A Review of Beginning Heterogeneous String

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A REVIEW OF BEGINNING HETEROGENEOUS STRING CLASS METHOD BOOKS FOR COMPATIBILITY WITH THE BASELINE LEARNING TASKS OF THE AMERICAN STRING TEACHERS ASSOCIATION STRING CURRICULUM

Amanda M. Hall

A Thesis

Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF MUSIC

August 2013

Committee:

Elaine Colprit, Advisor

Amanda Hall

Elaine Colprit, Advisor

The purpose of this study is to review method books for beginning heterogeneous string class in order to assess compatibility with the baseline learning tasks of the American String

Teachers Association String Curriculum. The curriculum describes recommendations for string instruction in the areas of executive, musicianship, and artistic skills and knowledge, which are grouped into the content areas of body format, right and left hand skills, tonal and rhythmic aural skills, creative musicianship, music literacy, ensemble skills, expressive elements, historical and cultural elements, and evaluation of music. Each content area is divided into specific learning tasks at the baseline, developing, proficient, and advanced levels, and this study is limited to the baseline level. The teacher manuals of the thirteen string methods that appear on the curriculum resource list of the ASTA String Curriculum were analyzed and reviewed according to the opportunities provided for teaching the baseline learning tasks of each of the eleven content areas described in the curriculum. Each method was also analyzed for additional elements that affect its use in the beginning string classroom including unique features, supplementary materials, sequential books, origin and type of tunes, key signatures and time signatures used or implied, range for each instrument, shifting or extensions, presentation, and cost and availability. The results highlight differences between methods but suggest that a knowledgeable string teacher could effectively use any of the methods to teach the content of the ASTA String Curriculum. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply grateful to my advisor, Dr. Elaine Colprit. Her guidance, support, and encouragement have been invaluable to me throughout my studies at Bowling Green State

University, and especially in the preparation of this document. I appreciate the time she dedicated to assist me in the research process and guide me toward a deeper understanding of string pedagogy while always inspiring me to strive to become a better teacher.

I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Elizabeth Menard, whose thoughtful input was extremely beneficial to me in writing this thesis. I am sincerely grateful for her willingness to serve on my committee, read my drafts, and offer constructive feedback. She generously devoted her time and expertise to help me in the research and writing processes.

I would like to thank Mr. Paul Brinkerhoff of Mars Hill Academy. He not only patiently taught me fundamental writing skills in high school, but also agreed to edit this entire thesis.

Even though it has been several years since I have been his student, I still value and learn from his red pen and attention to detail.

Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to my parents and brother for their continual support of my musical and educational endeavors. Their encouragement has been a constant blessing to me throughout my academic career.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1

Statement of the Problem ...... 1

Need for Study ...... 1

Purpose of the Study ...... 2

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 3

History of String Orchestra Classes in the Public Schools ...... 3

Twentieth-Century Developments in String Pedagogy ...... 6

George Bornoff ...... 6

Samuel Applebaum ...... 7

Shinichi Suzuki ...... 8

Paul Rolland ...... 9

Review of Historical String Methods ...... 10

String Curricula ...... 14

MENC Curriculum ...... 14

ASTA String Curriculum ...... 14

Summary …...... 16

CHAPTER III. PROCEDURE ...... 17

Selection of String Class Methods ...... 17

Selection of Criteria for Evaluation ...... 18

CHAPTER IV. RESULTS ...... 22

Comparative Review of Methods ...... 22

Muller-Rusch String Method ...... 22

All for Strings ...... 25

Strictly Strings ...... 31

Spotlight on Strings ...... 36

String Explorer ...... 40

Artistry in Strings ...... 46

Jump Right In ...... 52

Do It! Play Strings ...... 55

Essential Elements 2000 for Strings ...... 59

Orchestra Expressions ...... 64

New Directions for Strings ...... 70

Simply Strings ...... 76

Sound Innovations for String Orchestra ...... 80

Summary ...... 85

Additional Topics of Consideration ...... 85

Unique Features ...... 86

Supplementary Materials ...... 87

Sequential Levels ...... 89

Origin and Type of Tunes ...... 89

Key Signatures Used or Implied ...... 89

Time Signatures Used or Implied ...... 89

Rhythms Used ...... 90

Range for Each Instrument ...... 90

vii

Shifting and Extensions ...... 90

Bowing Styles ...... 91

Presentation ...... 91

Cost and Availability ...... 91

CHAPTER V. DISCUSSION ...... 93

Similarities and Differences Among Methods ...... 93

Suggestions for Further Research ...... 96

REFERENCES ...... 97

viii

LIST OF FIGURES/TABLES

Table Page

1 List of String Class Method Books ...... 17

2 Baseline Learning Tasks in the Executive Skills and Knowledge Category ...... 18

3 Baseline Learning Tasks in the Musicianship Skills and Knowledge Category ...... 19

4 Baseline Learning Tasks in the Artistic Skills and Knowledge Category ...... 20

5 Baseline Learning Tasks in the Muller Rusch String Method ...... 23

6 Baseline Learning Tasks in All for Strings ...... 26

7 Baseline Learning Tasks in Strictly Strings ...... 32

8 Baseline Learning Tasks in Spotlight on Strings ...... 37

9 Baseline Learning Tasks in String Explorer ...... 41

10 Baseline Learning Tasks in Artistry in Strings ...... 46

11 Baseline Learning Tasks in Jump Right In ...... 52

12 Baseline Learning Tasks in Do It! Play Strings ...... 56

13 Baseline Learning Tasks in Essential Elements 2000 for Strings ...... 60

14 Baseline Learning Tasks in Orchestra Expressions ...... 65

15 Baseline Learning Tasks in New Directions for Strings ...... 71

16 Baseline Learning Tasks in Simply Strings ...... 77

17 Baseline Learning Tasks in Sound Innovations ...... 81

18 Supplementary Materials ...... 88

19 Cost and Availability of String Methods ...... 92

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

Teaching string instruments in a class setting is a challenging endeavor. String students demand individual attention, which is difficult to achieve in a large heterogeneous string class consisting of students learning to play the violin, viola, cello, and bass. Each string instrument is unique and requires distinct pedagogical focus. In many school string orchestra classes, students do not receive adequate instruction in the technical aspects of their instruments. While the ensemble experience is valuable, it may not meet the specific needs of each student because of the unique properties of the violin, viola, cello, and bass.

To assist string teachers in the teaching of all string instruments, the American String

Teachers Association (ASTA) published the ASTA String Curriculum (Benham, Wagner, Aten,

Evans, Odegaard, & Lieberman, 2011). This document provides a detailed national model curriculum covering the specific executive, musicianship, and artistic skills that string students need to develop. The ASTA String Curriculum is a valuable resource for string teachers.

Statement of the Problem

Because of the many challenges of teaching string instruments in a class setting, string teachers need a beginning string class method book that supports the teaching of technical and musical skills for violin, viola, cello, and bass. Teachers need to know which beginning methods most thoroughly address the technical and musical development of all students on each instrument. Furthermore, string teachers who wish to use the ASTA String Curriculum need to know which methods are most compatible with the content of the curriculum.

Need for Study

Contemporary string teachers have a plethora of method books from which to choose; however, not all methods provide sufficient instructional support to meet the technical needs of 2 all string instruments and to develop the well-rounded musicianship described in the ASTA String

Curriculum. When selecting a method for a beginning string class, it is important that the teacher make an informed decision, giving careful consideration to the opportunities presented for both musical and technical development. There is a need for study on this issue because of the lack of research concerning string class methods. Researchers have yet to offer a systematic review of method books for beginning string class instruction in relation to the ASTA String

Curriculum.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to review method books for beginning heterogeneous string class in order to assess compatibility with the baseline learning tasks of the ASTA String

Curriculum. This study will provide an analysis and evaluation of the 13 method books listed in the ASTA String Curriculum, and will serve as a reference both for novice teachers with an interest in learning about the available resources for teaching beginning heterogeneous string classes and for experienced educators who desire to learn about using the new ASTA String

Curriculum.

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

History of String Orchestra Classes in the Public Schools

The history of teaching string instruments in classes in America dates back to the turn of the twentieth century. Prior to the 1900s, school music curricula consisted primarily of vocal instruction, which had been instituted by Lowell Mason in the Boston public schools in 1838.

The general American public was not exposed to the orchestra until the latter half of the nineteenth century, when European orchestras began touring the country, bringing high-quality instrumental music into all major cities (Humphreys, 1989). Theodore Thomas, a German violinist and immigrant to the United States, formed a touring orchestra that visited large and small American communities with the goal of creating a professional American orchestra of a caliber similar to European orchestras (Mark & Gary, 2007).

As instrumental music slowly found a place in the academic curriculum, school orchestras preceded school bands. The first school orchestras were composed of students who studied with private teachers and could already play well (Hoisington, 1980). These groups, which consisted of a conglomeration of string, wind, and brass instruments, often rehearsed after school hours and were led by a schoolteacher who was a proficient amateur musician

(Humphreys, 1989). Early school orchestras included the grammar school orchestra formed at the Nathan Hale School in New London, Connecticut in 1896, Jesse Clark’s orchestra in

Wichita, Kansas in 1896, and an orchestra in Richmond, Indiana that was founded by Will

Earhart in 1898 and was known for its high musical standards and complete instrumentation

(Mark, 2008).

Although these early orchestras concentrated more on rehearsal than on nurturing instrumental technique, several traditions of instrumental class teaching influenced the 4 development of the school orchestra. In Europe, students studied music in group applied music lessons under the conservatory system, in which they took turns playing for each other and the teacher. Rhode Island native Eben Tourjée taught music in the public schools, founded the New

England Conservatory, conducted choirs of ten and twenty thousand singers for Patrick S.

Gilmore’s 1869 and 1872 Peace Jubilees, and organized the Music Teachers National

Association. He additionally promoted the conservatory system of music education and worked to establish it in the United States. American conservatories adopted a modified version of the conservatory system in which small groups of students took lessons together (Keene, 2009).

The Benjamin family also pioneered string class teaching in the late 1800s. Lewis A.

Benjamin, Sr., taught instrumental classes in a community music school using his own method book, The Musical Academy, which contained three-part tunes for violin, cello, clarinet, flute, and other instruments (Keene, 2009). His sons, Lewis A. Benjamin, Jr. and Frank T. Benjamin, sold violins and taught free violin classes at the Benjamin Brothers Musical Academy in

Brooklyn during the 1880s. The Benjamin brothers taught large numbers of students, and in

1889, three hundred violin students performed at a Children’s Carnival (Keene, 2009). The

Benjamin family later brought free violin classes to New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Camden, and Pittsburgh (Hoisington, 1980).

