Revised Lesson Schedule

****Students attending NYSSMA in April: Find your name on the schedule for individual NYSSMA lessons****

Lesson Groups
Group 1 So Yeon Kim, Sera Song
Group 2 Delaney Guntert, Claire Hill, Eliana Rowe
Group 3 Sydney Marotta, Joseph Petitti, Katie Yang
Group 4 Michelle Burmistrova, Cory Parker, Sophie Patka, Alfredo Salazar, Alex Selsley
Group 5 Matthew Krieg, Catie Rafferty, Allison Reiner, Rebecca Tucker
Group 6 Asha Anand, Heather Krofft, Rebekah Wolanski
Group 7 Curtis Ericson, Hannah Hernandez, Rose Leicht, Emily Toffenetti
Group 8 Naila Brown, Jennifer Hoffmann, Jacob Rosenberg, Sophia Schermerhorn
Group 9 Alicia Chen, Vivian Dai, Carrie Rose Mulligan, Walter Nyangaga, Erin Templeton, Michelle Yu
Group 10 Arianna Barnum, Shaddai Henry, Sazeed Huq
Group 11 Gerardo Salazar, Kevin Zeng
Group 12 Kristina Marinopoulos, Nihaal Pabba, Gianluca Russo, Rachel Swyer, Alana Zervos
Group 13 Markos Abebe, Maddy Farry, Christina Morawski, Jo Ann Mulligan
Group 14 Elijah Clemente, Allyson McAuliffe, Natasha Permaul, Amir Rastegar
Group 15 Mary Jean Mulligan, Mathilde Warren, Amy Toscano, Andrew Xu
Group 16 Ali Gohlke-Schermer, Joe Sipzner, Naomi Tenenini
Group 17 Pranav Kannan, Josh Lamb, Katie Randorf
Group 18 Elise Burby, Laura Chevalier, Karthik Ramesh, Michael Trichilo
Group 19 Sarah Byerly, Sydney Campbell, Julia Chong, Andrea Long
Group 20 Cody Ingraham, Abigail Kedik, Asaph Ko

2/22 BD
8:50 10
9:30 9
10:50 14
11:30 13
1:20 12
2:00 11

2/23 AC
8:50 17
9:30 18
11:30 16
2:00 15

2/24 - Snowday
10:50 7
1:20 8


2/25 BD
9:30 2
10:50 3
11:30 5
1:20 1
2:00 4

2/26 AC
10:50 19
11:30 20

3/1 BD
8:50 9
9:30 10
10:50 12
11:30 13
2:00 14

3/2 AC
8:50 15
9:30 16
10:10 11
11:30 17
2:00 18

3/3 BD
8:50 7
9:30 NYSSMA: Arianna Barnum
10:50 NYSSMA: Catie Rafferty
11:30 NYSSMA: Katie Gonick
1:20 8
2:00 NYSSMA: Alex Selsley

3/4 AC
8:50 1
9:30 2
10:10 5
10:50 3
11:30 4
2:00 6

3/5 BD
9:30 NYSSMA: Erin Templeton
11:30 19
2:00 20

3/8 AC
8:50 14
9:30 13
10:10 10
10:50 12
11:30 11
2:00 9

3/9 BD
8:50 17
9:30 18
11:30 16
2:00 15

3/10 AC
8:50 8
10:10 NYSSMA: Gianluca Russo
10:50 7

3/11 BD
8:50 NYSSMA: Emma Pearson
9:30 NYSSMA: Carrie Rose Mulligan
10:50 NYSSMA: Michelle Burmistrova
11:30 NYSSMA: Rachel Swyer
1:20 NYSSMA: Michelle Yu
2:00 NYSSMA: Matthew Krieg

3/12 AC
8:30 19
11:30 NYSSMA: Gianluca Russo
2:00 20

3/15 BD
8:50 13
9:30 9
10:50 11
11:30 12
1:20 10
2:00 14

3/16 AC
9:30 17
10:10 16
11:30 15
2:00 18

3/17 BD
8:50 8
11:30 7

3/18 AC
8:50 5
9:30 6
10:10 3
10:50 1
11:30 2
2:00 4

3/19 BD
11:30 20
2:00 19

A reminder to all 7th and 8th Graders:
Our combined concert will be on Thursday, April 15th -- so tell your family to file their tax returns and then come hear some great music!

