3 1211 02393 "57 CONTENTS Strategies for Teaching Strings Companion Website Video Content x Preface xvii How to use This Book xx Chapter 1 THE STRING INSTRUMENT FAMILY 1 Instruments 1 Bows 9 Accessories and Supplies 11 Selecting String Instruments 13 Care and Maintenance of String Instruments and Bows 21 Summary 31 Resources 32 Chapter 2 BEGINNING STRING CLASS INSTRUCTION 33 Guiding Principles for Teaching Beginning String Classes 33 Recommended Seating Configuration- for Beginning String Classes 35 Performance Goals and Objectives of First- and Second-Year String Classes 36 Strategies for Determining Proper Instrument Sizes 38 Pedagogy for Teaching Instument Position 40 Creating Lesson Plans for Beginning String Class Instruction 47 Body Posture Teaching Strategies 48 Instrument Position Teaching Strategies 49 Left-Hand Shape: General Guidelines 50 vl STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING STRINGS Pedagogy for Teaching the Left-Hand Shape 53 Pedagogy for Teaching Pizzicato 56 Pedagogy for Teaching Beginning Finger Placement 57 Bowing Instruction: General Guidelines 59 Bow Hand Shape: General Guidelines 59 Pedagogy for Teaching Bow Hand Shape 61 Sound Production Principles 64 Détaché Bowing: General Guidelines 64 Pedagogy for Teaching Détaché Bowing 66 Beginning String Crossings: General Guidelines 69 Pedagogy for Teaching String Crossings 69 Staccato and Hooked Bowings: General Guidelines 70 Pedagogy for Teaching Staccato and Hooked Bowings 71 Pedagogy for Teaching Slurs 71 Aural Skill Development in Beginning Classes: General Guidelines 72 Pedagogy for Teaching Beginning Aural Skills 72 Strategies for Teaching Instrument Tuning in Beginning String Classes 73 Problem Solving: Beginning Students' Common Playing Problems and Solutions 74 References 76 Additional Resources 76 Chapter 3 INTERMEDIATE STRING CLASS INSTRUCTION 78 Performance Goals and Objectives of Third- and Fourth-Year String Classes 78 Pedagogy for Teaching Parallel Bowing 80 Pedagogy for Teaching Smooth Direction Changes 81 Pedagogy for Teaching Tone Production at Different Dynamic Levels 82 Pedagogy for Teaching Moderate-to-Faster Tempo String Crossings 82 Pedagogy for Teaching Slurring More than Four Notes 83 Pedagogy for Teaching Martelé Bowing 83 Pedagogy for Teaching Basic Spiccato 84 Pedagogy for Teaching Consistent Lengthened and Balanced Body Posture 85 Pedagogy for Refining Instrument Position 86 Intermediate Left-Hand Skills: General Guidelines Pedagogy for Refining Left-Hand Shapes 100 Contents Pedagogy for Teaching Cello Extensions 101 Shifting: General Principles 101 Pedagogy for Teaching Shifting 103 Vibrato: General Principles 105 Pedagogy for Teaching Vibrato 106 Double Bass Pivoting: General Guidelines 114 Pedagogy for Developing Intermediate Aural Skills in the School Orchestra 115 Intermediate Instrument Tuning 117 Problem Solving: Intermediate Students' Common Playing Problems and Solutions 118 References 120 Additional Resources 120 Chapter 4 ADVANCED STRING CLASS INSTRUCTION 123 Goals and Objectives of Advanced Playing Skills 123 Pedagogy for Teaching Expressive Détaché Bowing 124 Pedagogy for Teaching Louré (Portato) Bowing 125 Pedagogy for Teaching Sul Tasto Bowing 127 Pedagogy for Teaching Ponticello Bowing 127 Pedagogy for Teaching Controlled Tremolo Bowing 128 Pedagogy for Teaching Collé Bowing 128 Pedagogy for Teaching Fast String Crossings 129 Pedagogy for Teaching Expressive Spiccato 130 Two-Octave Scales Through Four Sharps and Four Flats: General Guidelines 131 Introducing Three-Octave Scales: General Guidelines 132 Pedagogy for Refining Shifting 149 Pedagogy for Refining Vibrato 151 Pedagogy for Developing Advanced Aural Skills in the School Orchestra 153 Advanced Instrument Tuning 155 Problem Solving: Advanced Students' Common Playing Problems and Solutions 155 Reference 156 Additional Resources 156 Chapter 5 THE SCHOOL ORCHESTRA PROGRAM 159 A Brief History of Orchestra Programs in the Schools 159 Values of Orchestra Programs in the School Music Curriculum 161 Strategies for Defending the School Orchestra Program 164 1 ISTRATEGIES FOR TEACHING STRINGS Developing Community Support for the Orchestra Program 167 The School Orchestra Curriculum 168 Enhancing the Orchestra Curriculum 171 References 175 Additional Resources 176 PREPARING FOR YOUR ORCHESTRA