The Maidstone Movement, a method of group violin instruction that was popular in

England 1897-1939, was another important influence on beginning string class instruction in the

United States. The movement was supported by the Murdoch Company, which provided instruments, teachers, and materials at an all-inclusive price (Deverich, 1987). In 1908, Charles

Farnsworth, a music educator at Columbia University, observed the Maidstone classes while on a sabbatical in Europe, and in 1910, Albert Mitchell, a music supervisor in the Boston schools, 5 took a leave of absence to travel to England and observe the Maidstone violin classes (Mark &

Gary, 2007). Farnsworth and Mitchell were impressed by the positive results of the group teaching method they observed, and when Mitchell returned to Boston, he successfully started free violin classes in the Boston public schools. By 1920, he expanded the music curriculum to include group instruction on not only strings, but also several other wind and brass instruments.

Because he could not find a pedagogically sound method, in 1912, Mitchell wrote his own violin method book, which he titled the Public School Class Method for the Violin (Birge, 1938). The book included photographs and explanations of violin techniques as well as musical tunes and exercises.

As news of Mitchell’s success in instrumental class teaching spread, orchestras became a common feature in American schools. As Humphreys wrote, 1900-1920 was the “heyday of the school orchestra” (1989, p. 53). Early school orchestras often consisted of an assortment of string, wind, and brass instruments. Funding from concert proceeds, school boards, and donors provided violas, cellos, basses, and other wind and brass instruments. Violin students often switched to a lower instrument to balance out the instrumentation of the ensemble (Hoisington,

1980).

In 1926, violist and music supervisor Joseph Maddy formed the National High School

Orchestra. Two hundred thirty-six high school music students performed in the orchestra at a meeting of the Music Supervisors National Conference in Detroit. The following year, the second National High School Orchestra played for the Department of Superintendence of the

National Education Association in Dallas. This performance was so successful that the audience voted to give music and art equal consideration with other academic subjects (Mark & Gary,

2007). 6

Music educators found that teaching instruments in classes required a different approach from the private lesson. In 1938, Birge described the situation as follows: “Instead of aiming at producing individual players, the emphasis has been on the ensemble idea ! drilling the class as an orchestral section, strings, woodwind, or brass ! and combining them to form orchestras and bands” (p. 197). Within the context of the school orchestra, the focus was now on teaching an ensemble as opposed to individual musicians.

Unfortunately, the “heyday” of the school orchestra did not last long; school orchestras waned in the middle of the twentieth century. Turner (2001) describes several reasons for the decrease in popularity of the school orchestra: (a) the rise of the school band as military band retirees returned from World War I and found work as band directors, (b) band instrument promotion by American instrument manufacturers, (c) the inadequacy of group teaching techniques for strings, (d) elitist attitudes toward selection of string students, and (e) rivalry among music staff.

Twentieth-Century Developments in String Pedagogy

During the twentieth century, four pedagogical figures influenced string education in the

United States. These include Samuel Applebaum, George Bornoff, Paul Rolland, and Shinichi

Suzuki. Each man was an expert violinist who developed a unique approach to string instruction.

George Bornoff

Canadian violinist and educator George Bornoff influenced American class string pedagogy with his finger pattern method. Bornoff believed that contemporary string classes employed antiquated teaching methods that reduced the first several years of string playing to dull, repetitious drills and caused many students to prefer wind or brass instruments that 7 promised rapid progress in a short time (Bornoff, 1948). In response to this problem, Bornoff devised a new method in which students quickly learned to play a variety of bow strokes in all positions.

In his beginning method book Bornoff’s Finger Patterns: A Basic Method for Strings

(1948), Bornoff introduced five basic patterns of whole and half steps between consecutive fingers in the left hand. The book also included a finger pattern chart that indicated which finger pattern to use on each string in every major key, so that students only needed to consult the chart to determine the finger positions for any given piece. Bornoff also wrote Bornoff’s Patterns in

Positions (1952), which extended the use of the finger patterns to the upper positions of the instrument, as well as Bornoff’s Fun for Fiddle Fingers (1948) and Bornoff’s Fiddler’s Holiday

(1948), which provided supplementary repertoire for beginning string classes.

Samuel Applebaum

Another influential figure in American string class pedagogy was Samuel Applebaum. A violin student of Leopold Auer, Applebaum studied violin playing and pedagogy extensively and wrote The Art and Science of String Performance (1986), a detailed analysis of string technique, and The Way They Play (1972), which featured famous twentieth-century string players. He also promoted string education and was a prolific composer of methods and repertoire for student- level string orchestra. Applebaum’s string method books included String Builder I, II, and III

(1961), Early Etudes for Strings (1963), Second and Fourth Position Builder (1963), Third and

Fifth Position Builder (1963), First Position Etudes for Strings (1964), and Orchestral Bowing

Etudes (1965).

Published in 1961, Applebaum’s String Builder I featured unison tunes and exercises for violin, viola, cello, and bass. Applebaum advocated beginning with rote exercises to allow 8 students to develop technique without having to focus on note reading. The book started with bowing open strings and string crossings before adding the left hand. At the beginning, most exercises were simple harmonies to be played with folk tune melodies supplied by the teacher on violin or piano. As additional pitches were introduced, the musical exercises included more tunes composed for pedagogical purposes and folk tunes. The method book was correlated with a technique book, an ensemble book of duets for various instrument combinations, a concert program book, and solo books for each instrument.

Shinichi Suzuki

Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki also influenced American string pedagogy with his mother tongue method of talent education. Suzuki based his method on the belief that talent is not inborn, but can be developed in any child with practice and high-quality instruction. Suzuki called his philosophy the “mother tongue” method because he determined that just as all Japanese children learned to speak the complicated Japanese language fluently, any child could develop excellent musical abilities (Suzuki, 1981). Suzuki applied this idea to his violin teaching to create the Suzuki violin method. The main characteristics of this method of violin instruction were the following: (a) creating a positive environment for learning; (b) extensive parental participation; (c) an early beginning for musical training; (d) step by step learning; (e) a common, set repertoire; (f) learning music by ear before reading musical notation;

(g) daily listening to recordings; (h) repetition; (i) review; and (j) group and private lessons

(Suzuki, 1983).

The Suzuki method, developed shortly before World War II, did not spread to the United

States until 1958, when a video of 750 Japanese children playing the Bach Concerto for Two

Violins in D Minor was viewed at a meeting of the American String Teachers Association at 9

Oberlin College. The video sparked the curiosity of violinist John Kendall, who applied for a grant to travel to Japan in 1959 to study with Suzuki. Kendall was fascinated by Suzuki’s mother tongue method and helped to organize a tour to the United States for Suzuki and his students in 1964 (Mark & Gary, 2007). Kendall adopted and passionately advocated the Suzuki philosophy and taught it to others, helping to found the Suzuki Association of the Americas in

1972.

Suzuki established a graded repertoire for violin instruction in eight sequential books, beginning with variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and progressing to advanced violin concertos. Although Suzuki originally wrote for the violin only, his method was expanded to include viola, cello, bass, piano, flute, recorder, guitar, and harp. Throughout the years,

American teachers have adapted the principles of the Suzuki method to public school string class instruction. In 1972, Paul Zathilla published Suzuki in the String Class, an adaptation of the

Suzuki method and violin repertoire for heterogeneous string class in unison melody with optional bass accompaniment. Zathilla emphasized developing good tone, technique, and character, as well as learning by ear and playing from memory. More recently, the Suzuki

Association of the Americas has offered teacher-training courses to help public school string teachers apply Suzuki principles in their classrooms.

Paul Rolland

Paul Rolland was another violinist and teacher who helped to shape American string pedagogy. Born in 1911 in Hungary, where he earned a master of music degree in violin at the

Franz Liszt Academy, Rolland moved to the Unites States while playing viola in the Pro Ideale

Quartet (Fanelli, 2011). When the quartet disbanded, Rolland became the violin teacher at

Simpson College, where he began teaching string classes to children. He later accepted a 10 position at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he actively promoted high quality string education and became increasingly interested in the physiology of string playing.

In 1966, Rolland began the Illinois String Research Project, in which he developed a method of tension-free and natural violin playing. This project resulted in the 1974 publication of his book

The Teaching of Action in String Playing, which he co-authored with Marla Mutschler and which was accompanied by demonstrative video recordings of his students. With an emphasis on developing a natural playing technique, Rolland and Mutschler’s book included detailed instructional sequences for (a) establishing the violin hold; (b) standing and sitting positions; (c) learning to hold the bow; (d) beginning the bow stroke; (e) left hand position; (f) left hand finger action; (g) developing finger motion and strength; (h) bouncing the bow; (i) martelé, staccato, détaché, and sautillé bowing; (j) teaching vibrato; and (k) remedial teaching.

In 1971, Rolland published a method for beginning heterogeneous string class entitled

Prelude to String Playing: Basic Materials and Motion Techniques for Individual or Class

Instruction. Reflecting his action approach to string playing, the method featured (a) total body movement; (b) a rote beginning; (c) harmonic hearing; and (d) an early introduction to shifting, vibrato, double stops, and spiccato bowing. In 1985, Sheila Johnson published a revised version of the method under the title Young Strings in Action: Paul Rolland’s Approach to String

Playing in three sequential volumes. This method, which included new repertoire as well as updated photographs and drawings, was widely used in beginning string classes across the country.

Review of Historical String Methods

The rising popularity of the school orchestra during the beginning of the twentieth century required the development of new methods for class string instruction as well as appropriate 11 repertoire for student ensembles to perform. String class teachers, such as Lewis A. Benjamin,

Sr., who wrote The Musical Academy, had to develop their own instructional materials. As orchestras and bands became a common feature of the high school curriculum, teachers published many new method books.

Albert Mitchell’s Public School Class Method for the Violin (1912) was one of the first string class method books published in the United States. Mitchell wrote this book for his violin classes in the Boston public schools. This violin method book included detailed technical instructions for violin position and bowing as well as black and white photographs showing the bow hold and a young girl playing the violin. The book began with composed exercises of détaché quarter, half, and whole notes on the D and A strings. It progressed to cover more complex rhythms and an expanded range of pitches used in folk songs and melodies from orchestral repertoire.

In 1923, Maddy and Giddings published a method book, Universal Teacher for Orchestra and Band Instruments, which was written for violin, viola, cello, and bass, as well as piccolo, flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, and percussion. This method was practical for early school ensembles that often consisted of an irregular assortment of instruments. Maddy and Giddings designed the book to make the early stages of instrumental study interesting for the students, and so the book was composed entirely of tunes. Students were instructed to sing the melodies, primarily folk tunes, hymns, and children’s songs, before playing them. The book included very few pedagogical instructions for the teacher or student.

