"String Basics" is an orchestra method

Learn the parts of the violin and bow. ...At least these:

Parts of the violin body:

Bridge: It holds the strings from the body. It is not glued down. If it collapses, TELL ME. It happens, I'll put it back in, no questions asked.

Chin rest: Where your chin goes to hold the violin against your shoulder (not your chest). If yours gets loose, have your parents watch this video. Also, here's a video on how to use a rubber band to hold a sponge to use it as a shoulder rest.

Fine tuners: You CAN move these, just be careful. Here's a tuner website that works with your device's microphone.

Your strings are: G3, D3, A4, and E5. If you cannot get close to in-tune, your pegs need to be moved. Again, if you need to move your pegs, CONTACT ME.

Fingerboard: Where you fingers go (over), for both bow and pizzicato ("pizz.").

Neck: Always grab your instrument by the neck.

Pegs: No touchy! You might snap the strings. If you need to move the pegs, CONTACT ME.

Scroll: Not a music stand hook. (I was taking a risk with my personal instrument, and I have a violin hook now.)

Strings: They're tense steel wires. They're strong, but they can snap. Usually, snapping is gradual, and very anti-climactic. If you don't touch the pegs, they won't bite you.

Tailpiece: It holds the ends of the strings in place. Most have fine tuners.

Upper Bout: I prefer shoulder.

NOT IN THE BOOK: Channel: **Never touch the strings between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge** That's where the bow will go.

Parts of the violin bow:

Frog: If you squint while looking at it, you might see a crouching frog...

Ferrule: This groups the hair together from the frog. Fun fact: It's also the word for that metal thing that holds an eraser to your pencil, and the tips of your shoelaces.

Grip: These vary from bow to bow, but it is a comfortable place for you to grab the stick to form your hold.

Hair: This is horse hair. ...From the tail (because someone always asks--yes, THAT end). Do not touch the hair with your fingers. The hair needs rosin (which is sticky) to grab the strings, to make a sound. If you don't have rosin, CONTACT ME.

Screw: This adjusts the tension of your bow's hair. When you're done playing, loosen your hair with the screw, ESPECIALLY before putting your instrument away.

**NOT IN THE BOOK** To avoid over-tightening the hair: Watch the stick at the tip and make sure it still as some recurve (bend toward the hair). You only need the a space the width of a pencil between the stick and the hair. Why the book doesn't cover this is beyond me...

Stick: It basically is a stick. It should always have a recurve--a curvature that the goes in, towards the hair--even when tightened.

Tip: This is the most delicate part of the bow. Avoid whacking it around.

First of all, the book assumes you know your left from your right. Remember, you read from left to right.

Shoulder Position: We use shoulder position. Not chest position; not collar-bone position. Shoulder position. The violin should point more to your left than forward.

Guitar Position: This is not the position you are looking for... Don't do it...

The keys here are:

• Use good posture. If you look tall, you'll sound tall. Imagine a string from the back of the top of your head gently pulling you right up. No matter how tall you actually are, sit tall; stand tall. ("Straight" is rigid. We don't want rigid and stiff.)

• Elbows: Keep them off your body and thighs. Again, TALL!

Staff: The 5 lines on which pitches are organized vertically.

Treble clef: Originally, this was a 'G' on the second line (from the bottom) on the staff. Over time, as things were copied by hand over centuries, people got sloppy, maybe even bored, and POOF! Notice how the loop curls around that second line. Think of the differences and similarities between the cursive and printed G's and treble clef.

NOT IN THE BOOK:

Spaces: F A C E

"FACE is in the space."

Lines: E G B D F or...

Every Good Burger Deserves Fries

Open A: The 'A' in FACE (the second space)

Open D: 'D' is Dangerously Dangling for Dear life! REMEMBER: D's Dangle.

Staff: The 5 lines on which pitches are organized vertically.

Bar line: A line marking the beginning of a measure.

