Orchestra

We've come a long way in a short time. A few reminders:

As we start to wind down for the summer please note instructions for your child's rental instrument:

If your child is continuing in orchestra next year.....KEEP the instrument and lett the rental company know you are doing so. The phone/contact information for the company is on the tag attached to your child's instrument case.

If your child is NOT continuing in orchestra next year, call the rental company to make arrangements to pick the instrument up. Please be sure to remove the shoulder rest, rosin, pencils from the case. They are yours to keep.

Please be sure your child is still practicing the assigments daily from SmartMusic - they should only submit their assessment after practicing for the week (see information below), and checking in with me for questions, concerns or just touching base. I am available daily for students on Google Meet (set up through their Google Classroom) as well as Google Chat or email.

I am available during the day from 9am to 3pm to take questions and communications. If you have questions or need help you may, of course, email me any time but if it is after 3:00 I may not respond until the next day.

If you have instrument trouble please feel free to contact me. I posted how to tune, a tuning app, how to change a string, and how to maintain your instrument on all Google Classrooms and on the links below.

Students should be practicing at least 15minutes a day for at least 5 days a week and post their practice time on the practice sheet located in Google Classroom. Here, they will also find quizzes, how-to videos, directions for classwork, and times for a video chat for help.

If your child is not signed up they may access using the following codes:

Beginner Orchestra: ddakp7v

Advanced Orchestra: mc3m7p6

For extra help violas and cellos may access the following special Google Classrooms as well as the general orchestra classrooms:

Violas: t7x33lm

Cellos: rumhejd

Students MUST be logged onto SmartMusic program that is used in our regular classroom at school. All assignments are now posted in this program. Students will be assessed on their performance skills of each assignment through the program. Students should practice the songs assigned carefully through the week then, when they are ready, they should submit the work for grading.

Students will have to use their school Chromebook and sign in using their school email address and use the student code below. This is a FREE service under Edison Schools.

In order to use the software, you need to create a SmartMusic account and join the class using one of the following codes:

Beginners Use Code: 4P7G3-FYDLU

Advanced Use Code: RHZUT-F2VVE

1. Open a Chrome browser and visit: https://admin.smartmusic.com/join

2. When prompted for a class code, please enter one of the codes above

3. Be sure to select "Premium" for the level of subscription you are using

I look forward to helping you improve your practice with SmartMusic!

**If you have any issues with your instrument, including tuning, you may contact your rental company. You will need to take it to the rental facility.

You may watch the following video to tune your child's instrument at home. Please be careful not to overtune!! You could break a string.