Also in 1923, Paul Herfurth wrote a heterogeneous string class method titled A Tune a

Day: A First Book for String Instruction in Group, Public School Classes, or Individual

Instruction. This book was probably the first method published specifically for heterogeneous 12 string class including violin, viola, cello, and bass. Herfurth wrote that the objective of this book was not to cover much repertoire or skills but to provide a solid musical background and foundation in string playing. The book gave the teacher the option of beginning with either pizzicato quarter notes or bowed whole notes. Each page of the book was organized as a lesson that introduced a concept at the top of the page and provided musical exercises to practice the new skill. The musical exercises were primarily simple melodies composed for pedagogical purposes and folk songs. The method also included a blank staff page to be used for homework and test questions to review the lessons.

In 1938, Merle Isaac published the Merle Isaac String Class Method for beginning heterogeneous string class. The method opened with several line drawings that illustrated correct playing position and bow holds, as well as information concerning the care and tuning of the instruments. The musical exercises began with quarter and half notes on the open D and A strings before adding the left hand fingered notes, which were introduced with staff notation, a fingerboard diagram, and a drawing of the left hand position on the fingerboard. New concepts were introduced with a brief written description and notated musical exercises. The method consisted mainly of composed pedagogical exercises and tunes in unison, but also contained several short duets, trios, and quartets that were notated for each instrument to play each part.

Whistler and Nord’s method Beginning Strings: The “World’s Masters” Method for

Stringed Instruments, Volume One was published in 1939 with the purpose of creating a practical method for teaching a beginning string class with violin, viola, cello, and bass. After beginning with bowed open strings, left hand fingered notes were introduced in the key of C major. The musical exercises consisted largely of brief excerpts from the etudes of Hohmann, Wohlfahrt, De

Beriot, Dancla, and Alard. 13

Published in 1939, the Waller String Class Method was written to fulfill a perceived need for effective instructional materials for beginning heterogeneous string class. In the foreword to the method, Henry Sopkin, founder of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, wrote that although it was previously thought that string instruments could only be taught privately, teachers have demonstrated that strings could be taught effectively in classes with an appropriate method.

Author Gilbert Waller stated that his objectives were to create an efficient method for class instruction and to simplify the group learning and teaching process. Waller accomplished these goals by introducing new techniques with clear explanations and multiple photographs, providing repeated disguised drills of technical problems, and using primarily folk tunes and hymns with the addition of some composed musical exercises. Also, a short music writing assignment was included at the end of each page.

In 1949, Helen Herman published Bow and Strings, a heterogeneous string class method in three sequential levels that covered the fundamentals of string playing. Unlike most other methods, the first volume of Bow and Strings included very few pedagogical instructions and did not provide any illustrations or explanations of how to hold the instruments and bow; the third page merely stated that, “Your teacher will show you how to hold your instrument and bow”

(Herman, 1949, p. 3). The tunes used were primarily composed musical exercises with several folk songs added in the later part of the book.

Beckstaed, Gordon, and Stone’s Visual Method for Strings: Class or Private Instruction for

Beginners on All String Instruments (1959) aimed to make string instruction interesting to children through the use of large font, minimal text, and frequent photographs demonstrating each new technique. Most tunes were composed musical exercises, but the book also included several folk songs, hymns, and patriotic songs. 14

String Curricula

String teachers continue to face the challenge of instructing a classroom full of young students on different instruments while giving sufficient attention to the complexity of string techniques. Due to the unique challenges of teaching string instruments in classes, teachers need an organized, sequential plan to guide their instruction. Many string teachers and school districts write their own curricula and have numerous educational resources with which to plan instruction.

MENC Curriculum

In 1991, the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) published Teaching String

Instruments: A Course of Study, a curriculum for heterogeneous string classes that promotes quality programs. This curriculum divides the fundamentals of string playing into six main categories: (a) tone quality, (b) rhythm and bowing, (c) finger patterns and scales, (d) ear training, (e) music reading and vocabulary, and (f) music theory and history. Each category is separated into six levels from beginning to advanced, and a chart lists learning outcomes for each category at each level. The next section of the book includes general teaching suggestions for each category of string playing. Overall, MENC’s Teaching String Instruments: A Course of

Study provides a set of useful but broad guidelines for planning string instruction.

ASTA String Curriculum

Although there are multifarious resources available to string teachers, many are very general in nature. The Board of Directors of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) identified a need for a current, national, comprehensive, sequential, and practical curriculum for school string classes, and in 2011, the ASTA String Curriculum Committee published the ASTA

String Curriculum (Benham, Wagner, Aten, Evans, Odegaard, & Lieberman, 2011). The 15 authors, a committee of experienced private studio, public school, and university level string teachers, present a practical and comprehensive curriculum that provides guidelines for lesson planning, assessment, and teacher evaluation.

The ASTA String Curriculum is organized by scope and sequence. Within the three main categories of executive, musicianship, and artistic skills and knowledge, the curriculum presents content areas, achievement standards, and learning tasks. For each learning task, the curriculum provides learning sequences and indicators of success. Through the more than 200 learning sequences, the curriculum addresses the teaching of specific technique for all string instruments within the setting of a large-group string orchestra class.

The curriculum’s three general categories of executive, musicianship, and artistic skills and knowledge are broken down into specific content areas: 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge, 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training,

2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2C Creative Musicianship, 2D Music Literacy, 2E

Ensemble Skills, 3A Expressive Elements, 3B Historical and Cultural Elements, and 3C

Evaluation of Music and Music Performances. Benchmark standards are provided for each content area and represent an end-of-program goal for string students. These benchmark standards are not defined by grade level or repertoire, but are instead determined in terms of the characteristics of fine string playing. For example, the standard for Content Area 1A Body

Format is “Students perform with a lengthened and balanced posture; support instrument without tension, demonstrate ease of motion; format is adjusted for physiological changes due to growth; control of weight distribution, unilateral movement, bilateral movement, in sitting and standing position” (Benham, et al., 2011). Advanced string players demonstrate these attributes.

The specific skills that students must learn are called learning tasks, and are presented by 16 content area in four levels: baseline, developing, proficient, and advanced. Baseline refers to basic beginning skills that are usually acquired during the first or second year of instruction, developing refers to the extension of beginning skills to an early intermediate level, proficient refers to the fluent mastery of basic and intermediate skills, and advanced refers to an artistic level of playing that extends beyond high school (Benham, et al., 2011). For example, for content area 1A Body Format, the baseline learning tasks of the same content area are (a) establish posture on all instruments, (b) basic playing position for violin and viola, (c) basic playing position for cello, (d) basic playing position for bass. The developing learning tasks are

(a) unilateral movement, (b) bilateral movement, and (c) continue baseline criteria, monitoring and adjusting to physical characteristics of individual students. The proficient and advanced learning tasks are to continue previous criteria, monitoring and adjusting to physical characteristics of individual students (Benham, et al., 2011). In this way, the curriculum analyzes each specific technical and musical element of string playing and provides detailed learning sequences describing how to teach it at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Summary

In summary, this examination of the history of string orchestra classes in the public schools, influential figures in string pedagogy, historical string methods, and curricula for string classes provides the foundation for understanding contemporary string classes and methods.

Knowledge of the past enhances understanding of the present as well as the future of the discipline. Throughout the past century, string pedagogy has evolved from primarily individual private lessons into large-group ensemble classes, and teaching materials have developed accordingly.

CHAPTER III: PROCEDURE

Selection of String Class Methods

In this study, the 13 string methods that appear on the curriculum resource list of the ASTA

String Curriculum were reviewed in order to assess compatibility with the curriculum’s baseline learning tasks. The 13 methods that were evaluated are listed below in Table 1 in chronological order by the date published. Each method is designed for beginning heterogeneous string class including violin, viola, cello, and bass, and is currently available for purchase from a major music publishing company.

Table 1

List of String Class Method Books

Title Author Publication Date Muller-Rusch String Method for Class or Individual Muller & Rusch 1961 Instruction All for Strings: Comprehensive String Method Anderson, & Frost 1986 Strictly Strings: A Comprehensive String Method Dillon, Kjelland, & O’Reilly 1992 Spotlight on Strings Gazda & Stoutamire 1997 String Explorer: An Explorer’s Guide to Teaching Dabczynski, Meyer, & Phillips 2002 Strings Artistry in Strings: A Comprehensive Course of Study Frost & Fischbach 2002 for Group or Private Instruction Jump Right In: The Instrumental Series for Strings, Grunow, Gordon, Azzara, & Martin 2002 Revised Do it! Play Strings! Froseth & Smith 2003 Essential Elements 2000 for Strings: A Allen, Gillespie, & Tellejohn Hayes 2004 Comprehensive String Method Orchestra Expressions Brungard, Alexander, Anderson, & 2004 Dackow New Directions for Strings: A Comprehensive String Erwin, Horvath, McCashin, & 2007 Method Mitchell Simply Strings: A Standards-Based, Comprehensive Odegaard 2007 String Method Sound Innovations for String Orchestra: A Phillips, Boonshaft, & Sheldon 2010 Revolutionary Method for Beginning Musicians

The teacher manual of book one of each method was reviewed in this study. The teacher manual was selected as opposed to a student book because this study is designed to be a reference for string teachers. Teacher manuals include extra pedagogical information that can 18 benefit string teachers. Furthermore, the manual features the score for violin, viola, cello, and bass and includes materials from the student books that represent the experience of students of all instruments in the string class.

Selection of Criteria for Evaluation

The teacher manual of each string class method was analyzed according to the opportunities it provides for the teaching of the 58 baseline learning tasks of the ASTA String

Curriculum. The baseline learning tasks for each content area were selected for this study because the curriculum defines baseline skills as those “typically found during the first- and/or second-year of instruction . . . skills [which] must be mastered in order for additional techniques to be learned. These are the basic, priority-level items for any beginning student” (Benham, et al., 2011, p. 19). For a beginning string class method book to be compatible with the ASTA

String Curriculum, it must provide opportunities for students to learn at least these baseline fundamental skills.

The specific learning tasks in the first category, Executive Skills and Knowledge, are described in Table 2.

Table 2

Baseline Learning Tasks in the Executive Skills and Knowledge Category

Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all instruments 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola 1.3 Basic playing position for cello 1.4 Basic playing position for bass 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement 1.2 Initial finger patterns 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position 19

1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow strokes 1.7 Direction changes 1.8 Short slurs 1.9 String crossings 1.10 Basic bow distribution 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement (contact point and part of bow)

Table 3 lists the baseline learning tasks in the second category, Musicianship Skills and

Knowledge.

