Congratulations!!! You've graduated String Basics - Book 1 and are ready to tackle Book 2. The first unit in book 2 is a review and check of many of the skills that we've learned in Book 1. However, unlike Book 1, where we learned these skills in isolation, here in the review, they are throwing all those skills at you at once (ie: dynamics, tempo, articulation, bowings, etc.). Your job is to break down the pieces as you practice to make sure you are carefully practicing the skills for each and every piece and building a beautiful masterpiece out of each one. Don't just play these pieces to "get it done." Go beyond playing the black and white printed on the page, and really make music.
To really build a piece of music, Mr. Williams will introduce you to the Music Pyramid: Mr. Williams' method of building a piece from the ground up. You can find out more information about that on the practice strategies page.
While you are getting more advance in your playing, don't forget your basics of practice, like Say, Sing, Play (5x) and using the Puzzle Method when pieces are too difficult! The older you get, the more you should be practicing each day. At this point, you should be up at 25-30 minutes of practice per day. This will help you to grow your musical and leadership skills, preparing you to enter Mrs. Arnold's orchestra program at Eyer and LMMS!
The first two pages of book 2, we are reviewing the key of D-Major (2 Sharps - F# & C#). On page 4 we focus on some of the basics, like remember to keep your fingers curved and your bow straight for the best sound out of your instrument. On page 5, we start working on all the details of great performances. Pay careful attention to ever musical marking in each piece: Dynamics, Slurs, 4th fingers, tempo marking, etc. Don't just play the notes, make music!
Using your 4th finger isn't just an annoying optional way to play the next higher string, it's a vital way to play more efficiently as we continue to encounter more challenging pieces and patterns in the music. It can help to provide a warmer, more beautiful tone, as well as prevent unnecessary string crossings, which save time and effort, increasing your ability to play quickly.
In book 1, we learned plenty of shifting on the G-String to play C, C# and High D. Now we are going to discover that you can play some of your G-String notes by shifting and playing them on the D-String instead. Why??? would you want to do that? Depending on the patterns of the notes written, it's sometimes easier to stay in 2nd or 3rd position and simply change strings rather than constantly shifting back and forth (particularly when the note A is involved).
The next 3 pages we are reviewing the key of G-Major. As you change from your G & D strings to notes on the A and E-Strings, it's going to require you to carefully watch your key signatures and change your Fingerboard Geography. Always look at the key signature before performing a piece and think carefully about what your FB Geography should look like.
Watch Itzhak Perlman (one of the most amazing violinist of all time) perform Vivaldi's Winter (Movement 2).
This is the original piece of music from where #31 was taken.
We've discussed before that occasionally a piece of music sounds "dark." This is normally because the piece is based on a minor scale, rather than the major scale that we've commonly used. A minor scale is made by simply shifting the pattern of whole and half steps used to make a scale. On page 11, we learn how to take the G-Major scale, and make an e-minor scale. (Notice the difference between upper case in G-Major and lower case in e-minor...that's not an typo!)
What is the difference that makes a Major Scale sound Major and a minor scale sound minor? It's simply whole steps and half steps, just placed in a different pattern. We look at the WH pattern used to create major scales and review how to play pieces in the key of C-Major.
Now that we've discussed whole step and half step patterns, now we look at the relative minor to C-Major, which is a-minor. By keeping the same key signature, but changing what note we start on, we are altering our whole step and half step pattern, creating a new scale, a natural minor.