WEEK 8: Twinkles and more

C CLASS:
Today we experienced how we can communicate a message using volume - we played softly and loudly during the game of 'find the rosin' in order to tell a classmate where the rosin was. This was a lot of fun, and you all had a chance to improve your Twinkle variation in the process. Wonderful!

We started a new variation: "caterpillar caterpillar". In your book this is referred to as the fifth variation. We talked about creating a bouncing feeling with the bow hand. You can practice this more just by bouncing your right fist on your lap - the bold syllables are the ones where your hand is bouncing down: cat er pil lar cat er pil lar

D CLASS:


E CLASS:

Twinkle variations:

1. taka taka stop stop: start each new note with a down-bow, every time
2. Doctor... Suzuki...: short, fast bowstrokes
3. down wiggle up wiggle: make sure your bow is following the "down wiggle, up wiggle" pattern every time
4. pineapple pineapple: steady triplets please
5. caterpillar caterpillar: make sure you remain steady, without speeding up. Play along with your CD or a YouTube video for this.
6. Theme: long, lyrical bowstrokes.

Cuckoo:
Below is the pitch outline for Cuckoo. It is track 38 on your Step by Step CD (Lexus, click on that link to get to the Amazon page for the book/CD).

E C# rest rest
D B rest rest
then "taka taka stop stop" as you play:
A C# E C# then (quick!) back to the beginning.

Lightly Row:
Listen to track 40 on your CD repeatedly. You should be listening to this CD every single day, over and over. The more you listen, the easier it is to learn new songs. Find the page that corresponds to Lightly Row in your Step by Step book if you need to see what the notes are, but the best way to learn this is by using your ears instead of your eyes. The goal is to be able to play this without looking at the music, so keep that in mind!