Table 3

Baseline Learning Tasks in the Musicianship Skills and Knowledge Category

Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (eg., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) 2B Rhythmic Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while playing rhythm patterns 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring techniques based on common objectives 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic music notation and symbols associated with the following skills and understandings to each corresponding curricular level 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 20

1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following key signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their relative minors) 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance

The baseline learning tasks found in the third category, artistic skills and knowledge, are listed in Table 4.

Table 4

Baseline Learning Tasks in the Artistic Skills and Knowledge Category

Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare distinguishing characteristics of composers and styles from selected repertoire 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

The data were collected in the following manner. The teacher manual for each beginning string class method was examined page by page for opportunities provided for teaching each of the baseline learning tasks described in the ASTA String Curriculum. Every instance of a text that prompted the teacher to provide instruction in any of the learning tasks was recorded in a chart.

Other criteria for analysis were unique features, availability of supplementary materials, availability of sequential volumes, origin and type of tunes, key signatures used or implied, time signatures used, rhythms used, range used for each instrument, the inclusion of shifting or 21 extensions, bowing styles, presentation of the book, and cost and availability of the teacher manual and student books. These additional criteria were selected because they represent topics believed to affect a string teacher’s choice of method book.

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS

Comparative Review of Methods

The 13 method books for beginning heterogeneous string class appearing on the ASTA

String Curriculum’s resource list were reviewed according to the 58 baseline learning tasks listed in the curriculum. For each method, a table was created that lists the learning tasks in one column and details their explicit appearances in the method book in a second column. The results for each book, including a written overview and the table, are presented chronologically by the publication date of the method book.

Muller-Rusch String Method

The oldest method, Muller-Rusch String Method for Class or Individual Instruction by

Muller and Rusch (1961), contains very little text addressed to either the teacher or the student.

The conductor’s score has 112 pages and consists primarily of notated exercises and tunes with occasional definitions of musical terms and symbols. The method addresses the first three content areas, 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge, with black and white photographs showing correct posture, instrument position, finger placement, and bow hold for each instrument.

In the ASTA String Curriculum’s standards category two, Musicianship Skills and

Knowledge, the Muller-Rusch String Method addresses Content Areas 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training and 2D Music Literacy, does not cover the learning tasks in Content Areas 2A

Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2C Creative Musicianship, or 2E Ensemble Skills. The book defines common musical symbols and presents initial exercises in a modified notational system in which pitches are represented by string name and finger number. The Muller-Rusch

String Method does not explicitly address any of the learning tasks in the third standards 23 category, Artistic Skills and Knowledge.

Table 5 indicates which ASTA String Curriculum learning tasks are addressed in the

Muller-Rusch String Method.

Table 5

Baseline Learning Tasks in the Muller-Rusch String Method

Baseline Learning Task Muller-Rusch String Method Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all instruments 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 18 black and white photographs of playing position for violin/viola 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 19 black and white photographs of playing position for cello 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 19 black and white photographs of playing position for bass 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 4, 6, 9, 12, 15 introduces new notes with a fingerboard diagram for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 18-19 black and white photographs of left hand finger placement and arm position for violin/viola, cello, and bass p. 22, 27, 31, 35, 52, 63, 64, 79, 83 reviews or introduces new notes with staff notation and a fingerboard diagram for all instruments p. 31 instructs students to keep fingers down when crossing strings p. 88 introduces fourth finger for violin and viola, and instructs students to stretch the fourth finger and press the tip firmly p. 70 introduces third position for the bass 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 59 introduces low second finger notes for violin and viola, and second finger for cello and bass with staff notation and a fingerboard diagram 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 87 introduces left hand pizzicato 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments p. 18-19 black and white photographs of multiple perspectives of the bow hold and bow placement on the string for violin/viola, cello, and bass (French and German) 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow strokes 1.7 Direction changes p. 20 introduces down and up bow symbols 1.8 Short slurs p. 45 introduces slurs 1.9 String crossings 1.10 Basic bow distribution 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement (contact point and part of bow) Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 24

1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to- minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while singing or p. 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 23, 27, 31, 35 instructs the student to count, sing, chanting rhythm patterns and play the exercises p. 100 instructs the student to write the counts under the notes in exercise 161 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while p. 43 defines 2/4 time signature playing rhythm patterns p. 70 defines 3/4 time signature 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing rests p. 3 first exercise includes rests with directives to count 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing ties p. 43 introduces ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing p. 58 introduces upbeats upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one- note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring techniques based on common objectives 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic music the front cover identifies basic symbols of musical notation notation and symbols associated with the following skills p. 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15 notate initial exercises with string names and and understandings to each corresponding curricular level finger numbers under the rhythm p. 16 and following: all exercises are notated with standard musical notation 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 25

1.4 Students correctly identify the following key p. 39 introduces the key of D major signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their relative minors) 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals front cover defines sharp, flat, and natural symbols p. 39 introduces F sharp and C sharp 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare distinguishing characteristics of composers and styles from selected repertoire 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

All for Strings

The teacher manual for All for Strings: Comprehensive String Method by Anderson &

Frost (1986) has 180 pages and contains an abundance of pedagogical text. On nearly every page, directions for the teacher are set apart from the rest of the text in a pink box titled

“TEACHER.” These boxes include reminders to check student posture and position, information about musical exercise, or strategies for teaching new techniques.

All for Strings addresses almost all learning tasks within the three content areas of 26 standards category one, Executive Skills and Knowledge, including 1A Body Format, 1B Left

Hand Skills and Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge. The book addresses these areas with stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of instrument position, left hand position, and the bow hold. In addition to left hand finger placement and patterns, All for Strings describes the intervals formed by left hand fingers across strings and is the only method in this study to introduce lateral finger movement.

Within the second standards category, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, All for Strings addresses some learning tasks in Content Areas 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2B

Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training, and 2D Music Literacy, but does not address 2C

Creative Musicianship or 2E Ensemble Skills. The method includes the options of both a “rote” and a “note” beginning approach. These promote the development of tonal and rhythmic aural skills and music literacy and give the teacher the opportunity to choose whether to begin instruction by playing by ear or with musical notation. In the third standards category, Artistic

Skills and Knowledge All for Strings only briefly addresses a few of the learning tasks in Content

Areas 3A Expressive Elements and 3B Historical and Cultural Elements.

Table 6 indicates which ASTA String Curriculum learning tasks are addressed in All for

Strings.

Table 6

Baseline Learning Tasks in All for Strings

Baseline Learning Task All for Strings Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on p. 15 instructs violin students to “stand or sit with correct posture” all instruments p. 28 instructs the teacher to have all students check their instrument position with the photographs in the book p. 29, 45, 50, 79, 101, 122 instructs the teacher to check the students’ playing positions often p. 61 “musical position game” instructs teacher to check student position in a freeze game 27

p. 93 presents a position check with a checklist of right hand, left hand, and playing position for violin/viola, cello, and bass p. 138 instructs the teacher to conduct a position check using the checklist on p. 93 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 15 stepwise instructions for playing position for violin, including black and white photographs p. 17 stepwise instructions for playing position for viola, including black and white photographs 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 15 stepwise instructions for playing position for cello, including black and white photographs 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 21 stepwise instructions for playing position for bass, including black and white photographs 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 15 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of left hand position for violin p. 17 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of left hand position for viola p. 19 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of left hand position for cello p. 21 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of left hand position for bass p. 32, 33, 36 introduces new fingered notes with black and white photographs of the left hand on the fingerboard and a diagram of the fingerboard for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 33, 36, 58, 59, 66, 67 includes directives for students to place lower fingers on the string when playing new notes p. 33, 36 instructs the teacher to have students place left hand fingers on the string and take them off to set the hand position before playing p. 36, 37, 39, 41, 64, 68, 81, 102, 110, 121 instructs the student to check left hand position p. 41, 42 instructs the teacher and students to prepare the left hand fingers when going from an open string to a fingered note on an adjacent string p. 55, 58, 66, 76, 80 (note beginning section) introduces new notes with black and white photographs of the left hand on the fingerboard and a diagram of the fingerboard for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 57, 63, 65 instructs the teacher to have all students keep fingers down on one string while playing the adjacent open string in order to check the correct position of the left hand first finger, and position of the left arm and hand p. 59 instructs the teacher to check the students’ left hand position often, including the placement of the thumb for cello and bass players p. 59 instructs the student to keep the fingers arched above the string ready to play p. 60, 82 instructs the student to prepare the fingers when playing a skip 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 108 introduces shifting to second position for the bass and includes stepwise instructions for teaching shifting p. 131, 139 introduces low second finger for violin and viola, and second finger for cello and bass with fingerboard diagrams and black and white photographs of the left hand on the fingerboard p. 132 instructs violins and violas to stretch the third finger to create a whole step between the second and third fingers p. 135, 141 instructs the teacher to have the students practice sliding between high and low second finger 1.3 Lateral finger movement p. 86 instructs students to lift and set each finger carefully across to the adjacent string p. 104 instructs the teacher to help students recognize the intervals created between fingers across the string p. 112, 141 instructs the teacher to remind students to lift and drop fingers across strings instead of rolling the finger across strings 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 28

1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 28 defines pizzicato and describes how to play pizzicato on violin or viola in playing position 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all p. 14 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of the bow hold for instruments violin p. 16 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of the bow hold for viola p. 18 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of the bow hold for cello p. 20-21 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of the bow hold for bass (French and German) p. 28 instructs the teacher to check students’ bow grips with the photographs at the beginning of the student book p. 31, 33, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 48, 56, 72, 87, 103, 106, 125 instructs the student to check the bow grip often p. 35, 37, 47, 53 asks the student “is your right thumb bent?” 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 14 stepwise instructions for bowing on violin p. 16 stepwise instructions for bowing on viola p. 18 stepwise instructions for bowing on cello p. 20 stepwise instructions for bowing on bass p. 22-23 describes eight pre-bowing exercises for all instruments p. 33 describes “soldier bowing” exercise in which students shadow bow on the shoulder (violin and viola) or on the left hand (cello and bass) p. 33 describes the “lift and set” exercise in which students set the bow at the frog and lift and set it in the middle, and then again at the tip p. 38 instructs the teacher to have students practice bowing concepts while rosining their bows p. 48, 78, 101, 122 instructs the teacher to have students practice bow grip exercises 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow strokes 1.7 Direction changes p. 28 introduces down and up bow movement and symbols 1.8 Short slurs p. 96 introduces slurs and recommends that students begin slurs by playing trills and then slowing down the finger motion for two notes per bow p. 98 introduces slurring across string changes in terms of the shape of the curve of the motion in the right arm 1.9 String crossings p. 28-29 includes a diagram of the bridge for violin, viola, cello, and bass and instructs students to “adjust your arm to play on the correct string;” instructs the teacher to demonstrate the different level of each string p. 30, 45, 46 instructs the teacher to have students make “good crisp bow preparations” for string crossings and emphasize playing on the correct string level p. 30, 31, 46, 53 instruct the students to use “fast bow preparations” p. 39, 46, 48, 86 instructs the students to “roll the bow to the next string” p. 47, 48, 50, 53 instructs the teacher to have the students “execute good crisp bow preparations” even when not marked with attention to the correct bow direction p. 48 recommends that students stop the bow at string crossings to prepare for the next string p. 51 instructs the student to raise and lower the arm for the correct level of bowing 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 73 includes a diagram of the upper, lower, and middle parts of the bow and instructs the teacher to apply the principles of bow division in each line; exercise 61 includes directives to play in the lower half (L.H.), the upper half (U.H.), or use the whole bow (W.B.) p. 88 instructs the teacher to emphasize the value of good bow division and demonstrate appropriate bow division for half and quarter notes p. 93 instructs the teacher to make sure that the students use the correct part of 29

