The 4th grade at Chicago Waldorf is starting an exploration of repeated groove patterns, like this one. With 4 or 5 groups on a part, we then switch parts in real time, and add new ones.

This is another tune I got at MacPhail.

This is the newest piece that the 3rd Grade violins and violas are doing. It uses the infamous “Chicken on the Fencepost” rhythm, aka “Mississippi Stop Stop” or Suzuki’s Variation A of Twinkle Twinkle. The reason we do this rhythm so much at the beginning, is you are practicing making a good, controlled sound. It helps practice controlling the bow by playing short staccato notes and using a small ammount of bow…the opposite (i.e. long smooth bows using most of the bow length) is quite difficult, so starting with staccato is much more approachable and teaches good sound.

TREBLE CLEF

ALTO CLEF

BASS CLEF

Here is a simple arrangement we are currently playing in the 4th grade string class at the Chicago Waldorf School. We will be building on this, making it more complex, hence the “simple” designation in the title.

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