Teaching music in the urban classroom
edited by Carol Frierson-Campbell.
Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006-
Frierson-Campbell (music education and graduate research, William Paterson U.) compiles 14 essays on topics of cultural responsivity, teaching strategies, alternative teaching models, and stories of music teachers in urban schools. Contributors discuss motivation, choral rehearsals, building an instrumental music program, string chorales, the impact of music education, challenges in teaching, English-language learners, using the music of all cultures, and white teachers working with students of color. Contributors are music teachers, arts administrators, and academics in music education, from the US and Canada. No index is provided. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Music lessons : guide your child to play a musical instrument (and enjoy it!)
Stephanie Stein Crease.
Chicago, Ill. : Chicago Review Press, c2006.
What do you do when your three-year-old child says, "I really want to play the violin"? Or when your 13-year-old announces, "I want to quit guitar lessons"? This book is the definitive hands-on guide to helping your child learn to play a musical instrument. As budget cuts and other factors take a toll on music programs in school curriculums, parents need to have the tools for their children's musical education.
Often beginning with a 1/16th violin-shaped cardboard box, a sponge affixed by rubber-band to its corner as a chin rest, children as young as three years of age are able to embark on a lifelong journey embracing music. After a brief period learning posture and correct instrument position, the imitation is replaced and the melodies begin.
The Suzuki method is founded on a "mother tongue" philosophy recognizing how individuals learn to speak their native language by hearing it spoken around them. In the same way, children learn to play the violin, or other instruments, through a natural process of listening.
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The Suzuki method is slightly different for each instrument studied
Violin Cello Viola Bass Piano Flute Guitar |
The familiar theme of "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" provides the first piece of music. It is expanded upon to teach variations in rhythm using the same notes from the original theme. Rhythms such as triplets, sung by the student as "blueberry blueberry" or sixteenth notes, sung as "peanut butter alligator" impart critical musical theory, but with an irreverence that creates giggles. Group classes and regular performances develop friendships, discipline, memory and confidence.
Lessons generally include a trio of support: Teacher, student and parent. In a typical lesson, the teacher may work with the student for the first half, then teach the parent, who will in turn work with the student until the next lesson. Dr. Shinichi Suzuki recommended a reasonable regimen in which students only practice on the days they eat.
From Twinkle theme to concert hall concertos, the Suzuki method recognizes that every child has talent that simply awaits nurturing.
Violin for dummies
by Katharine Rapoport.
Toronto : Wiley, c2008.
Take a bow and start playing tunes with this friendly guide! Whether you're an aspiring classical musician or you just want to fiddle around, Violin For Dummies will have you making music in not time. This interactive book-and-CD-ROM package makes it easy with step-by-step instruction on everything from simple tunes to show-stopping techniques. With coverage of musical styles including classical, country, and jazz, this is the ultimate guide to the violin. Discover how to: Choose the right violin and accessories Develop correct violin and bow hold Understand the language of music Play classical, country, gypsy, and jazz Tune, change strings, and perform simple maintenance Get Smart @www.dummies.com Find listings of all our books Choose from many different subject categories Sign up for eTips at etips.dummies.com MP3 files of every song and exercise from the book. Video clips demonstrating techniques to help you pick up and play.
Playing the violin : an illustrated guide
Mark Rush ; photography by Dana Duke.
New York : Routledge, 2006.
Drawing on twenty years of teaching experience, author Mark Rush systematically builds the fundamentals of violin playing from the ground up. Over 200 beautiful photographs demonstrate the concepts discussed and make this book especially accessible to beginners and their teachers. The book focuses on proper setup from how to stand, to holding the violin, to the best way to move the bow. These are fundamental components necessary for success and the earlier these good habits are established the better. Book jacket.
GetBackers. Volume 4
art by Rando Ayamine ; story by Yuya Aoki ; [translation, Alexis Kirsch ; English adaptation, Ryan Shankel].
Los Angeles, CA : Tokyopop, c2004.
With Ginji's ability to generate electricity with his body and Ban's power to create illusions in the minds of his foes, the two become the Getbackers--able to retrieve anything taken from their clients. Now, if they can only find some clients.
Stradivari's genius : five violins, one cello, and three centuries of enduring perfection
Toby Faber.
New York : Random House, c2004.
"Blending history, biography, meticulous detective work, and an abiding passion for music, Faber embarks on an absorbing journey as he follows some of the most prized instruments of all time. Mysteries and unanswered questions proliferate from the outset - starting with the enigma of Antonio Stradivari himself. What made this apparently unsophisticated craftsman so special? Why were his techniques not maintained by his successors? How is it that even two and a half centuries after his death, no one has succeeded in matching the purity, depth, and delicacy of a Stradivarius?" "In Faber's narrative, each of the six fabled instruments becomes a character in its own right - a living entity cherished by artists, bought and sold by princes and plutocrats, coveted, collected, hidden, lost, copied, and occasionally played by a musician whose skill matched its maker's." "Here is the fabulous Viotti violin, named for the virtuoso who enchanted all of Paris in the 1780s, only to fall foul of the French Revolution. Paganini supposedly made a pact with the devil to transform the art of the violin - and by the end of his life he owned eleven Strads. Then there's the Davidov cello, fashioned in 1712 and lovingly handed down through a succession of celebrated artists until, in the 1980s, it passed into the capable hands of Yo-Yo Ma." "From the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, from the breakthroughs of Beethoven's last quartets to the first phonographic recordings; Faber unfolds a narrative magnificent in its range and brilliant in its detail. "A great violin is alive," said Yehudi Menuhin of his own Stradivarius. In the pages of this book, Faber invites us to share the life, the passion, the intrigue, and the incomparable beauty of the world's most marvelous stringed instruments."--BOOK JACKET.
Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff