I hope everyone is having a good week back to school from spring break! If you have decided to play in our recital on May 1st, make sure to register by calling the office!

Jaron
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and try not to stretch fingers too high when going back down the scale), Long Long Ago (make sure half-notes are held long with your bow), and Allegro (watch out for eighth-note fast phrases).

Olivia
– Reminder: scale sheets are in the Google drive if you need to look at them!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave major and minor scales (maybe focus on B-flatl Major this week and try to memorise fingering pattern for each scale), Go the Distance (third and fifth position sections and watch out for 3-4 and 2-3 fingering positions), and Mirror duet (we’ll try to get to this one next week, listen to the piece on YouTube or Spotify so you can get a sense of how the two violins sound together).

Amaia
– Reminder: get your violin tuned before the recital if possible; however, I understand it is a difficult time to do much of anything so if it doesn’t happen, it is completely fine!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and keep your bow in the middle of the bridge and fingerboard), Lightly Row (play beginning to end without pausing and try not to mix up first and second lines), and Song of the Wind (first line, and look ahead if you wish!).

Crosby
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 0-1-2-3-2-1-0 fingering pattern on each string (warm-up), G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Twinkle (theme and variations A and C – for C, practice first 2 lines and look ahead if you wish, the rest of the notes are the same as the theme and A), and Lightly Row (first two lines, make sure to count how many C#s and Bs there are!).

Hendry
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and C Major scales (1 octave), C and E-flat Major scale (2 octaves, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Minuet 3 (play through and get comfortable with the notes, and look out for grace note!), and Starting the Case (make sure first finger is a little lower and use your elbow to help with string crossings).

Grace
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Long Long Ago (make sure to play half notes to full length), and Allegro (watch out for staccato and legato sections, and play through and get comfortable with the notes).

Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!