Due to popular request by a lot of my violin students, I now hold a String Group for them one Friday night each month.
Prior to it, I will give them music to learn at home. On the Friday, they bring their music, and we do some scales and I organise some sight reading for them to do before we tackle the piece that they do together.
They learn so many skills playing in a group that they wouldn’t learn playing solo during a lesson.
They learn these things:-
- Why bowing is so important (so you don’t take out the eye of the person next to you).
- They learn about volume. If they can’t hear the rest of the group, or those who are playing the melody, then they’re playing too loud.
- They learn to watch a conductor.
- They learn that they need to practice their part beforehand so they don’t feel silly playing in front of other people.
- They learn that other people make mistakes too, not just them, and that it’s okay.
- They learn how to mark their music.
- They learn to share a music stand and work as a team.
- They make new friends who appreciate music as much as they do!
Over the next few posts, I’ll put up the music we have been doing in my String Groups since February this year.
Is this something you’d do with your students? What benefits do you think you’d get out of it. What benefits do you think they’d get?