Measure: A box in which rhythms are grouped. Its size/length/duration is indicated by the...

Time signature:

4/4-time is best explained as:

4 - the number of beats you'll have in a measure--your grouping

(over)

4 - a denominator of 4. Here, you are counting 4ths or quarters as the pulse.

4/4 -time has the beat (or pulse--your "ta's") grouped in 4's, so you would count in 4's. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1...

Quarter note: Within the structure of 4/4-time, a note that is held for 1 beat

Quarter rest: Within the structure of 4/4-time, a silence that is held for 1 beat.

Pizzicato: "pizzicare" Italian ("to sting... [or] pluck"); strings are plucked

Half note: Within the structure of 4/4-time, a note that is held for 2 beats.

Half rest: Within the structure of 4/4-time, a silence that is held for 2 beats.

Repeat sign: Think of these like bumpers that bump you back towards the beginning.

The 4/4-time signature is like "4/4" which reduces to 1 "whole," which is where we get the "whole note"

You think that's weird, check out what the British call their rhythmic values!

Observe the tables at the top of the page that shows the relationship between each of the rhythmic values. Appreciate it; the band book doesn't have this.

Whole note: Within the structure of 4/4-time, this is a note that is held for 4 beats.

Whole rest: Within the structure of 4/4-time, this is a silence that is held for 4 beats.

But when is 4 beats?

Think of a stopwatch. It starts at zero and counts up. The first second is 0 to 1".

The musical "stopwatch" starts at 1. The first beat is from 1 to 2; the 2nd, from 2 to 3, and so on...

Duet: "Music in two parts, played together" typically one-on-a-part.

Trio: "Music in three parts, played together" typically one-on-a-part.

Remember: Every Good Burger Deserves Fries

2nd-finger F♯: First space in the staff. Press your 2nd fingertip on the string, into the fingerboard, comfortably spaced from your 1st finger ('E').

3rd-finger G: Second line in the staff. Use your 3rd fingertip, right up against your 2nd finger (F♯); your 2nd and 3rd fingers should touch.

**This is why you need short, natural fingernails.**

Personal note: I was taught put your left thumb pad against the peg box, at the top of the neck to better track your left-hand placement relative to the fingerboard. With this left-hand position, your first finger tip would go against the knuckle of your thumb.

Solo: Italian for "individual"

Tutti: Italian for "all"

Remember: Every Good Burger Deserves Fries

1st-finger B: We're talking about the 'B' on the third line of the staff. Press your first fingertip (not the pad, the tip), pressing the 'A' string firmly into the fingerboard.

Remember: F A C E in the space.

2nd-finger C♯: Third space in the treble staff. Press your 2nd fingertip on the ('A') string, into the fingerboard, comfortably spaced from your 1st finger ('B').

**This is why you need short, natural fingernails.**

Personal note: I was taught put your left thumb pad against the peg box, at the top of the neck to better track your left-hand placement relative to the fingerboard. With this left-hand position, your first finger tip would go against the knuckle of your thumb.

Remember: Every Good Burger Deserves Fries

3rd-finger D: Use your 3rd fingertip, right up against your 2nd finger (C♯); your 2nd and 3rd fingers should touch.

Key Signature: Puts all the needed sharps in the beginning of the staff. Think of it like a filter, catching all the indicated notes, and changing them. The first ♯ is for F's; the 2nd ♯ is for C's

Scale: "A series of notes [organized]... in stepwise... order."

Your new, daily warm-up:

53. D major scale: D, E ,F♯, G, A, B, C♯, D; Memorize this! It comes back as #100 (bowed).

Try #101 pizzicato...

• Play it backwards

• Play it backwards, but switch the 'D's (upper for lower; lower for upper).

You can now pizz. everything between p. 14 and p. 23!

Bow hold and exercises video

Page 14 is a good introduction to bowing, but I don't like the pre-bow hold.