the bow p. 101 instructs the student to use a third of the bow for each note when slurring three notes in a bow p. 119, 122, 140 explains bow distribution for different rhythmic patterns p. 142 instructs the student to use good bow distribution p. 153 instructs the students to work toward the frog before a long note p. 174 recommends bow divisions for different scale rhythms 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and p. 32, 75, 105, 123 instructs the students to check their bow placement placement (contact point and part of bow) p. 45 instructs the student to move the bow slower for half notes p. 53 instructs the students to work for straight bowing p. 82 introduces slurred staccato and louré bowing in order to develop bow control and distribution p. 87 instructs the teacher to make students aware that slow bows are needed for whole notes p. 106 instructs the teacher to help students plan bow speed and distribution for long slurs p. 122 recommends playing exercises at different tempos to learn appropriate bow division and control p. 142 introduces dynamics in terms of altering the speed, placement, weight, and hair of the bow p. 148 instructs the teacher to have the bass students use more arm weight and a slower bow when playing on the E string Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal p. 24 recommends a rote approach to starting string students patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic p. 113 defines tonic and dominant and instructs the teacher to explain tonic and and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns dominant arpeggios (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral p. 151 instructs the teacher to ask the students to find tonic and dominant syllable, then solfege) arpeggios in an exercise 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse p. 25, 70 recommends that the teacher implement a counting system and use while singing or chanting rhythm patterns each exercise as a rhythm exercise by having the students clap and count rhythms before playing them on one pitch, open strings, and then as written p. 34 in the starting by rote section, rhythms are introduced through rhythm words p. 45 in the starting by note section, the book recommends that the teacher implement a counting system at this stage to use with every line p. 47, 54, 87, 90, 120, 122 instructs the teacher to have students write in the counting p. 91 instructs the teacher to have the students count and clap correct rhythms before playing 30

1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of p. 91 introduces 3/4 time signature meter while playing rhythm patterns p. 103 introduces 2/4 time signature 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 29 introduces whole rests containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 102 introduces ties containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 90 introduces pick up notes and describes how to bow upbeats containing upbeats p. 135 instructs the teacher to remind the students to place the bow in the lower half of the bow to play an upbeat 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class- generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring techniques based on common objectives 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform p. 29-42 are written for a rote approach that uses capital letters to represent note basic music notation and symbols associated names for the first 50 exercises with the following skills and understandings p. 44 features an alternate starting by note approach that begins with notated to each corresponding curricular level exercises on open strings similar to those in the rote approach, but progress more rapidly p. 44 introduces musical notation symbols p. 52, 65, 69, 77, 89, 98 theory game has students write in the note names for pitches notated in the appropriate clef for violin, viola, cello, and bass 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following p. 109 defines key signatures and introduces the key of G major key signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with p. 127, 128 asks the students to identify the key of a musical exercise their relative minors) p. 133 introduces the key of C major p. 134 features an exercise in D minor and instructs the teacher to introduce the key of D minor 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 114 instructs the teacher to explain the use of accidentals in terms of the tonality of the piece p. 147 theory game instructs the student to write in fingerings for notes with accidentals 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: p. 88 introduces AABA form AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 31

1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple p. 142 introduces dynamics and instructs the teacher to explain how to create dynamic variation dynamic changes in terms of the speed, placement, weight, and hair of the bow 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from p. 133 recommends that the teacher play a recording of the Beethoven violin diverse cultures and musical eras concerto for the students when learning the theme from the concerto in exercise 133 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare distinguishing characteristics of composers and styles from selected repertoire 1.3 Students perform music from diverse p. 170 exercise 184 “jazz feature” uses blues harmonies styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Strictly Strings

Strictly Strings: A Comprehensive String Method by Dillon, Kjelland and O’Reilly (1992) provides musical exercises and instructions for teaching a beginning heterogeneous string class.

Throughout the 216-page teacher manual, pedagogical coaching for the teacher contained in text boxes is interspersed between the musical exercises. This method primarily focuses on the first standards category, Executive Skills and Knowledge. The majority of the text addressed to the teacher concerns the teaching of correct posture and instrument position, left hand skills, and right hand skills. The method includes stepwise instructions and many drawings of instrument position, left hand position, and the bow hold. 32

Within the second standards category, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, Strictly

Strings addresses a few of the learning tasks in Content Areas 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear

Training, 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training, and 2D Music Literacy, but does not address 2C Creative Musicianship or 2E Ensemble Skills. Strictly Strings only superficially addresses two of the learning tasks in standards category three, Artistic Skills and Knowledge.

In Content Area 3A Expressive Elements, the book introduces basic dynamics, and in Content

Area 3B Historical and Cultural Elements, the book briefly describes the Baroque and Classical styles of music.

The specific learning tasks found in Strictly Strings are indicated in Table 7.

Table 7

Baseline Learning Tasks in Strictly Strings

Baseline Learning Task Strictly Strings Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all p. 14, 15, 16, 17 instructs students to stand or sit tall instruments p. 33, 39, 51 instructs the teacher to stress correct playing position and posture by continually correcting individuals while the group plays 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 14 lists stepwise instructions and includes a line drawing of playing position for violin p. 15 lists stepwise instructions and includes a line drawing of playing position for viola 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 16 lists stepwise instructions and includes a line drawing of playing position for cello 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 17 lists stepwise instructions and includes a line drawing of playing position for bass 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 18 lists stepwise instructions for left hand position for violin with line drawings of the position of each finger on the string p. 19 lists stepwise instructions for left hand position for viola with line drawings of the position of each finger on the string p. 20 lists stepwise instructions for left hand position for cello with line drawings of the position of each finger on the string p. 33 instructs the teacher to pay attention to the correct placement of the left thumb for cello and bass and not to allow any students to develop a habit of squeezing the neck of the instrument with the thumb or fingers p. 35 emphasizes the importance of correct left hand position for playing in tune p. 38-39 introduce left hand finger placement with stepwise instructions, a drawing of the left hand on the fingerboard, and a fingerboard diagram for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 39, 93, 99 instructs the teacher to have students keep fingers down or 33

just above the string when playing p. 45, 51, 57, 87, 92, 98, 140-141, 176-177, 188, 189 introduces and reviews new notes with a drawing of the left hand on the fingerboard and a fingerboard diagram for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 45, 93 instructs the teacher to have violin and viola students explore the use of the fourth finger p. 122 includes a drawing of the hand and a fingerboard diagram for fourth finger position for violin and viola 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 45 describes the spatial aspects of the finger pattern and the importance of keeping the second and third fingers close enough to play a half step on violin and viola p. 110 describes shifting to third position for the bass p. 164 introduces the low second finger pattern for violin and viola and the second finger pattern for cello with a drawing of the hand, a fingerboard diagram, and staff notation p. 194-195 introduces extended left hand position for violin, viola, and cello, and half position for bass 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola p. 33 describes “banjo position,” in which the instrument is held in front of the student “with the bridge centered over the heart and the scroll near the left shoulder” p. 123 recommends that violins and violas practice setting the fourth finger in banjo position 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 14 stepwise instructions for pizzicato position for violin p. 15 stepwise instructions for pizzicato position for viola p. 20 stepwise instructions for pizzicato position for cello p. 21 stepwise instructions for pizzicato position for cello p. 86-87 instructs students to play pizzicato while holding the bow p. 122-123 introduces left hand pizzicato 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments p. 21 line drawings and stepwise instructions for forming the French bow hold for the bass p. 22 line drawings and stepwise instructions for forming the bow hold for the violin p. 23 line drawings and stepwise instructions for forming the bow hold for the viola p. 24 line drawings and stepwise instructions for forming the bow hold for the cello p. 25 line drawings and stepwise instructions for forming the German bow hold for the bass p. 49, 51 instructs the teacher to introduce the bow hold on a pencil p. 55 instructs the teacher to have student move the bow hold from a pencil to the bow 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 55 recommends that the teacher have students practice bowing on rosin or through a tube p. 67 recommends that students shadow bow before playing a line 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow p. 152 introduces staccato bowing by imitating pizzicato strokes 1.7 Direction changes p. 67 instructs the teacher to emphasize correct bow direction changes 1.8 Short slurs p. 109 introduces slurs p. 110 instructs the teacher to have students practice slurs by rote 1.9 String crossings p. 33 describes the importance of developing facility in string crossings when playing pizzicato p. 57 instructs the teacher to introduce the arco string crossing motion by rote p. 72 reminds the student to roll the bow to a new string during rests 34

p. 73 recommends that the teacher have students practice silent string crossings p. 110 describes slurred string crossings 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 146-147 introduces the sections of the bow with a diagram and instructs the teacher not to have cellos and basses play at the tip p. 147 recommends bow distribution for particular rhythms 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement p. 73, 141, 182 instructs the teacher to make sure students understand (contact point and part of bow) that thicker strings need a slower and heavier bow stroke, and thinner strings need a faster and lighter stroke p. 79 instructs the teacher to choose whether students should play notes of different rhythmic durations with even or uneven bow speed p. 110 instructs the teacher to have bass students move the bow placement closer to the bridge when playing in higher positions p. 116 instruct the teacher to teach students to add bow weight and play closer to the bridge when playing with slower bow speed p. 123 instructs the teacher to teach dynamics in terms of changing the bow speed and weight p. 135 instructs the teacher to remind students to use less bow on eighth notes p. 182 instructs the teacher to remind students to add bow weight as they approach the tip of the bow Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal patterns p. 26-27 instructs the teacher to use a call and response technique to (simple patterns and melodies within a tetrachord), in teach ear training major and minor tonalities (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and p. 26 instructs the teacher to teach high and low relative to pitch low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use direction of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to- minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 33, 39, 129 instructs the teacher to continue to work with the singing or chanting rhythm patterns students on being able to keep a steady beat by clapping and counting aloud 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 27 instructs the teacher to work on establishing a steady beat by playing rhythm patterns having the group count and play at the same time 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while p. 116 introduces 3/4 time signature playing rhythm patterns p. 146-147 introduces 2/4 time signature 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing p. 26-27 identifies rest symbol rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing p. 109 introduces ties ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing p. 146-147 introduces upbeats upbeats 35

