Note Reading Secrets - make note reading stick

I'm passionate about teaching my students to read notes because I want them to love learning an instrument and play in orchestra.  How can it be fun to play an instrument and perform in a group when you're always lost because of note reading struggles? 

I begin by teaching students to read open strings and we memorize those notes first.  I explain to students that they must remember where those notes are 'parked' on the staff. (I tell a story about forgetting where I parked at a parking lot and how I was wandering around forever to find it.).  Students practice drawing open strings on my staff packets - a dry erase packet with a staff and expo marker.  Within minutes, students are able remember those few notes, draw them, and play them.

Next students work on my ROTE to NOTE packet.  This resource is awesome because the 'rote' portion is notated like notes on the staff.  Without even realizing it, students are 'reading' note names on the staff.  This helps them transition to actual note reading.  I've been using this book for the last few years and have it's been my little secret.  Now it's available on my TPT store!

Rote to Note has been great for my students!  On the note reading pages - I make sure students practice each exercise 10 times to GO PRO.  Note reading takes a great deal of repetition and I like how each note reading line has the 'go pro' tracker to help students remember to repeat each line as they practice.

These tips help my students when it's time to read music from a page:

1.  Always keep perfect play position and hover left hand fingers OVER the tapes.

2.  Focus on the notes and don't look back and forth between the notes and your fingers.  Check hand position before you start to make sure everything is lined up, then trust your brain to get the fingers to land in the right place. 

3.  While reading notes, always look ahead to the next note while playing. This helps you read notes faster.

4.  When practicing at home, only move the bow AFTER the left hand is set on the tape.  That little bit of space between the notes helps develop accuracy.

SIMPLE NOTE READING GAME

Last week I had students play this game and it help them so much with developing note reading skills!  After completing the activity I asked students to raise their hands if the game helped them get better at note reading and almost the entire class shot up their hands.  It's so easy and simple, but so effective.  HIGHLY recommend this for beginners - and for days when you need a sub plan.

Looking for an AMAZING deal?

Looking for an AMAZING deal on a brand new violin, viola, or cello?

We’ve all been taught to shop around and be smart with our money.  Especially with larger purchases.  It makes sense to look for the best deal.  I do the same thing.  But sometimes, despite my best intentions and thorough research, I’ve ended up with a product that ended up being more junk than deal.  Once I bought my son a couple of huge brick building sets that looked a lot like Legos, but were a different brand.  They were WAY cheaper than Legos and I was feeling pretty proud of myself for saving money.  On Christmas morning we began to build and soon discovered the pieces would not align properly, no matter how hard we tried.  Our structure would not stay together and there was a lot of frustration and tears.  We were following the directions.  We were qualified builders.  But the set did not allow us to get a successful result.  The discount building sets were in the garbage before lunch time.

My children learned a similar lesson from buying toys at a local dollar store.  One of my kids wanted a Barbie and was excited to find something that looked like a Barbie for only a dollar!  Once home it was easy to tell that a dollar doll and a Barbie doll are not really the same at all.  A dollar doll has a huge ugly bald spot on the back of her head and her hair falls out way too easily.  Her arms and legs won’t bend, and worst of all, her head pops right off!  My children finally learned it is better to save a little more money and buy something quality made that will last longer.

I recently saw a post on facebook that broke my heart a little.  A mom had posted a question on facebook about where she could find a cello.  People responded with some worthwhile suggestions and good information.  After all of that, the mom said, “Thanks for your help, but I found one on ebay with everything I need for only $145.   It will save a lot of money!”  This well-intentioned mom doesn’t know that the instrument coming in the mail is about to cause some grief and the student using it will struggle. 

Parents don’t always realize that when looking for instruments, there are drastic differences between the ‘lowest best deal online’ and an actual playable instrument.  They can look so similar. It is very deceiving. 

Why do these inexpensive ebay/amazon/online instruments cause grief?  Let me explain. 

Grief #1

The instrument will look like a string instrument, but the pieces won’t be fitted together correctly.   It’s like buying a puzzle that hasn’t been cut right so the pieces don’t quite fit.  Because of this, the instrument will be almost impossible to tune.   A patient teacher can get it pretty close, but it will never maintain a correct pitch for long.  Strings will constantly be stretching, pegs will constantly be slipping, and the instrument will not sound right.  

Result:  Everything that is played on the instrument (even when it is played correctly) will sound off and out of tune.  The student will think he/she is not as good as the others because the sound from their own instrument doesn’t match the group.  Often the student will begin to doubt their own musical ability and question their choice to learn an instrument.    The student might feel others in the class are more talented, when really the difference was only the quality of the instrument.

Grief #2

The instrument can only deliver a small, thin, sound.

Quality instruments are made from only specific kinds of wood which are carved in certain ways to create the best possible, resonant sound.  Discount instruments are made from inferior materials.  The wood and strings on a discount violin can not produce the same full, ringing sound as quality instruments.

Result:  The student can not hear him/herself while playing in a group.  When a student can’t hear the tone from their own instrument, it is very difficult to make small adjustments necessary to improve and fix intonation.  The student will learn to play out of tune.  The student will then believe he/she has little talent and may become frustrated. 

Grief #3

The instrument comes with many parts that will immediately need to be replaced.

The pegs in a ‘discount’ instrument are not fitted correctly, the bridge has not been shaped correctly (making it harder to play on one string at a time), the strings are too thin (making the sound too soft), and the fine tuners won’t work. 

Result:  To make the instrument playable, it will need new pegs, new bridge, new strings, and new tailpiece.  The discount instrument now requires an additional $200+.  Money that could have been used to purchase a quality instrument.

It’s wise to do research and to find good deals.  When it comes to instruments, please don’t be deceived by what we call VSO’s (violin-shaped-objects).  They look like the real thing, but are actually impostors.  These inferior ‘instruments’ won’t help students progress and learn and they make learning harder.  For a student to succeed, they must be given quality materials.  A quality instrument sets students up for success.  Some parents may be worried about investing money into an instrument when they are unsure if their child will like it or not.  Don't fear.  A child who has an instrument that works correctly and sounds good will LOVE it!  

 Please seek advise from your teacher when looking for an acceptable instrument.  Visit your local music stores and have them tune and play their instruments for you.  A student’s success in music depends on this most important step – finding a quality instrument that fits together properly with working pieces, stays in tune, and offers a full resonant sound.

SEATING CHART SHORT-CUT

Over the years I've spent tons of time making seating charts.  I believing in changing seats very frequently and rotating students around the section so no one is ever always in the back.  Every 2 weeks I make brand new charts for each of my classes.  As my program has grown, making new charts is taking more and more time.  I still want to frequently change seating, but I need it to be easier and faster.

So.......

I just created a color coded seating chart for each class.  I colored seats in each section a different color, then numbered the seats.

To easily change the seating, I created an Excel spreadsheet with the names of the students in each section.

I then created a formula to randomly assign a number to each student.  =RAND()

I then sort the sheet by columns - and instantly have a randomized seating.  Students just have to look at the chart and sit in the seat that corresponds to their number.

It's super fast and easy to create a new order...just drag the formula column downwards and it will replace all the numbers.  Instead of re-writing seating charts, I can use excel to get a new order instantly.  I project the list on my screen and students quickly find their new seats.  I might just change seating more often!