REHEARSAL 179 Chapter 6 Preparing Your Rehearsal Room and Equipment 179 Factors to Consider in the Preparation of Your Rehearsal Strategies 180 Differences and Commonalties in Teaching Wind, Brass, and String Instruments 188 Choosing Music for Your Groups 193 Score Preparation 194 Lesson Planning 197 Auditions/ Tryouts 201 Nearing the Rehearsal 208 References 208 Additional References 209 Chapter 7 "CONDUCTING" YOUR REHEARSAL 211 Tuning 212 Warm-Ups 212 Review of Old and Introduction of New Materials 217 Sight-Reading and Improvisation 219 End of the Rehearsal 220 Troubleshooting During Rehearsals 220 Effective Teacher/ Director Presentation 223 Other Considerations 226 Resources 234 Chapter 8 PRACTICAL APPROACHES TO TEACHING IMPROVISATION IN THE SCHOOL ORCHESTRA 236 Rationale 236 Improvisation Teaching Strategies 237 A Creative Drone Approach 238 A Riff Approach 239 A Call-and-Response or Question-and-Answer Approach 240 A Chordal Approach 241 A Rhythmic Ostinato Approach 242 Martin Norgaard Six-Step Exercises for Improvisation 243 Contents tx Riff Around 243 D Blues 244 A Four-Bar Approach: Play 2 Bars—Improv—Play 1 Bar 244 Summary 247 References 247 Additional Resources 248 Chapter 9 TECHNOLOGY IN THE STRING CLASS 250 First Steps 253 Additional Resources 253 STRING STUDENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION 255 Chapter 10 Philosophy 255 Why Children Choose to Play Instruments 255 Preparation for Recruitment 257 Recruitment Procedures 261 Retention 268 References 272 Additional Resource 273 METHOD BOOKS AND MUSIC FOR THE SCHOOL Chapter 11 ORCHESTRA PROGRAM 274 Guidelines for Choosing Music 275 String Method Books and Method Book Evaluation Criteria 278 Recommended Publishers 283 String and Full Orchestra Literature: Criteria for Grade-Level Distinctions 284 References 301 Additional Resources 301 Appendix A CORRELATED STRING ORCHESTRA MUSIC AND TEACHING STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP BOWING AND LEFT-HAND PLAYING SKILLS 303 THE ASTA NATIONAL STRING TEACHING STANDARDS 308 Appendix B Appendix C THE SURVEY OF TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS (STE) 311 D ADDITIONAL PEDAGOGICAL RESOURCES 318 Appendix Index 323 The String Instrument Family INSTRUMENTS Instruments in the modern string family include bowed, plucked, and ham- mered strings. The bowed string family instruments include violin, viola, cello, and double bass. The plucked string family instruments include the guitar, harp, and harpsichord, whereas the piano belongs to the hammered string family. There are also folk instruments such as the dulcimer and banjo that are plucked and, in the case of the dulcimer, are also hammered. The focus of this book is on the bowed string instruments. Although there exists another body of bowed instruments that includes viols and gambas, the focus is placed only on the modern bowed string instruments. Those instru- ments are the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. 1 The best modern bowed string instruments are made of wood; however, other types of materials, such as carbon fiber or fiberglass, are being used to produce student-grade instruments. Laminated wood is also used in the production of student-grade cellos and double basses. High-grade, evenly 1 narrow-grained resonant pieces of spruce are used to make the tops of string instruments. Generally, a single piece of wood is split in half to make a top for any given string instrument. The back and sides of most instruments are con- 1 structed of maple; the fingerboard, nut, saddle, inlaid purfling, pegs, tailpiece, and end button are usually constructed of ebony. History of the Modern Bowed String Instruments 1 and the Modern Bow It was a long-held belief that the violin, viola, cello, and double bass had a direct developmental relationship with the viol. This belief has changed, and it is now more commonly held that our modern-day instruments developed around the mid-1500s in Italy. Although there may be some similarity between the instru- ments of the viol family and the violin family, differences in the construction of instruments from the two families are significant enough to now hold that 1 2 (STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING STRINGS the modern-day bowed string instruments developed as a family of their own (Sachs 2006). Undoubtedly it could be argued that thee modern bowed string instruments were influenced by other bowed string instruments, as many of the makers of viols also made violins, nonetheless it is now widely believed that our modern instruments developed during the mid-1550s. A brief history of the modern violin, viola, cello, and double bass, as well as a concise history of the modern bow, follows. History of the Violin The classic "outline" of the violin became standard in Italy around 1550. It is thought that violin makers may have borrowed ideas for the violin from three string instruments in use prior to the advent of the violin: the rebec, the viola da braccio, and the lira da braccio (Sachs 2006). The rebec was a small, pear-shaped instrument with two or three strings and a flat bridge or no bridge at all. The viola da braccio was a tenor viol or viola sometimes called an "alto" because its part was written in the alto clef. It usually had five or more strings, one of which could be a bourdon running off the fingerboard. The viola da braccio is usually depicted with either no bridge or a flat bridge. The lira da braccio had a similar shape to the violin, with seven strings, of which five were over the fingerboard, tuned like a violin with a low "d" added to the bottom, and was played with a bow. The other two strings were off the fingerboard, served as drones, and were usually tuned in octaves. They could be plucked, often with the left-hand thumb. Although we principally have only Ferrarese wall paintings on which to base our conclusions, it appeared that the Brescian violins conformed closely to the standard shape of what we now identify as the violin. Additionally, one of the earliest explicit descriptions of the violin, as we now know it, appeared in the Epit01Tte musical by Jambe de Fer, published in 1556 in Lyon. Both Gasparo da Salo (1540—1609) and Andrea Amati (1500—1577) are cred- ited as the first luthiers to make violins with the present shape. As with Gasparo da Salo, Andrea Amati was one of the famous Italian luthiers whose instru- ments still survive and are identified with the modern-day violin. The oldest surviving violin of Andrea Amati was made in Cremona in 1564 and is called the "Charles IX." Other members of the Amati family also made violins, in- cluding Antonio Amati (1540—1607), Hieronymous Amati I (1561—1630), Nicolo Amati (1596—1684), and Hieronymous Amati II (1649—1740). The violin did undergo what are generally considered minor changes, in- cluding a longer and more tilted fingerboard, a longer and less bulky neck, a longer and heavier bass bar, a thicker sound post, and a mortised rather than a nailed and glued application of the neck to the block. Yet the instrument since the time of Amati has remained basically unchanged. In addition to the Amati family, other famous luthiers between the late sixteenth and eighteenth centuries included the Guarneri family of Italy, Andrea Guarneri (1626—1698), Pietro of Mantua (1655—1720), Giuseppe Guarneri (1666—1739), Pietro Guarneri (1695-1762), and Giuseppe (del Gesu) (1698-1744); Jacob Stainer (1617-1683) of Absam in Tyrol; Carlo Giuseppe Testore (1665—1716) of Italy; Carlo Bergonzi The String Instrument Family 13 (1683—1747) of Cremona; and perhaps one of the most famous luthiers, Antonio Stradivari (1644—1737) of Cremona. History of the Viola Whether we should credit the beginnings of the viola before those of the violin is not clear, but the viola came into existence in the early to middle sixteenth century, probably around or before 1530. The first in a long line of Cremona family members to become famous for their fine instruments, Andrea Amati (1500—1577) was one of the first luthiers to produce violas. Another important nucleus of luthiers was in Brescia. Gasparo da Salo (1540—1609) is perhaps the most noted luthier associated with the Brescia makers. Andrea Guarneri (1626— 1698) was the first of another important family of luthiers to build fine, but few, violas. Antonio Stradivari (1644—1737), too, made few violas and is credited with making between 10 and 18 of them. One of Stradivari's violas was played by the famous violinist, composer, and guitarist Niccolö Paganini (1782—1840). Like the violin, the viola underwent several modifications, including al- teration of the