Beginner string quartet
Hello,
At my school I've been given a young string quartet to coach - they are all aged 11-13 and are about grade 3 and 4 standard. There are two violins, a viola (the best player) and a cello (the worst). I do have the option to double up the first and second violins - is this a good idea or not? I wasn't going to do it but my teacher said it could give them more confidence...
Does anyone have any ideas of music I could give them to have a go with?
I also have no teaching experience - I'm a complete perfectionist though - how much direction should I give/what sort of standard of playing should I aim for? And how do I best convey what I think they should do without seeming too harsh?
Thanks so much, you can probably tell I'm very nervous about this!
Replies (6)
It's not that easy finding good material for an elementary string quartet. Sheila Nelson has put together some good charts "Quartet Club 1" and Quartet Club 2". I think there are some other albums in the same series which are more rudimentary - not sure of the titles.
One thing you should bear in mind when teaching quartet music (and chamber music in general) is that it really helps if the material you are using comes with a score. There is a Kjos series for string quartet by Sally O'Reilly ("Selected String Quartet Movements" in 3 or 4 volumes) which has been very well edited (including bowing and fingering) which most importantly has a full score included. The first volume has movements from early Mozart and Haydn string quartets and might be suitable for you, although I think it is higher in standard than the Quartet Club material. Best of luck with your coaching!
The earlier material that Sheila Nelson wrote is called "Tunes for My String Quartet"
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Tunes-for-My-String-Quartet/4139407
If you can find them anywhere, my two absolute favorite pieces of beginning string quartet literature are two quartets by Charles Hambourg.
Introduction to Chamber Music, Quartet No. 1, and Introduction to Chamber Music, Quartet No. 2.
One is in D Major, the other in F Major. They were published by Alfred Lengnick & Co. in London England about 1947(?), it was published in the U.S. by Mills Music. I haven't seen any copies of it for years. I was introduced to them in 1960 by my junior high orchestra teacher. In 1972, I found unsold 25-year-old copies at a music store that was selling out old stock, and bought them for the junior high at which I was then teaching. The pieces are in a classical (Haydn/Mozart) style, and playable entirely in first position (although some sections will sound better if 3rd position is used).They use traditional sonata-allegro, minuet and trio, rondo, etc. forms for the movements. I think they are absolutely top-notch!
Ricordi/Universal Music absorbed Lengnick, and now has the two pieces in their catalogue:
Found 2 results...
Charles Hambourg
String Quartet No.1 in D
Score (AL0680) and Parts (AL0938)
Charles Hambourg
String Quartet No.2 in F
Score (AL0457) and Parts (AL0939)
The Lengnick sales catalogue is currently handled by Faber Music. Please visit the website, email sales@fabermusic.com or fax +44 (0)1284 703 401
Duets:
Vl/vl -- http://beststudentviolins.com/lit.html#vlvl
Vl/vla -- http://beststudentviolins.com/lit.html#vlvla
Vla/vla -- http://beststudentviolins.com/lit.html#vlavla
Vl/vc -- http://beststudentviolins.com/lit.html#vlvc
Vla/vc -- http://beststudentviolins.com/lit.html#vlavc
Vl/guitar -- http://beststudentviolins.com/lit.html#vlguitar
Easy Violin/Piano Duets:
http://beststudentviolins.com/sheetmusic.html#vlpiano_duets
Violin Trios:
http://beststudentviolins.com/lit.html#vltrios
Trios with Viola:
http://beststudentviolins.com/lit.html#trios
Four Violins:
http://beststudentviolins.com/sheetmusic.html#4vls
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April 1, 2010 at 02:23 AM ·
Sheetmusicplus.com has some good stuff: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/search?q=beginning+string+orchestra&uas=1
I would also recommend the "Essential Technique for Strings" line of books: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/search?q=essential+strings&Search.x=0&Search.y=0
Since you are a new teacher, there are two things I recommend you keep in mind:
1. Do not panic. The kids will not hate you if you make a mistake or two.
2. Do not move through material quickly due to panic. Easy things are fun to play, hard things are frustrating to play. It's OK to spend a lot of time on one piece so the students can easily play through it. Too much new material all at once will become overwhelming for the students.
Take things one step at a time. When you have a group with mixed skill levels, you must cater to the lowest skill level or it's not going to happen. I would work first on getting the quartet to operate like a single entity. Instruct them on how to tune to each other. Play some scales together. Maybe play through a few of the exercises in Essential String Technique. Once they start to listen to each other, then introduce an actual piece.