A NEW YEAR BEGINS

 

All of us at MATT wish all of our students and families

 a wonderful AND MUSICALLY REWARDING, 2015!

 

CHANGING THINGS UP A BIT

We may be re-organizing the classes slightly to accommodate the students' progress and balance our instrumentation. Our  "MATT SCHOOL" is like a kaleidoscope- the colors constantly change and we are constantly adjusting our thinking, ideas and goals to meet the need.

 

Please remember ,whether or not you are affected, the end result is to help EACH student achieve at the best possible level!

 

 

NEW THIS TERM- for all parents who are able to attend class with your child, thank you for being there, listening ,watching and learning with you children. When you go home to follow up during the week, this will be extremely helpful, especially for Beginners.

 

We respectfully ask that cell phones be off during class and that you sit near your child to watch and help them. This will ensure that your time at class will be as helpful as possible to your child.

 

 

HOMEWORK THIS WEEK

 

Beginners

 

1. Review position carefully.

(a) Left Hand: Make sure LH 1st finger is sitting right above the tape and remains there always. We are using fingers at all times now.

(b) Right hand : Make sure all fingers are rounded and firmly placed on the frog of the bow. All students need 1st 3 fingers securely around the bow.

 

2. Open-1 string cycle Right arm is lifted over the string and weight dropped onto hand for good solid sound.

 

3.Review and perfect  D Scale: D E F# G A B C# D and back

 

4. Review and perfect TWINKLE:
                         TWINKLE, TWINKLE

         line 1    //: D    D    A    A    /B    B    A____/

What fingers?(all - d0    d0  a0  a0   /a1  a1    0 ____/)

        line 2          G    G   F#   F# /E    E    D_____ :// repeat (FINE)

         (violin /viola   d3  d3  d2   d2 / d1   d1   d0)

                    (cello   d4  d4  d 3  d3/  d1   d1   d0)

        line 3      //: A   A   G  G    / F# F# D ____ ://PLAY TWICE                                                                                              THEN                    
      (violin /viola  a0  a0  d3 d3   / d2 d2 d1 d0) back to beginning

                 (cello  a0  a0  d4  d4  / d3 d3 d1 d0) back to beginning

 

 Intermediate

 

1. SCALES: play slowly with long smooth bows and listen for perfect tuning

                    (a) D MAJOR-start on G string

                    (b) G MAJOR- low c for all G A B C(low) D E F# (high)G

violin/cello, start on G string BASS start on G string -2

 

 

2. Review: AFS : #132 Long, Long, Ago

Think carefully about Bow distribution: Remember :LONG short, short, SLOW

                    FOR CAREFUL STUDY and TESTING in PAIRS!

 

3. AFS:NEW this week: #153-

there are no sharps: watch the low f's on the D string all the way through.

 

That means: on D string:

       cellos and basses, f is 2, violins /violas- f is LOW 2, touching 1

 

4. NEW: AFS : 155 to 161

 

4. Pomp and Circumstance- review and learn well.

 

 

Advanced

 

                            PLEASE Return all Christmas music and folders .

                         MAKE SURE you bring all your music to every class

 

1. Use Practice Guide, record practice and bring Chart to every class 
2 .NEW: VIBRATO -to present a full and mature string sound
Practise your exercise daily for a couple of minutes- ready to use by Feb 10th!
3. Two Octave Scales: G Major  : cello and bass start on G string
shifts: Bass repeat first octave . Cello start up from G string- 0134, D 0134,
A string  0 1 3 4, then shift up (thumb at body of instrument),  1, 3 4 and back down the reverse way. Listen for correct notes and tuning.
               

2. Review each twice a week and pick small parts to improve and perfect :

(a) Fiddle Dance

(b) Pomp and Circumstance

(c) MacPerson's Lament

(d) Beethoven Minuet

 

 3. Continue: Girl from Ipanema - up to the end of section B (bar 24)

Be sure to ask you teacher to write in good fingerings, especially for your melody bars.



 

 

    NEW YEAR"S RESOLUTION: 

 SET UP A GOOD DAILY PRACTICE ROUTINE for 2015

and stick with it!

You'll SEE and HEAR the results!