neck, fingerboard, bridge, bass bar, sound post, and, most important, the size. However, unlike the violin, which was thought to have reached acoustical perfection early in its development, the viola's development was, and some would argue, is still in transition (Milward 2004). As Romantic era composers Berlioz, Weber, and, later, Wagner, began to write more demanding parts for the viola, there were attempts to improve the small viola or develop a new instrument entirely. Jean Baptist Vuillaume (1798--1875) experimented with the contralto viola, and later in that century violist Hermann Ritter (1849—1926) developed his large "viola alta," which had a body length of 19 inches (48 cm). Ritter was one of the principal architects of modern viola-making, establishing the trend toward larger instruments. English violist Lionel Tertis (1876—1975) developed the 163/4-inch (42.6 cm) viola. The Tertis viola became the model for the full-size modern-day viola, and many makers are using this model for their instruments. But even today, the overall length of a viola varies, as does the body length, rib depth, and width of bouts. Full-size violas can vary from instru- ment to instrument with a range in size from 15 to 19 inches (38 to 48 cm). Established as one of the principal members of the new violin family by 1535, the alto-tenor violin (our modern viola) was not then called the viola. Around 1500, the word viola was used to refer to any Western classical bowed string instrument and could also have specific reference to the Renaissance fiddle or a lira da braccio. It wasn't until the eighteenth century that the term viola (also referred to as the alto violin) was equated with the term viola da brazzo from the term viola da braccio (meaning the viola played in the arms), hence the German term Bratsche is still used as the name for the viola today. History of the Violoncello The origins of the violoncello, commonly known today as simply the cello, has been somewhat difficult to trace. Its history begins with the bass violin. The bass violin's earliest known existence was referred to in a 1527 document by 4 STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING STRINGS Agricola, in which it is mentioned as a bass member of a newly formed, four- part violin consort. The bass violin, also referred to as the violone, varied greatly in size throughout its development. Early bass violins existed in two sizes and had higher and lower tunings. Like the violin and viola of this time, the violon- cello used sheep gut strings. However, one factor affecting the size of the bass violin was the development of the wire-wound string. The wire-wound string allowed the instrument to be smaller and less cumbersome. The wire-wound string is mentioned as early as 1664. There is evidence that Francesco Rugeri (1620—1695) and members of the Amati family made a small type of cello before 1700, but Antonio Stradivari (1644—1737) is credited with standardizing the size of the instrument. In about 1707, Stradivari developed what is labeled the "forma B" violoncello pattern. This instrument's body length measured 75—76 cm (291/2 inches), with its maxi- mum width being 44.5 cm (171/2 inches). This instrument was both shorter and narrower than other cellos he made between 1680 and 1701. Some of these older, larger instruments measured 79 cm (31 inches) in body length and 47 cm (181/2 inches) in width. Although both sizes of violoncello continued to be pro- duced early into the eighteenth century, many of these instruments were later cut down to conform to the smaller Stradivari "forma B" patterned instruments. As with the violin and viola, the fingerboard and neck of the cello was modified. B. H. Romberg (1767—1841) established the practice of slightly scoop- ing out and angling the bass side of the cello fingerboard. This allowed for the wide vibrations of the C string without interruption of the fingerboard itself. Another significant modification was the addition of the endpin. Early bass vio- lins rested on the floor while being played, but toward the 1700s it was more common for the instrument to be held off the floor with the legs. Method books up until the late nineteenth century taught only one playing position in which the instrument was held with the legs and supported mainly with the left calf. In