Use the picture for the hand shape and note the slant of the right-hand fingers (toward the screw, away from the tip). See how the first finger wraps gently around the stick? See how the pinky tip is on the stick?

Arco: "bow"; to play using the bow

Try to pace your bow-length use as:

• Whole-note: whole bow (frog to tip)

• Half-note: Half the bow's length

• Quarter-note: Quarter-length of bow

Page 14 does not explain how to go from one string to the next. String crossing is done by raising or lowering your right elbow--your "chicken wing".

Page 15 has a zoomed-in view and an upside-down view of the hold.

Go to page 18 for the proper, frog bow hold. Use this hold

Extra practice: Go back to pgs. 4-7 and play everything arco.

Ledger line: A line that acts as a place-marker as if the staff were to be extend out by another line(s).

Open 'G': So far, this is the only note that uses ledger lines.

Congratuations! This is the right grip.

If you can play pgs. 18-19, you can go back and review pgs. 8-9 arco.

String crossing is done by raising or lowering your right elbow--your "chicken wing".

If you can play pgs. 20-21, you can go back and review pgs. 10-13 arco.

Your new, daily warm-up:

100.: Remember: You already learned this when you did #53. Only now, it's arco. If you haven't already, memorize it!

101.: You know what, memorize this one too, and try to...

• Play it backwards

• Play it backwards, but switch the 'D's (upper for lower; lower for upper).

Interval: "The distance between two [pitches]."

Round: It should feel like two or more groups, each taking a different BART train going the same way: They all go the same route (the song) to make it to their final destination (the end), but in evenly paced intervals.

Or, you can think of a merry-go-round, with each part seated in order around the merry-go-round. They all go the same pace, but they pass sections at different times, as if they were following one after another.

Your new, daily warm-up:

100.: Remember: You already learned this when you did #53. Only now, it's arco. If you haven't already, memorize it!

Try this as a round, with a friend: stagger your entrances by 2 measures ("peanut-butter jelly").

101.: You know what, memorize this one too, and try to...

• Play it backwards

• Play it backwards, but switch the 'D's (upper for lower; lower for upper).

Remember: F A C E in the space.

4th finger A: We're talking about the same 'A' that is an open string, on the second space of the staff. Press your pinky's fingertip (not the pad, the tip), pressing the 'D' string firmly into the fingerboard. DO NOT let your pinky flatten!

For 5th and 6th grade, if you can do it, great. If you cannot, keep trying, but I will not be stressing this technique for this year. I will not call you out for using open 'A', but do know that when it's indicated, it is because the 4th finger is easier than crossing the string.

Reminder:

Ledger line: A line that acts as a place-marker as if the staff were to be extend out by another line(s).

• 'D' is Dangerously Dangling for Dear life! REMEMBER: D's Dangle.

• 'C' is one ledger line below the staff, as if it sits on a Cloud.

• 'B' looks like a Blundered 'C'

• 'A' is the next ledger line down.

• 'G' is still where it was on page 17.

Congratulations! You get another major scale!

Add these to your daily warm-up:

125.: Memorize it! Try it using #100's rhythmic pattern ("peanut-butter jelly").

126.: It's a great exercise! Review #101. For an extra challenge, you can also do #126 by

• Playing it backwards

• Playing it backwards, but switch the 'G's (upper for lower; lower for upper).

Go back and try all your favorite songs that were on the 'D' and 'A' strings, and play them across the 'G' and 'D' strings!

This we have not covered, so read extra carefully from here on on down.

Any time you see a curved line that connects two or more notes, do not change the bow direction.

Try the theme to "Jaws", by going between (D string) F♯ and G, (A string) C♯ and D, and (G string) B to C. Each two-note grouping should be slurred, or played with one bow:

n B_C... v B_C... n B_C, v B_C, n B_C, v B_C

Go back to #101 and #121 and try slurring each interval (2-note grouping)