be sure to copy the sharps in the right order. 4 Ah Sa oh This key signature has F# and Cz, = — SS _ | _ eae GFE This key signature has F#, C# and Gi. ——————— signature — Time signature. 2 Tones and Semitones ‘The eight notes in a major scale make a pattern of tones (T) and semitones play the scale of D major and listen carefully. Ce a ¢ pid you hear that both F# and G, and C# and D sound close together? These small steps are called semitones and are shown here with this sign: ———~ . if s T i = We can say that these semitones are like ‘best friends’ — the fingers are close together. The other steps in the scale are called tones. Eto Ff isa tone and there is a space between the Ist and 2nd fingers. Ff to Gis a semitone and the fingers are close together. Every major scale has the same tune, so no matter which note we start onit will always follow the same pattern of tones and semitones. This is the pattern: TTSTTTS (tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone). The scale of A major ‘Add the missing crotchets to the scale of A major. Remember that the key signature means we don't have to write a sharp sign in front of notes that are sharps. A B ed D E Fe Gt A Play the scale of A major, listening out for the tones and semitones. Now find the notes that are a semitone apart and mark them with the sign —“"—~. op tip: remember the pattern of tones and semitones. Did you see...? Look at the scales of D major and A majo The key signature tells us that the D major scale has 1 above and circle each key signature. ‘two sharps: and The key signature tells us that the A major scale has three ‘pap aaa 0 YS ie gale eit ae SANNOS L3INO GNV GNOT ‘soTWYNAG —aeEVeVuG Dynamics: Loud and Quiet Sounds Sometimes we want to play loudly or quietly. We use Italian words and signs for this in our music forte or f' means play loudly piano or P means play quietly Echoes play loudly play quietly f P Fi P f Play Echoes on your violin, following the dynamics. If we want to play very loudly or very quietly, ‘we use these words and signs: fortissimo or ff means play very loudly pianissimo or pp means play very quietly If we want to play moderately loudly or moderately quietly, ‘we use the Italian word ‘mezzo’, which means ‘half’: ‘mezzo forte or mf means play moderately loudly ‘mezzo piano ot mp means play moderately quietly Turn up the volume! Here are the signs in order, from the quietest to the loudest: PP P mp nf - if very quiet... getting abit louder... getting louder and louder... very loud! Say these signs from 2 to ff getting louder with each one, from a whisper to a sh to a shout. 34 is = How do we show gradually getting louder or quieter in music? Lightly row (on Ht cy, wee This sign means gradually getting louder. This sign means gr The Italian word is crescendo, or cresc. for short. The Italian word is diminuendo, ar ‘The shape is a bit like a megaphone - quieter at one end and louder at the other! Play Lightly row on your violin, following the dynamics. Dynamic detective 1. Find a piece in your violin book that has dynamics. Write them down here and whi 2, Tum back to page 23 and add some dynamics to your tune. Time for pizza Write the correct Italian signs on the slices of this pizza. W gradually getting louder moderately quiet e z —_—— ; Articulation: Slurs and Staccato Articulation signs tell us how to make different kinds of sounds with the bow. ¥ 3 - Smooth sounds Bi Vv n V 4 ‘Smooth sounds can be made by playing separate 4 up bows and down bows and joining each note to > ‘the next, smoothly, The Italian word for smoothly is legato $ legato, and this is sometimes written in the music. v a Smooth sounds can also be made by joining notes ao together in the same bow direction. This is shown a in music as a curved line, called a slur. Z 2 We draw the slur next to the noteheads, not the stems. “aslur 7 Smoothly slurring Vv A =, — Draw down bow and up bow signs above the music to show where the bow changes direction. ‘The first two are done for you. Under the first note draw the sign that means play quietly. f ‘Add the correct count-in in the speech bubble and then play this piece. Short and detached sounds Short and detached sounds are shown in music with a dot above or below the notehead, like this: The Italian word for short and detached is staccato, or stacc. for short. Staccato skip oe ‘Add staccato dots to all the notes in bars 3 and 4. Under the first note draw the sign that means play loudly. of Add the correct count-in inthe speech bubble and then play ths piece, 36 Dotted Crotchets This is a dotted crotchet (dotted quarter note): ‘A dot after a note increases the value by half, A dotted minim is worth 3 beats: J beats: 2 + 1 = 3 Where does the dot go? A dot after a space note goes in the same space: A dot after a line: Draw some dotted crotchets. Be careful to put the dot in the right place. copy D copy B copy G dotted crotchet is often followed by a quaver to make a2-beat rhythm: J. How does it go? Count'tand2 and then put the 2) onthe second 71> ee pile + and 2 and’ and! Dard Ml andleeeeretaee s Clap this chythm, counting “I and 2 and’. Going dotty Howmany dare there inthis piece? — > The notes in bars 2, 4 and 6 are played a | ie ¢ play Going dotty on your voli. ee ae Pirate Grandma’s Joke Book 3. and signs from the map on to the stave below : ae ' Find the pirate joke on the treasure map! Copy the note: a oot ee in the right order. The words are written for you. Top tip: remember C-K-T, th things that come in a piece (see page 32 if you need to remind yourself!). ee ee ee 1.2.3.4 Why are pi-rates known as ppi- rates? Just be-cause they —arrrrr! Name the notes in bart, £ Play this pirate joke on your violin. Name the notes to find the joke. Why can't the pirates play or oe Ge Because they're standing on the $e 38 Now I can... 1. Write the correct letter name under each note, 2. Drawaslur over the first two notes. 3. Write the correct sign for ‘play staccato’ above the last two notes, 4, Draw the sign that means play very quietly. 