Posted by Sue Bechler on March 03, 2008 at 09:57:06:
In Reply to: Intonation posted by M on March 02, 2008 at 22:07:40:
My,That's a challenging question! Middle schoolers are nothing if not hasty, so easily "bored". And physiologically some are still developing their sense of hearing. Starting with well-tuned strings, and working in unison makes a lot of sense to me. And try to encourage changing strings when they start to sound false. How about working in a single key for an entire session? You could start with the two-octave scale,then arpeggiated I,IV & V chords over two octaves. An opportunity for improv-ing chords/chorale sound by random choice of arpeggio pitches,too. I'm currently using Uni-Tunes by Carold Nunez/Kjos, subtitled A Fundamental Music Reading Supplement, and I just bought Andy Dabczynski et al.'s Sight-Reading in the String Class for use in group get-togethers with my studio, school grades 5-8. I haven't used this one, but like the looks of Fine Tuning, Spinosa & Rusch. For somewhat more advanced players, Rounds and Canons, Louis Bergonzi,(be sure to buy and follow the teacher's guide), or Bach and Before for Strings, David Newell. All from Kjos. (Nope, no association with the publisher, though I'm well-acquainted with Andy and Lou.) Sue (March mentor)