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Finger Number Bingo
Looking for some new ideas for the new year? Here is a game Finger Number Bingo. I was looking for a pre-reading piece for one of my piano students and some of the piano activity pages I saw had me thinking about how to incorporate them with my violin students. My brain seems to come up with these ideas when I am supposed to be thinking about something else or going to sleep. Any one else? I adapted a piano finger number game for violin finger numbers. It’s a game that helps reinforce left hand finger numbers for beginners, and practice partners can play easily with students at home. You don’t need to…
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Joy to the World with Vivaldi’s Gloria
It’s that time of year again when I have to admit that I love Christmas music. There is something in the songs that fires up my creativity. Just look at the publications page and you’ll see… But one of my students pointed out to me that all my Christmas arrangement tend to be slow and lyrical. She is one that loves fast and loud, and the faster and louder… the better. And I have to admit that I was like this at her age. So, for all my fast-song-loving students, I arranged Joy to the World with Vivaldi’s Gloria just for them this year. Mashing up two of the Baroque greats, Handel and…
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Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Piazzolla
Here is a great composers note reading worksheet on Piazzolla. Astor Piazzolla is a Latin American composer who was born in Argentina. His family moved to New York City when he was 5. Then the Piazzollas moved to Buenes Aires when Astor was 19. Throughout his adult life he lived in New York, Buenes Aires, and Argentina. His father bought a bandoneon from a New York pawn shop. And so Piazzolla’s music education began. Are you wondering what a bandoneon is? It is like an accordion. Piazzolla became a master at playing the bandoneon. He played the bandoneon in his tour band. You can see Piazzolla playing a bandoneon in the youtube…
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Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Mozart
This worksheet introduces Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as the next great composer note reading worksheet for beginning violinists and violist. Students will review the notes on the A string and E, F and G on the E string for violin. And viola students will review D string notes, and A, B and C on the A string. Students identify the note name in order to fill in the missing letters to complete words. Then they can read the story about Mozart. It is yet another way to reinforce note names away from the instrument. And at the same time teach them about the lives of the composers. Mozart’s works for violin are a…
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Want to Write A Christmas Song?
I have found that students often get bogged down an discouraged by the many steps that go into writing a song. After all, that’s sort of how they imagine the composition process going. In there minds it composing goes something like this…. … You pick up your violin, set the bow on the string, and suddenly you have this great inspiration and you play a completely new piece. Then you walk over to a computer and play it for the computer. The computer of course knows exactly what note you play (because your intonation is perfect). Certainly the computer knows exactly what rhythm you play (because there are no hesitations…
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The Story of The Nutcracker in Music Notes
This is the story of The Nutcracker, the most famous ballet of all time, in music notes. Just a few facts about what was happening in Tchaikovsky’s life while he was writing the music for this ballet. Many have a family tradition of going to a performance of the Nutcracker every year. While this year might be a little different, thanks to technology we can still access and enjoy the music we have come to love at Christmas. Tchaikovsky based the story on E.T.A. Hoffman’s fantasy story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The BBC has a dramatized recording of this story. There are other audio books and dramatized recordings that you can…
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Can You Find the Hidden Notes?
I loved reading Highlights Magazine as a kid. There was always one hidden picture in each magazine. I would spend so much time pouring over these pictures looking for the lists of items. So, here is a fun worksheet using basic music symbols! Can you find the hidden notes and music symbols? This is a list of symbols and notes that a student needs to be able to recognize in order to succeed at solving the puzzle. List of Hidden Notes  Treble Clef Bass Clef Alto Clef Whole Note Half Note Quarter Note Quarter Rest Half Rest Whole Rest Time Signature – 3/4 Eighth Notes Forte Piano Mezzo Forte Up…
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Carol of the Bells – Easy Violin
It’s November! Can you believe it?!?! 2020 has flown and dragged on all at the same time. I’ve been teaching some classes online and haven’t had time to blog. But hopefully you’ll see some of the fruit of that work sometime. But, here is a free easy Christmas violin arrangement that I just did for my group class. I’ve been working on Christmas music with my private lesson students the last few weeks. There is so much good Christmas music out there. And I’ve just finally admitted to myself that I really love Christmas songs. Although by January I’m usually ready to not hear Jingle Bells for a veeeeerrry long…
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Learn Intervals on the Fingerboard
Introduce students to intervals on the fingerboard. This worksheet and activity helps students identify steps up and down in the music alphabet. And then transfer that knowledge to the fingerboard.
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Fiddle Tunes for Beginners
Here are a couple fiddle tunes for beginning violinists. Summer is a great time to add variety into your students repertoire. These tunes can also reinforce techniques that they are learning in their classical literature. But you don’t have to tell them that! Fiddle tunes have a way of making the player and the listener smile. It’s hard to play these happy lively tunes and not smile. These tunes can get into their fingers and spark some practicing! Who knows you might even find your toe tapping. So where do we start? The Orange Blossom Special or The Devil Went Down to Georgia is probably not the best place for…