5. Draw the sign that means play loudly. Now I know... The sharp signs at the beginning of a piece are called the The Italian for ‘play smoothly’ is This note is written ona line. oe Thisnote isa dotted minim dotted crotchet _semiquaver Now I know... my dynamics Knock knock, who's there? Tur- nip, tur-nip who? Turn up the vol-umeand play for - tis-si-mo! eee p o a & Write what the dynamics mean and then play this ‘knock knock joke on yourvioin, . ps ra Cha mo att aS G String Notes: GABC Tt 24 VD ‘SALON DNIWLS 5 Draw the G string notes here. Remember to keep the ledger lines short and neat! copy Bs copy Cs copy Gs copy As Spot the difference eee Which note is B? = Which note is A? ——— — Sao en ae a Which note is C? Which note is G? a S Test the teacher! Play one of these three-note patterns to your teacher ~ don't tell them which one! Can they tell which one you've played? Then swap over. This is a pause sign. Go and buy cak tt means hold the note a Write the missing G string notes as crotchets. little longer than its value. V G A B B c A _ Circle the pair of quavers. ; ‘Add the correct count-in and then play this piece Animal Friends There is one sharp in the key signature of the scal write the correct letter name under each note of co Ittells us wae = = Alligator hippo Ce 2 Smooth cat and spiky hedgehog 7 — Cy = 1T Jd staccato dots tothese notes | copy bar 1 copy bar 2 nf Who has the staccato sounds, the hedgehog or the cat? Add the sign that means play quietly under the first note and at the start of bar 5. Name the notes in bar 1. = The sign that joins the first two notes is calleda__——- th, | & Add the count-ins for these animal pieces and | then play them on your violin. a STVENLVN GNY SiV14 “SduVHS Sharps? , Flats> and Naturals + Sharps see We know that a sharp sign # is written in front of, a note to make it sound higher. es r The second note here sounds higher than the first: It's a semitone higher. c ch fa note. Name these sharp not Flats This is a flat sign b It's written in front of, a note to make it sound lower. oe The second note here sounds lower than the first: It’s a semitone lower. 8 Be B flat) 7 (B flat) Vn ‘Ask your teacher to play these two notes, or play them yourself if you can. Did you notice that Bb sounds lower than B? Draw some latsigns here: | It looks like a small letter b. Drawa flat sign in front of the second note in each bar. The round part of the — sign goes on exactly the same line or in the same space as the note, like this: = Ask your teacher to play these notes, or play them yourself i a Naturals This is a natural sign b. It's written in front of a note to cancel a sharp or flat. Both these notes are the same! the same too. Draw some naturals here: = Se The box’ part of the sign goes on exactly the same gba line or in the same space as the note, like this: Draw the accidentals Draw the correct accidental to make the second note higher or lower. higher lower higher higher lower Draw the sign that cancels the accidental in these pairs of notes. e Glad and sad (a) Gee 1 feel glad, | feel sad, —-some-times glad anid” somessimes sad. Chs?_— How many Cis are in this piece? ‘and how many Ci € Play Glad and sad on your violin. STO@WAS GNV SNDIS DNIMOTIOA —— Following Signs and Symbols Usually we play our pieces from the first bar to the last bar in one go, but sometimes we take a different route. We use special words and signs for this. Repeat signs These are repeat signs. start repeat —> [= a] <— end repeat They tell us to play the section between the repeat signs again. We usually leave out the start repeat sign if the music is repeated from the beginning. Sometimes a repeated section has a different ending, and then we use first- and second-time bars. They look like this: first-time | Ten | neal second-time Cesta 2. a bars The first time, play the notes in the first-time bars. The second time, jump to play the notes in the second-time bars. Don't play the first-time bars again! Ode to joy Let's see how this works in this tune by Beethoven. It's from his Symphony No. 9. eee te Z + Play to the ‘| ‘then go back to the beginning «Play bars1and2,thenjumpto (2. SSSSC«*d What does the sign my in bar 1 mean? ifwe want to repeat a longer section of music, we use these Italian words: D.C. al Fine D.C. stands for Da Capo, which means ‘from the head’ or from the beginning’. Fine means ‘the end’. In Italian it's pronounced ‘Fee-nay’, We write this above the last bar. So, D.C. al Fine means ‘repeat from the beginning until you get to the end, marked Fine’. Bike boogie of Play this piece to see how D.C. al Fine works (a tempo) This is a double bar-line. Play this line (bars 9-12) It shows the end of a section. the first time. Bea musical detective! Find these signs and symbols in Bike boogie: Accents: bar , Pause sign: bar The quietest bar is bar_- ‘The end of the piece is marked in bar _— oe Sound Effects The violin can make many different sound effects. Harmonics: touch the string very lightly halfway along with your 4th finger, and use a fast bow stroke: Tremolo (or trem, for Glissando (or gliss. for short): short): play very fast slide your finger lightly up or down and up bows: down the string: Col legno: bounce the wood of the bow gently on the strings. Double-stops: play Left-hand pizzicato: two or more strings at pluck the string with your the same time: 1 left-hand little finger: HAUNTED HOUSE Try some of these sound effects in this haunted-house story. J 4 nis 2 (slow and heavy bow) n Clim the test the fs ranted house Open the creaky dor. and earth : aut Touhear some ghostly sounds. = rae song col tego «Skeletons tapping =f atthe window... = tap-ping at the win - dow (tap the wood of the violin with your fingers) awe ly Sf Ff Something's coming! Mhatisit? You've just seen a GHOST! 46, Note-naming Crossword Name the note in each box to spell words across and down.

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