1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring techniques based on common objectives 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic p. 39 instructs the teacher to emphasize letter names instead of finger music notation and symbols associated with the numbers to facilitate note reading following skills and understandings to each p. 72 notates open strings for violin, viola, cello, and bass corresponding curricular level 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and all musical exercises and tunes are presented in standard music notation symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following key p. 109 introduces the key signature of D major signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their relative p. 140-141 introduces the key signature of G major minors) p. 165 introduces the key signature of C major 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 38, 39 identifies the sharp symbol p. 164, 165 identify the natural symbol p. 194, 195 identify and define the flat symbol 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic p. 122-123 introduce dynamics (forte and piano) variation p. 140-141 introduces playing piano and forte within one piece p. 182 introduces mezzo forte and mezzo piano p. 188 introduces crescendo and decrescendo 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 36

1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 152 brief description of the Baroque style distinguishing characteristics of composers and styles p. 200 brief description of the Classical style from selected repertoire 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Spotlight on Strings

Written by Gazda and Stoutamire in 1997, Spotlight on Strings is a compact and portable method book with only 112 pages in the teacher edition. It is organized into twelve lessons that introduce the fundamental aspects of string playing. Pedagogical information for the teacher is interspersed throughout the text. In standards category one, Executive Skills and Knowledge,

Spotlight on Strings addresses Content Areas 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and

Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge by introducing instrument position, left hand finger placement, and the bow hold with instructions and photographs. In terms of the second standards category, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, the method addresses some of the learning tasks in Content Areas 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2B Rhythmic Aural

Skills and Ear Training, 2C Creative Musicianship, and 2D Music Literacy, but does not include

2E Ensemble Skills. Of the books included in this analysis, Spotlight on Strings is chronologically the first method to teach creative musicianship through improvisation and composition activities. As to the third standards category, Artistic Skills and Knowledge, this method only addresses in passing Content Areas 3A Expressive Elements and 3B Historical and

Cultural Elements, with one learning task in each. It does not cover Content Area 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances.

The particular learning tasks that appear in Spotlight on Strings are presented in table 8.

Table 8

Baseline Learning Tasks in Spotlight on Strings

Baseline Learning Task Spotlight on Strings Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all p. 6 describes preparatory exercises to develop balanced and relaxed body instruments position 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 7 includes black and white photographs of students in preparation and playing position for violin and viola 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 7 includes black and white photographs of students in preparation and playing position for cello 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 7 includes black and white photographs of students in preparation and playing position for bass (standing position) 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 6 instructs the teacher to demonstrate correct left hand position p. 19 lists stepwise instructions for the teacher to use to teach left hand placement for violin/viola, cello, and bass; fourth finger is taught first for all instruments p. 20 instructs the teacher to have students keep left hand fingers close to the string and avoid looking at the left hand while playing p. 21-23 introduces left hand finger placement with a description and black and white photographs for violin/viola, cello, and bass p. 26-29, 33-36 introduce new fingerings with black and white photographs of the left hand, a fingerboard diagram, staff notation, and an explanation of intervals for violin, viola, cello, and bass 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 41-44 introduce the four-note major fingering pattern with black and white photographs of the left hand, a fingerboard diagram, staff notation, and an explanation of intervals for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 56-59 introduce the four-note minor fingering pattern with black and white photographs of the left hand, a fingerboard diagram, staff notation, and an explanation of intervals for violin, viola, cello, and bass 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 7 introduces pizzicato with instructions and black and white photographs of students playing pizzicato for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 9 instructs students to strum the open strings by plucking a giant circle motion without the right thumb touching the fingerboard p. 9 reminds students to anchor the right thumb on the edge of the fingerboard and use the flesh pad of the finger to pluck the string 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments p. 11 stepwise instructions for the teacher to give while introducing and demonstrating the bow hold; the bow hold is formed at the balance point and moved to the frog p. 12 introduces the bow hold for violin with black and white photographs of the bow hold from four perspectives p. 13 introduces the bow hold for viola with black and white photographs of the bow hold from four perspectives p. 14 introduces the bow hold for cello with black and white photographs of the bow hold from four perspectives p. 15 introduces the bow hold for bass with black and white photographs of the bow hold from four perspectives (French bow hold only) 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 12, 13, 14, 15 describes pre-bowing exercises for violin, viola, cello, and 38

bass 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow p. 17 instructs the teacher to have students play with detached bow strokes strokes p. 64 introduces staccato bowing 1.7 Direction changes p. 16 introduces down and up bow symbols 1.8 Short slurs p. 64, 74 introduces slurs 1.9 String crossings p. 12, 13, 14, 15 describe a silent string crossing exercise for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 16 reminds students to change bow levels when changing strings and to prepare the arm for the next string 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 17 instructs the teacher to have students expand their bow use by playing rhythmic patterns in the upper half and lower half of the bow p. 62 instructs the student to use the whole bow p. 66 instructs the teacher to have students adjust bowing so that they use more bow on long notes 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement p. 47, 83 instructs the students to adjust bow speed according to the (contact point and part of bow) duration of the note Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal p. 11 instructs the teacher to introduce initial bowing exercises by ear patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a p. 19 instructs the teacher to introduce initial left hand exercises by ear tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities (vocally, through demonstration and imitation pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major- to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or p. 32, 39, 86, 92 instructs students to improvise a short melody within arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; specific guidelines neutral syllable, then solfege) 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 7 instructs the students to play open strings with a steady beat playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter p. 46 introduces 3/4 time signature while playing rhythm patterns p. 49 introduces 2/4 time signature 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 8 defines quarter rests containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 74 introduces ties containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 52 introduces pickups containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 25 instructs students to improvise a short rhythm on an open string and corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 play it arco and pizzicato with each left hand finger down 39

p. 48, 52, 74 instructs the students to improvise by changing the rhythm of a notated piece 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns p. 7 instructs students to pluck open strings so that it sounds like their from speech and environmental sounds and link names them with the motion of the bow-hand p. 12, 13, 14, 15 instruct the students to improvise on an open string to tell a story 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects p. 7 instructs students to pluck open strings to create sound effects for a from their environment on their instruments story (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 40 instructs the teacher to teach about writing music before teaching techniques based on common objectives composition p. 105-112 “writing music” worksheets that instructs students to compose a short melodies according to specific guidelines 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic p. 3 describes a procedure for learning music reading music notation and symbols associated with the p. 7 introduces musical notation symbols following skills and understandings to each p. 8 notates open strings for violin, viola, cello, and bass and includes a corresponding curricular level musical symbol writing exercise 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following key p. 71 defines key signature and introduces the key of D major signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their p. 80 introduces the key signature of C major relative minors) p. 87 introduces the key signature of G major 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 26-29 introduces sharps p. 33-36 introduces naturals 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic p. 52 introduces dynamics variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 40

1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 32 instructs the teacher to discuss the blues and the birth of jazz music distinguishing characteristics of composers and styles from selected repertoire 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

String Explorer

The teacher manual for String Explorer: An Explorer’s Guide to Teaching Strings by

Dabczynski, Meyer and Phillips (2002) is organized into fourteen instructional units and has 288 pages. Each unit isolates new right and left hand objectives before putting new skills together at the end of a lesson. The method includes a large amount of text addressed to the teacher explaining right hand and left hand skills in each lesson.

String Explorer covers almost all learning tasks in each of the content areas in the first standards category, Executive Skills and Knowledge. The method includes instructions, photographs, and teaching strategies related to 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and

Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge. Concerning the second standards category, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, String Explorer addresses some of the learning tasks in Content Areas 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and

Ear Training, 2C Creative Musicianship, and 2D Music Literacy, but does not include 2E

Ensemble Skills. The learning tasks in the three content areas within the category Artistic Skills and Knowledge are covered more thoroughly in String Explorer than in any of the preceding methods. The method includes information concerning the music of numerous composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak and that of diverse cultures, including Polish, Chinese, and Native

American. The book instructs the teacher to play recordings of many types of music for the 41 students.

Table 9 details the specific learning tasks that are addressed in String Explorer.

Table 9

Baseline Learning Tasks in String Explorer

Baseline Learning Task String Explorer Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on p. 20 recommends that violins and violas stand while learning to hold the all instruments instruments in order to promote good posture and freedom of motion p. 43 emphasizes the importance of playing with good position for accurate intonation p. 228 describes the importance of balanced and relaxed posture 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 20 recommends that violins and violas start in guitar position p. 25 describes playing position for violin and viola p. 27 introduces banjo position for violin with stepwise instructions and black and white photographs p. 27 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for placing the left hand for violin p. 29 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for holding the violin on the shoulder p. 30 introduces banjo position for viola with stepwise instructions and black and white photographs p. 30 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for placing the left hand for viola p. 32 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for holding the viola on the shoulder p. 192 instructs the teacher to check the left hand position of violin students 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 25 reviews playing position for the cello p. 33, 35 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for holding the cello in playing position p. 33 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for placing the left hand 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 25 describes sitting playing position for the bass p. 36 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for holding the bass in standing playing position p. 36 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for placing the left hand for the bass p. 38 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for holding the bass in sitting playing position p. 135 instructs the teacher to review bass position 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 21 describes left hand placement and teaching strategies p. 28 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for placing the left fingers for violin p. 31 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for placing the left fingers for viola p. 34 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for placing the left fingers for cello p. 37 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for placing the left fingers for bass 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 42 introduces left hand finger placement of the “D ladder” (first tetrachord of the D major scale) with black and white photographs and fingerboard diagrams for violin, viola, cello, and bass 42