Scale Worksheet #1

Scale worksheets were passed out during the last class. Scale Worksheet #1 tests knowledge of 4 familiar scales: C, G, D, and A major.

For each scale, students should do the following:

• Write the names of the notes in the scale. These letters (and accidentals, in many cases) can be found on the Major Scale Sheet that we use in class and lessons.
• Notate the key signature on the staff the way you would see it in music (with sharps, #, or flats, b,)
• Create a fingering chart using the bubbles. Remember that each bubble represents a half step. You may use your worksheets 1-4 from class, any Essential Elements or Strictly Strings fingering charts, or other resources you desire.
  

7th grade Scale Worksheet #1 is due 2/25

8th grade Scale Worksheet #1 is due 2/24

Practice Log Reminders

A reminder about Practice Logs:

6th Grade logs are due on March 2nd and 3rd. We wrote goals by saying "i will..." Our goals look like this:

Goal #1

Play m _(4 measures only)_ in Winds on Big Hill _(3 or more)_ times with quarter note = 60-70

Goal #2

Chant rhythms in m__(4 measures only)__ in Gaston _(3 or more)_ times in a row.

Goal #3

Perform _(an exercise or small section)_ from my (school/private) lessons for my __(family member)__.

Goal #4

Work on __(intonation, bowing, notes, etc)_____.

7th Grade practice logs are due Thursday, March 4th.

8th Grade practice logs are due Tuesday, March 2nd.

Remember, get a parent signature daily!

Want to join?

Chamber Strings is accepting new members this Spring -- would you like to join?

This select ensemble is open to students in grades 6, 7, and 8.

We meet during Activity Period on Mondays.

See me if you're interested!

Chamber Strings - 11th Rehearsal

I am sorry that we do not know when our concert will be rescheduled, but I will let you know as soon as a date has been chosen!

Today's rehearsal went very well considering our week-long haitus. We played our repertoire in reverse-concert order, beginning with Winter. I was very impressed at the level of control and focus that the cellos had in their opening measures of this piece. They were able to maintain a slow tempo as a section. The slower the better! Violins still have a faster tempo in their minds, but I can't stress enough the value of practice in increments of slow speeds! Many of you are now playing in the appropriate parts of your bow with the bowing that is marked, though I'm shocked to still see people trying to play double-down bow 32nd notes in the middle to upper-half of their bows! Fix!

Let's decide that we're only playing the Allegretto as marked (one repeat...playing the entire song 2x). There is a fermata on the last note, and so it should be held until either Joe or Andrea shows a cutoff. Again, I'm very happy with what I'm hearing from everyone. You are showing concern for other sections and making more musical decisions.

Probably my favorite part of rehearsal was Die Forelle! Second violins, violas, and cellos can still play quieter so as to stay below (in dynamic) the first violin melody, only bringing out the specific measures we discussed in your sectional. I know that singing this piece was hilarious -- as was singing AND playing at the same time -- but it was also very beneficial in that you could create "music" without the stress of fingerings, bowings, and complicated rhythms. Practice like this! I know it's silly, but it's okay to be silly if it helps in the long run. I'd love to be able to do this again -- especially for a song that was written for the voice!

Generally, intonation can be better. While intonation is partly my fault (because I can't physically tune you this week), you can do a lot to help. As string players, we have to constantly be aware of our tonal surroundings: what intervals are we forming? What part of the chord are we playing? How can we remember the shape that our hands should be in?

If possible, practice with someone who is in a different section this week.

In attendance were:

Joe Sipzner

Arianna Barnum

Ali Gohlke-Schermer

Katie Gonick

William Wang

Bill Dong

Marko Crnkovic

Erin Templeton

Rachel Swyer

Emma Pearson

Catie Rafferty

Karthik Ramesh

Andrea Long

Naila Brown

Cody Ingraham

Katie Yang

Full attendance! Yay!