about 1880, method books began to advocate the use of the endpin, although some cellists did use one before this time. The endpin was not initially accepted as many well-known cellists continued to play without an endpin. However, its use finally became universal, as it promoted a more relaxed position, increased stability, and facilitated shifting and playing in upper positions. History of the Double Bass For many years it was thought that the modern double bass was a descendant of the viola da gamba family. However, it is also thought that although the double bass resembles the viola da gamba, its internal construction is nearly identical to that of other instruments in the violin family and therefore its origins are that of the violin family. Whether the modern double bass is a member of the violin or viol family, its first general shape was that of the violone, the largest member of the viol family. It is believed that the Germans developed the double bass with the sloping shoulders and flat backs that are characteristic of the viol. Among Italian luthiers, however, examples of double basses with violin corners and curved backs also exist. The String Instrument F amity 5 The Italian double basses modeled after the violin family of instruments were generally larger than the German basses. Many of the double basses made in Italy had three strings. Two of the more famous Cremona luthiers known to have made double basses were Gasparo da Salo (1540—1609) and Andrea Amati (1505-1577). Interest in the double bass seemed to languish in the 1700s. However, with the development of the overwound gut string in the 1650s, the size of the double bass could be reduced without sacrificing the contra-octave sounding ability of the instrument. The "new, smaller" instrument regained some interest. Do- menico Dragonetti (1763—1846), one of the great virtuosos of his time, estab- lished the bass as a permanent member of the orchestra. Giovanni Bottesini (1821—1889), another virtuoso, brought more interest to the instrument due to his expanded technique on the bass, which he showcased in numerous concerts. Changes in the double bass included the number of strings used (which ranged from as many as six strings to three strings), the shape of the instrument (more viol-like shapes with sloped shoulders and flat backs versus the violin- inspired shape with rounded shoulders and curved backs), and the size of the instrument (from huge, 13- to 15-foot [396 to 457 cm or 4 to 4.6 meters] basses, which required two individuals to play them, to the modern standard orches- tral double bass that is considered a 4/4 size instrument). Along with the physi- cal developments came technical advancements and changes, which included changes to the bow and bow hold. Two bow hold styles/ bows are still used today: the German bow and the French bow. Franz Simandl (1840—1912) refined the so-called German bow. The German or Butler bow is sometimes called the Dragonetti bow, as the virtuoso used the underhanded bowing approach associated with this bow. It is typ- ically broader and shorter than the French bow. The French bow was made popular by virtuoso Bottesini in the nineteenth century. Both the German and French bows continue to be used today, and the choice between the two is often a matter of personal preference. However, it is often thought that the German bow is easier to use for staccato, spiccato, and détaché bow strokes, whereas the French bow is often considered more maneuverable and provides the player with better control. History of the Bow A history of the instruments is not complete without at least mentioning the bow and its development. The use of a bow to play a string instrument has been AD traced back to 800 in China. It is believed that the erhu, a Chinese instru- ment thought to sound similar to the violin, was one of the first instruments known to have been played with a bow (Stock 1993). The history of the violin bow is most often traced to the medieval period. Bows were used to play the rebec, lira da braccio, and medieval fiddle. The bows used in this period had a convex shape, resembling an archery bow where the curve of the bow moved away from the bow hair. These bows were often rudi- mentary, with the hair fixed directly to the stick without a device to adjust the hair tension.