p. 49 introduces the left hand finger placement of the “A ladder” (first tetrachord of the A major scale) with black and white photographs and fingerboard diagrams for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 50 describes bass shifting to third position p. 72, 85 reviews the notes on the D string with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 97, 135 reviews the notes on the A string with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation for violin, viola, and cello, and the notes in third position on the G string for the bass p. 110, 112 introduces bass shifting to second and a half position p. 135, 136 introduces the fourth finger for violin and viola with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 138, 174 introduces second position for the bass p. 146 introduces notes on the G string for violin, viola, and cello and notes on the E string for bass with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 147, 151, 216 instructs the teacher to have students adjust the left arm position to play on the lower strings p. 173 introduces low second finger pattern for violin and viola, and second finger for cello and bass with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 187 introduces notes on the E string for violin and bass with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 192 introduces second position for cello p. 215 introduces low first finger (backward extension) for violin with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 227, 228 introduces the backward extension for violin, viola, and cello and half position for bass with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 270-271 introduce high third finger for violin and viola and forward extensions for cello with black and white photographs, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, p. 27, 30 introduces pizzicato in banjo position for violin, viola viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 33, 36 introduces pizzicato in playing position for cello, bass 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all p. 24 recommends that students form the initial bow hold at the balance point instruments p. 28 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for establishing the bow hold (at the frog) for violin p. 31 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for establishing the bow hold (at the frog) for viola p. 34 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for establishing the bow hold (at the frog) for cello p. 37 stepwise instructions and black and white photographs for establishing the bow hold for bass (French and German) p. 81 describes the importance of developing right hand finger flexibility p. 90 reminds students to check their bow holds 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 24-25 list and describe several exercises to aid bow hold development p. 114 instructs the teacher to have students air bow before playing slurs 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) p. 39 describes détaché bowing bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) p. 106 introduces staccato bowing bow strokes 1.7 Direction changes p. 224 instructs the teacher to help students understand the musical effects of down and up bows 1.8 Short slurs p. 106 introduces slurs 1.9 String crossings p. 29 instructs the student to place the bow on each open string by adjusting the level of the right elbow 43

p. 45 instructs the teacher to pay attention to the bass string crossings p. 55 describes string crossings and instructs the teacher to have students explore the relationship between string crossings and right arm level p. 59 describes the challenge of physically coordinating the right and left hand to play string crossings 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 45 instructs the teacher to have students pay attention to how much bow they use for quarter and eighth notes p. 143 instructs the teacher to help students plan bow distribution for dotted quarter notes 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and p. 39 recommends that the teacher establish an arm weight scale of 1 to 10 placement (contact point and part of bow) p. 94 describes the distinction between arm weight and arm pressure and how to use arm weight to create dynamic changes p. 101 instructs students to notice the different bow speed needed for notes of different rhythmic durations p. 132 instructs the teacher to help students understand the combination of slow bow speed and arm weight needed to bow longer notes p. 169 instructs the teacher to help students understand the combination of slow bow speed and bow placement needed to bow longer notes p. 169, 178 introduces crescendo and decrescendo in terms of altering the arm weight, bow speed, and bow placement p. 216 instructs the teacher to help students understand the amount of arm weight needed to play on lower strings Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal p. 21, 41, 43-44, 48, 51, 56 instructs the teacher to play rhythmic and melodic patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a patterns have the students echo tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed p. 174 instructs the teacher to play melodic patterns using F sharp and F melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. natural and C sharp and C natural and have students identify which note is played 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and p. 86 instructs the teacher to establish a sense of the tonic by asking students dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, to complete a melody in F major pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, p. 126, 163 instructs the teacher to have students improvise a melody using and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a notes of the D pentatonic scale and given rhythms tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) p. 207 instructs the teacher to have students improvise a melody using the first five notes of the D minor scale p. 258 instructs the teacher to have students improvise a melody using the blues scale 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter p. 132 introduces 3/4 time signature and instructs the teacher to help students while singing or chanting rhythm patterns feel the down beat as the strong beat in each measure when clapping and chanting rhythms p. 183 introduces 2/4 time signature and instructs the teacher to help students feel the down beat as the strong beat in each measure when clapping and chanting rhythms 44

1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while playing rhythm patterns 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 39 defines rests containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 132 describes ties containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 143 introduces pickup notes and instructs the teacher to explain pickup containing upbeats notes and have students air bow them 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 67 instructs the teacher to have students improvise on one pitch using corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 familiar rhythm patterns p. 224 instructs the teacher to have students improvise using syncopated rhythms 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 67 instructs the teacher to have students compose a short piece by selecting techniques based on common objectives from a “menu” of rhythms and pitches p. 126 instructs the teacher to have students compose a harmony line to use with a printed melody using parallel thirds p. 163 instructs the teacher to have students compose a harmony line to use with a printed melody using contrary motion p. 207 instructs the teacher to have students compose a melody by adding passing tones to an existing melody 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their p. 119, 156, 198 encourages the teacher to teach basic conducting patterns own physical language for conducting and have a student lead the group 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform initial exercises (1-41) are notated with the letter name and rhythms, line 42 is basic music notation and symbols associated the first to use standard staff notation with the following skills and understandings to p. 72 instructs the teacher to review musical symbols and introduce staff each corresponding curricular level notation 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following p. 106 introduces the key signature of D major key signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their p. 143 introduces the key signature of G major relative minors) p. 169 introduces the key signature of C major 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 147 introduces naturals for bass students p. 174 introduces naturals for all instruments p. 228 introduces flats 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 45

1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic p. 94 introduces dynamics (forte and piano) variation p. 101 instructs the teacher to have students change dynamics within a piece p. 169 introduces crescendo and decrescendo p. 211 introduces mezzo piano and mezzo forte 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from p. 150 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to a recording of the diverse cultures and musical eras theme from the second movement of Dvorak’s New World Symphony p. 178, 192, 219, 232 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to a recording of the music they are playing 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 61 brief description of Mozart’s variations on Twinkle distinguishing characteristics of composers and p. 67-68 describes Polish Tatra music in detail styles from selected repertoire p. 75 brief description of the history of staff notation p. 89 instructs the teacher to discuss the nature of folk music p. 89 instructs the teacher to discuss Beethoven p. 93 brief description of Beethoven p. 103 brief description of fiddle music p. 116 brief description of William Billings p. 119, 122, 123, 124, 125 describes the Baroque era p. 126-127 describes Mariachi music in detail p. 138, 219 instructs the teacher to discuss Bach p. 141 brief description of Bach p. 151 instructs the teacher to discuss Dvorak p. 151 instructs the teacher to discuss Handel and the story of Judas Maccabaeus p. 151 instructs the teacher to discuss Stephen Foster p. 152 brief description of Handel p. 156, 159, 160, 161, 162 describes music of the Classical era p. 163-164 describes Chinese erhu music in detail p. 178 instructs the teacher to discuss Purcell p. 180 brief description of the folk tune Simple Gifts p. 192 instructs the teacher to discuss the folk song The Erie Canal p. 192, 219 instructs the teacher to discuss Tchaikovsky p. 192 instructs the teacher to discuss Korean folk songs p. 192 instructs the teacher to discuss Haydn and chorales p. 193 instructs the teacher to discuss the origins of the folk song Shepherd’s Hey p. 196 brief description of Haydn p. 198, 201, 202, 203, 204 describes the Romantic era p. 205 describes Native American Apache music in detail p. 211 instructs the teacher to discuss Rossini p. 219 brief description of Tchaikovsky p. 232 instructs the teacher to discuss African American music p. 232 instructs the teacher to discuss tango music p. 232 instructs the teacher to discuss Handel p. 234 brief description of African American fiddle music p. 238, 245, 247, 249, 251 describes music of the contemporary era p. 261 instructs the teacher to discuss Handel, Telemann, and Bach p. 282 detailed information on the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras of 46

music 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group p. 89 instructs the teacher to have students play a tune that uses minor performance using established criteria tonality and describe how it makes them feel p. 114 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to a recording of a tune and describe what they hear p. 114 instructs the teacher to have students play melody and harmony parts of a duet and compare and contrast them 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Artistry in Strings

Artistry in Strings: A Comprehensive Course of Study for Group or Private Instruction by

Frost and Fischbach (2002) is a substantial book with 539 pages in the teacher edition.

Instructions to the teacher occur frequently either in the normal text or in grey text boxes labeled

“Artistry Advice.” The method addresses one or more of the learning tasks in every content area except 2E Ensemble Skills. Artistry in Strings covers the Executive Skills and Knowledge

Content Areas 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge with many instructional sequences, photographs, and pedagogical exercises.

Within the second standards category, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, the method teaches ear training through echo exercises, promotes creative musicianship by often featuring improvisation games and composition exercises, and encourages music literacy by explaining musical notation. Concerning the third standards category, Artistic Skills and Knowledge, the method regularly instructs the teacher to have the students listen to and discuss the music and culture of numerous composers and countries around the world.

The particular learning tasks included in Artistry in Strings are presented in Table 10.

Table 10

Baseline Learning Tasks in Artistry in Strings

Baseline Learning Task Artistry in Strings Executive Skills and Knowledge 47

1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all p. 80, 84 reminds the teacher to check that students are using good instruments instrument posture and movement skills 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 26-27 introduces playing position for violin and viola with stepwise instructions and black and white photographs p. 30-31, 55 instructs the teacher to have students do the “Swingstrum” exercise, which promotes freedom of movement in the left arm by having students strum the open strings with the left pinky and includes stepwise instructions and photographs p. 199 instructs the teacher to check left elbow position for violin and viola 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 27 introduces playing position for cello with stepwise instructions and black and white photographs p. 30-31, 55 instructs the teacher to have students do the “Swingstrum” exercise, which promotes freedom of movement in the left arm by having students strum the open strings with the left pinky and includes stepwise instructions and photographs p. 199 instructs the teacher to check left arm position for cello 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 28-29 introduces standing and sitting playing position for bass with stepwise instructions and black and white photographs p. 30-31, 55 instructs the teacher to have students do the “Swingstrum” exercise, which promotes freedom of movement in the left arm by having students strum the open strings with the left pinky and includes stepwise instructions and photographs p. 199 instructs the teacher to check left arm position for bass 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 57-58 left hand finger placement is introduced with a harmonic p. 63-65 includes stepwise instructions and a photo for placing the hand in first position for violin, viola, cello, and bass as well as the middle position for bass p. 69 introduces a string polishing exercise in which the left hand slides up and down the strings with instructions and a photograph p. 110, 124 “pinkypluck” left hand pizzicato exercise strengthens the fourth finger p. 120, 131 instructs the teacher to have violin and viola students play on the “inside corner” of the finger when leaving a finger down on one string and bowing on another p. 120, 131 encourages cello and bass student to leave fingers on the string as much as possible 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 76-79 introduces D string finger patterns including both F sharp and F natural with photographs of the left hand, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 88 instructs the student to move the left hand fingers to create an exaggerated difference between F sharp and F natural p. 150-151 introduces A string finger patterns including both C sharp and C natural with photographs of the left hand, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass (low position) p. 152 introduces left hand pivots and notes on the D string for bass in middle position p. 195-197 introduces the G string finger patterns including both B natural and B flat with photographs of the left hand, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass (includes pivoting for low position bass) p. 198 introduces new notes on the D string for middle position bass, including pivots p. 231-232 introduces the notes on the E string for violin and bass and the C string for viola and cello with photographs of the left hand, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 266 introduces high and low fourth finger for violin and viola with photographs of the left hand, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation 48

