My students choose to participate in string orchestra because they love to play violin, viola, cello or bass. Most of my students don't take private lessons and they are the first person in their family to play an instrument. I love the look on their faces when they first get to hold an instrument in their hands. The students love to come together each week for our special hour of strings. They greet old friends and new music friends and we begin the class with our warmup. We learn about scales and key signatures, basic rhythms and more complex ones. We learn to read notes and what is the name of the clef that the violin or the viola use. They learn to love music.
I teach musicians in four middle schools in Stamford, CT.
Stamford is a great small city in southwestern Connecticut. We have a diverse learning population with students from so many backgrounds and economic situations. More than half of my students are on free and reduced lunch so I try and help my students as much as I can with instruments and basic supplies.
My Project
Encouraging independent work and thinking is very important in my orchestra class. Students are encouraged to become better musicians by practicing in small groups and by themselves, especially at home. And, one of the most important things for a musician, is knowing how to tune their own instrument.
My students have always had me tune their instrument to make sure that each string is the right pitch.
But wouldn't it be great if they could do it themselves?
Now that they are in middle school, I would love to help my students tune their own instruments to develop more independence and self-confidence as well as to become better musicians. Independence comes because they don't have to ask me to tune for them. Confidence comes with learning a skill that they can now perform on their own. They will become better musicians because they will begin to discern pitches better and learn to listen to each note. They have to listen very carefully to each pitch as they tune, and adjust the fine tuner so it is perfect. I would like to have 10 tuners and batteries so that students can each have their own to use during class.
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