Lessons for February & March

****Students attending NYSSMA in April: Find your name on the schedule for individual NYSSMA lessons****

Lesson Groups
Group 1 So Yeon Kim, Daniel Logiudice, Sera Song
Group 2 Sophie Balzer, Delaney Guntert, Claire Hill, Eliana Rowe
Group 3 Sydney Marotta, Leo Miller, Joseph Petitti, Katie Yang
Group 4 Michelle Burmistrova, Cory Parker, Sophie Patka, Alfredo Salazar, Alex Selsley
Group 5 Matthew Krieg, Catie Rafferty, Allison Reiner, Rebecca Tucker
Group 6 Asha Anand, Heather Krofft, Rebekah Wolanski
Group 7 Curtis Ericson, Hannah Hernandez, Rose Leicht, Emily Toffenetti
Group 8 Naila Brown, Jennifer Hoffmann, Jacob Rosenberg, Sophia Schermerhorn
Group 9 Alicia Chen, Vivian Dai, Carrie Rose Mulligan, Walter Nyangaga, Erin Templeton, Michelle Yu
Group 10 Arianna Barnum, Shaddai Henry, Sazeed Huq
Group 11 Andy Cummings, Gerardo Salazar, Kevin Zeng
Group 12 Kristina Marinopoulos, Nihaal Pabba, Gianluca Russo, Rachel Swyer, Alana Zervos
Group 13 Markos Abebe, Maddy Farry, Christina Morawski, Jo Ann Mulligan
Group 14 Elijah Clemente, Allyson McAuliffe, Natasha Permaul, Amir Rastegar
Group 15 Mary Jean Mulligan, Mathilde Warren, Amy Toscano, Andrew Xu
Group 16 Ali Gohlke-Schermer, Joe Sipzner, Naomi Tenenini
Group 17 Pranav Kannan, Josh Lamb, Katie Randorf
Group 18 Elise Burby, Laura Chevalier, Karthik Ramesh, Victor Rau-Sirois, Michael Trichilo
Group 19 Sarah Byerly, Sydney Campbell, Julia Chong, Andrea Long
Group 20 Cody Ingraham, Abigail Kedik, Asaph Ko

2/22 BD
8:50 10
9:30 9
10:50 14
11:30 13
1:20 12
2:00 11

2/23 AC
8:50 17
9:30 18
11:30 16
2:00 15

2/24 BD
10:50 7
1:20 8


2/25 AC
9:30 2
10:10 1
10:50 3
11:30 5
2:00 4

2/26 BD
10:50 19
11:30 20

3/1 AC
8:50 9
9:30 10
10:10 11
10:50 12
11:30 13
2:00 14

3/2 BD
8:50 15
9:30 16
11:30 17
1:20 18

3/3 AC
8:50 7
9:30 NYSSMA: Arianna Barnum
10:10 8
10:50 NYSSMA: Catie Rafferty
11:30 NYSSMA: Katie Gonick
2:00 NYSSMA: Alex Selsley

3/4 BD
8:50 1
9:30 2
10:50 3
11:30 4
1:20 5
2:00 6

3/5 AC
9:30 NYSSMA: Erin Templeton
10:10 NYSSMA: Gianluca Russo
10:50 NYSSMA: Joe Sipzner
11:30 19
2:00 20

3/8 BD
8:50 14
9:30 13
10:50 12
11:30 11
1:20 10
2:00 9

3/9 AC
8:50 17
9:30 18
11:30 16
2:00 15

3/10 BD
8:50 8
10:50 7

3/11 AC
8:50 NYSSMA: Emma Pearson
9:30 NYSSMA: Carrie Rose Mulligan
10:10 NYSSMA: Michelle Yu
10:50 NYSSMA: Michelle Burmistrova
11:30 NYSSMA: Rachel Swyer
2:00 NYSSMA: Matthew Krieg

3/12 BD
8:30 19
1:20 20

3/15 AC
8:50 13
9:30 9
10:10 10
10:50 11
11:30 12
2:00 14

3/16 BD
9:30 17
11:30 15
1:20 16
2:00 18

3/17 AC
8:50 8
11:30 7

3/18 BD
8:50 5
9:30 6
10:50 1
11:30 2
1:20 3
2:00 4

3/19 AC
11:30 20
2:00 19

Fiddling: 5 Questions of Bowing

This past weekend, I attended the 23rd Annual Dance Flurry in Saratoga Springs, NY. This event brings together folk artists from New York and surrounding states to perform and give workshops in dance, fiddle, guitar, singing, banjo, mandolin, and a variety of other folk genres.

As I've discussed in class, the bowing of fiddle tunes can often provide insight into the character of the tune and its background. However, "fiddle bowings" can be complicated and different from the bowings that classically-trained musicians are accustomed to. One presenter offered a solution to the daunting task of figuring out fiddle bowings. She offered 5 questions of bowing to ask when presented with a new tune:

1. What bow does it start on?
2. What bow does it end on?
3. How many slurs are there?
4. How many notes on a slur?
5. Where does the slur start?

By asking these questions, we can listen more carefully and with greater purpose. With the answers organized in our minds, we can learn the tunes more quickly and accurately.

Setting Goals

As we have seen and discussed in class, the practice logs for this marking period have an added component. Students will reflect on their own progress and personal expectations and use these reflections to set meaningful, appropriate goals for themselves.

Goals should be things that a student has not already mastered, but feels confident that they can accomplish in one meaningful practice session. A meaningful practice session is one in which an appropriate amount of uninterrupted time is devoted to a specific goal. Meaningful practice sessions for scales can be less than 10 minutes, but all other goals should be given more time.

Make a mental list of the type of goals you would like to set before composing your own. You can set goals such as, but not limited to:

• Orchestra music
• School lesson music
• Scales
• Private lesson music
• Community/Youth Symphony music
• Fiddle tunes
• Posture/Position

Scale goals should state more than just the major or minor scale name. Why did you choose this scale? Here are some ways to practice scales:

• Improve tone quality: adjust bow use, position, and posture for better sound
• Pitches/Fingerings: clearly defined whole and half steps
  
• Dynamic work: achieve good tone in a variety of dynamics
• Bow improvement: martele, detache, slurring multiple notes to a bow, practicing with rhythms at different tempos
  

A scale goal may sound like this:
"Review the pitches & fingerings of the A Major Scale. Practice scale at ♩= 68, first using the entire bow, then slurring 2 notes per bow."



Words such as "memorize" and "learn" should be avoided in the wording of the goal because memorization and learning require the passage of time to check.

Instead, consider what actions lead to memorization and learning:

• Mastery of technique: correct bowings, pitches, fingerings, dynamics, rhythms
• Daily repetition: only count repetitions that are correct!
• Performance: for family, friends, classmates, teachers
• Reflection: it sounds okay, but what can I do to make it better?

A goal with memorization in mind may sound like this:
"After careful review, perform m1-10 of Piece 6x correctly."


Individual practice is crucial to creating a full, wonderful orchestra sound. Often, we can get excited about our orchestra music and want to play the entire piece all the way through. This type of goal should be reserved for the days (not even weeks) prior to an orchestra performance. Students should set goals that focus on small sections of an orchestra piece and choose specific techniques to work on:

• Pitch/Fingerings
• Bowings
• Dynamics
• Tempo
• Tone quality

Orchestra goals may sound like this:
"Increase tempo in m20-26 of Orchestra Piece by playing in all increments of speed between ♩= 60-80"
"Correctly play m78-80 of Orchestra Piece 3 times, each time focusing on notes, bowstroke, and dynamics."



Remember that students are expected to practice an average of 20-30 minutes per day. Logs will be graded based on the quality of goals and the time management shown by students. In the past, logs were graded for completion. Now, students should have a comfortable practice routine in place and will receive a grade accordingly.


For additional guidance in forming goals for practice logs, refer to the post on practicing or email me at ellisl@guilderlandschools.org

Chamber Strings - 2/8

In attendance were:

Joe Sipzner
Arianna Barnum (left early)
Ali Gohlke-Schermer
Katie Gonick
William Wang
Bill Dong
Erin Templeton
Marko Crnkovic
Rachel Swyer
Emma Pearson
Catie Rafferty
Karthik Ramesh
Andrea Long
Naila Brown
Cody Ingraham
Katie Yang

This week's sectionals went, in many ways, very well. It was nice to be able to work with each section individually, and I wish we had more time to work like this. Please let me know if you found this type of lesson beneficial and if you'd like to do it again in the future. I was especially pleased with the performances of cellos and violas and how they are addressing the issues within their sections.

Today's rehearsal was rough. We have a concert in 2 days, threats of snow, and a winter break in the near future. I hope that our lack of focus today was not an indication of the performance to come, and I urge everyone -- even those "comfortable" with their music -- to take a last careful look at sections that aren't 100% accurate.

I teacher I once had described these less-than-accurate, less-than-comfortable places as "grey areas," and he reminded me that when you step onstage with the adrenaline of a performance, those grey areas become black: you get lost, you get stuck, and you have no hope of getting back "on." We all have grey areas, but it is our goal to make these grey areas as small as possible.

When we play with an ensemble such as Chamber Strings, let that grey area only be excitement. When we are excited, sometimes things happen that we didn't want to happen: we rush, we miss notes, we play a wrong bowing. Know your music well enough so that you can help others out of their grey areas and they will do the same!

Rudyard Kipling writes:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you...



Breathe. Move. Listen. Make eye contact. Be courteous.
Practice for every scenerio.

Practice.

Play Cello with Less Effort in 3 Easy Steps

Think about this, cellists: gravity doesn’t need your help when you play your instrument. The force is already with you: use it, with finesse, to maintain the proper relaxed balance on your instrument that will allow you to play well.

You need to work with gravity, says cello instructor Elizabeth Morrow of the University of Texas–Arlington, to establish a sense of balance at every point where there’s contact between your body and something else—the chair, the floor, the bow, the fingerboard. “Over any of these places,” she says, “we need a feeling of equilibrium.”

1. First Step: Relax
The first step, Morrow says, is essentially to stop trying so hard to make your body fight gravity. Borrowing an idea from cellist and teacher Cornelia Watkins, Morrow suggests that before you bring your hands up and around to your cello, imagine that you are a marionette, utterly limp, and a puppeteer is lifting your arms via overhead strings. Feel the natural weight in your hands and arms as they’re “pulled” up.

“That’s the sensation you want when you lift your arm to play,” she says. As you play, that weight may be suspended (manipulated by the deltoid muscles), or it may rest on the string, or work in some combination of the two. Remember, the idea is to rest the bow or finger on the string, not to press.

2. Ease Up on Bow Pressure
Your bow hand should not be exerting its own pressure; Morrow describes it as a lever that transfers the weight of your arm through the bow to the point of contact with the string.

To feel how it works, hold your arm straight out in front of you as if you’re holding a soft-drink can. Now, rotate the imaginary can as if you were turning a doorknob, and notice which parts of your body are working, and which are resting. You’re not lifting your shoulder, and you’re not bearing down on anything. All you’re doing, essentially, is rotating your forearm. That’s exactly the rotational force you use to transfer your arm weight through the bow hold to the contact point with the string.

“At the frog we can direct the weight over the first finger,” Morrow says, “but as the arm draws the bow and moves out further away from the body, we have to increase that rotational force, feeling the suspended weight of the arm, not lifting the arm to create pressure.”

And don’t squeeze—do not use either thumb to create pressure in opposition to the fingers. Otherwise, your right thumb will cause problems in your bowing, and your left thumb will make it harder to get around the fingerboard.

3. Balance the Left Arm
“You have to balance the left arm on the fingerboard in a way that doesn’t require the thumb to press when you hold down the string,” Morrow says. “Imagine a hanger with a hook at the top. It’s pliable but firm. Think of your fingers as the hook of the hanger; we want to hang those fingers from the fingerboard with the arm as a unit, all suspended from the point of contact on the fingerboard.”

By James Reel

7th & 8th Grade Concert

This year, we will present our 7th and 8th grade combined string orchestra on the 7th grade program on Thursday, April 15th. This concert will provide us with an opportunity to perform prior to attending the NYSSMA Majors festival at Shaker HS the following week.

The 8th grade orchestra will not perform on the 8th grade concert. All orchestra members who are also in choir should plan to attend both nights.