p. 267 introduces third position for cello with photographs of the left hand, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 268-269 low and middle position bass books merge: the low position book introduces middle position, and the middle position book introduces low position with photographs of the left hand, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 277 reminds violins and violas to adjust the balance of the hand from first finger to fourth finger 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 76 defines pizzicato p. 91-92 introduces the “boomerang pizzicato” exercise, in which the right hand plucks the string and makes a large circular motion that traces the path of the down bow stroke and emphasizes bilateral motion as the body moves the opposite direction; describes pizzicato technique p. 128 introduces anchored pizzicato with the thumb on the fingerboard 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments p. 35-37 lists exercises for forming the bow hold for violin, viola, cello, and bass (French and German) with stepwise instructions and black and white photographs 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 37-38 introduces “place and lift” exercise in which students on all instruments place the bow on the string, tap each finger, and lift the bow off the string with stepwise instructions and black and white photographs p. 39 introduces “travelin’ place and lift” exercise, which repeats the procedure of the previous exercise at the frog, middle, and tip of the bow p. 220 includes two pre-bowing exercises: “The Elevator” and “The Paintbrush” p. 299 features “stickwalk” bow exercise p. 349 features “skywriting” bow exercise 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) p. 93, 99, 157, 161 instructs the teacher to have students do smooth, bow strokes connected, slow bows 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow p. 40, 45, 50, 54, 68, 113, 130 initial exercises should be played with strokes “short, crisp” bow strokes p. 181 introduces (but does not use the label) staccato symbol 1.7 Direction changes p. 39 introduces bow directions 1.8 Short slurs p. 248 introduces slurs across strings and describes the shape of the right arm as rainbows or smiles p. 250 introduces slurs on the same string 1.9 String crossings p. 52 instructs students to pay attention to the bow arm levels on each string as students perform string crossings p. 93 instructs the teacher to encourage the students to make arcs, not angles in string crossings and to initiate the motion with the upper arm p. 117-118 introduce “Rock ’n’ Roll” string crossing exercise p. 258 instructs the student to practice smooth slurred string crossings 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 155 introduces “zig-zag” bowing in which bow unequal distribution is planned to allow for enough bow on a long note p. 177, 256, 304 instructs students to play in a specific part of the bow p. 284 introduces bow division 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement p. 98, 169, 211 describes bow speed for longer notes and includes (contact point and part of bow) teaching strategies p. 285 introduces bow speed p. 343 describes the interdependent variables of speed, pressure, and sounding point that affect dynamics Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 49

2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal p. 39, 51, 52, 84, 101, 111, 137, 153, 159, 198, 320, 347 instructs the patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a teacher to lead an echo game in which the teacher plays a short pattern tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities and the students echo (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed p. 89, 338 instructs the teacher to play two phrases and have the students melodic tonal patterns are the same or different decide if they are the same or different p. 97 instructs the teacher to play two phrases and have the students decide if they use F sharp or F natural 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or p. 75 instructs the teacher to have students improvise a melody using arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; open strings and harmonics neutral syllable, then solfege) p. 135 instructs the teacher to have students improvise a melody using D, E, and F sharp p. 149, 230, 341 instructs the teacher to have students improvise a melody using familiar rhythm patterns and notes p. 313 instructs the teacher to have students improvise over an ostinato created by the class p. 323 instructs the teacher to have students improvise a musical conversation in pairs p. 374 instructs the teacher to have students improvise within a scale or song, and do a call and response improvisation activity 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter p. 66 defines 4/4 time signature while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter p. 66 defines 4/4 time signature while playing rhythm patterns p. 146-148 instructs the teacher to have students play an open string exercise that changes from 4/4 to 3/4 to 2/4 to 1/4 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 25 introduces rests containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 333 introduces ties containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 174 introduces pick-up notes containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 75, 149, 230 instructs the teacher to lead students in a call and response corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 rhythmic improvisation exercise p. 185 instructs the teacher to have the students improvise a hand clapping accompaniment in 3/4 meter 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns p. 43, 46 instructs the teacher to have students match word phrases to from speech and environmental sounds and link rhythms them with the motion of the bow-hand p. 52, 75, 109 includes a rhythm writing exercise in which students add missing words or rhythms 50

p. 133 encourages the teacher to have students create rhythmic variations by changing the words of a song they are playing 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects p. 107 instructs the teacher to have students create and notate the sound of from their environment on their instruments a bird on their instrument (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 141 instructs students to compose a song using pictorial representations techniques based on common objectives of musical sound effects p. 225, 308, 363 instructs students to compose a short song using familiar notes and rhythms 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic p. 39 introduces musical symbols music notation and symbols associated with the p. 148, 225, 373 includes a short quiz in which students must write following skills and understandings to each musical notation symbols corresponding curricular level 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root p. 186 introduces the D chord with staff notation for all instruments only) p. 218 instructs students to listen to blues song they are playing and decide if the printed chord changes match their music 1.4 Students correctly identify the following key p. 166 defines key signatures and introduces the key signatures for G signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their major and D major with staff notation and a fingerboard diagram for all relative minors) instruments p. 238 introduces the key of C major p. 242, 245, 261, 290, 332 instructs students to identify the name of the key of the exercise 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 76 introduces naturals and sharps p. 150-152 introduces C sharp and natural with staff notation and a fingerboard diagram for all instruments 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: p. 286 instructs the teacher to have students listen to a piece of music and AB and ABA identify ABA form 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic p. 241 introduces dynamics variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 51

1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 51, 350 instructs the teacher to have students listen to an distinguishing characteristics of composers and accompaniment, which is in an Australian style, and to discuss the styles from selected repertoire culture and wildlife p. 90, 281 instructs the teacher to locate Japan on a map and discuss Japanese culture before having the students listen to a Japanese song p. 95, 156, 213, 263, 294, 329 instructs the teacher to locate England on a map, discuss English culture, and listen to English music p. 97, 169 instructs the teacher to locate France on a map, discuss French culture, and listen to French music p. 100, 190 instructs the teacher to locate Norway on a map, discuss Norwegian culture, and listen to Norwegian dance music p. 107, 122, 142, 289 instructs the teacher to locate Germany on a map and discuss German culture p. 108 instructs the teacher to have students listen to and discuss American fiddle music p. 113 describes the history of Hot Cross Buns p. 125 instructs the teacher to discuss Verdi and have the students listen to his music p. 131 instructs the teacher to discuss Dvorak and listen to the theme from the second movement of the New World Symphony p. 137 instructs the teacher to locate Egypt on a map, discuss Egyptian culture, and listen to Egyptian music p. 140 describes the origins of Jingle Bells p. 171, 257, 291 instructs the teacher to locate the Czech Republic on a map and discuss Czech culture p. 175 instructs the teacher to locate the Netherlands on a map and discuss Netherlandish culture p. 175 describes the composer George Root p. 203 instructs the teacher to discuss Bach and his music p. 216 describes composer Cornelius Gurlitt p. 222 instructs the teacher to locate Mexico on a map, discuss Mexican culture, and listen to Mexican music p. 240 instructs the teacher to locate Poland on a map, discuss Polish culture, and listen to Polish music p. 243 describes Stephen Foster p. 253, 334 instructs the teacher to discuss Offenbach and have the students listen to the “Can-Can” p. 261 instructs the teacher to discuss Grieg p. 262 instructs the teacher to locate Hungary on a map, discuss p. Hungarian culture, and listen to Hungarian music p. 280 instructs the teacher to locate Jordan on a map and discuss Jordanian culture p. 282 describes composer Thomas Hynes Bayly p. 295 describes Haydn p. 297 instructs the teacher to discuss Beethoven p. 298 instructs the teacher to discuss Iroquois culture and listen to Iroquois music p. 300 instructs the teacher to locate Israel in a map, discuss Israeli culture, and listen to Israeli music p. 301 instructs the teacher to locate Spain in a map, discuss Spanish culture, and listen to Spanish music p. 310 describes Brahms p. 332 instructs the teacher to discuss Rossini and have the students listen to his music p. 335 instructs the teacher to discuss Mahler and have the students listen to his music p. 339 instructs the teacher to locate Italy on a map and discuss Italian culture p. 346 instructs the teacher to locate Scotland on a map, discuss Scottish culture, and have the students listen to Scottish music 52

p. 369 describes Mussorgsky 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group p. 71, 83, 88, 90, 97, 100, 134, 155, 202, 236 instructs the teacher to have performance using established criteria students listen to the recording of the accompaniment CD and describe what they hear 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Jump Right In

Jump Right In: The Instrumental Series for Strings, Revised by Grunow, Gordon, Azzara, and Martin (2002) is perhaps the most unique of the method books included in this analysis. As an “instrumental method designed for developing audiation skills and executive skills,” this method focuses primarily on the development of aural skills. It includes relatively little technical information about playing the instruments beyond establishing basic position. The teacher edition is a substantial volume of 522 pages containing both book one and book two. Jump Right

In covers most of the learning tasks of Content Areas 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and

Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge within the standards category Executive

Skills and Knowledge. Concerning the second standards category, Musicianship Skills and

Knowledge, this method emphasizes learning to sing and play melodies and rhythms by ear, improvising, and reading musical notation. The book does not cover any of the learning tasks of the content areas within the third category, Artistic Skills and Knowledge.

Table 11 indicates which learning tasks are found in Jump Right In.

Table 11

Baseline Learning Tasks in Jump Right In

Baseline Learning Task Jump Right In Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all p. 38 instructs the teacher to demonstrate steps for developing correct instruments posture p. 43 instructs the teacher to guide the students in establishing correct posture and instrument position 53

1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 285, 290 includes stepwise instructions and line drawings for playing position for violin and viola 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 295 includes stepwise instructions and line drawings for playing position for cello 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 300 includes stepwise instructions and line drawings for standing and sitting playing position for bass 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 47 instructs the teacher to teach left hand placement p. 53 instructs the teacher to teach the basses to shift to second position p. 285-289 line drawings demonstrates correct left hand position for violin p. 290-294 line drawing demonstrates correct left hand position for viola p. 295-299 line drawing demonstrates correct left hand position for cello p. 300-304 line drawing demonstrates correct left hand position for bass 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 53 students practice major tetrachords on D, A, and G 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 43 instructs the teacher to teach right hand pizzicato p. 285 line drawing demonstrates right hand pizzicato position for violin p. 290 line drawing demonstrates right hand pizzicato position for viola p. 295 line drawing demonstrates right hand pizzicato position for cello p. 300 line drawing demonstrates right hand pizzicato position for bass 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments p. 47 instructs the teacher to teach the bow hold p. 285 includes stepwise instructions and line drawings for forming the violin bow hold p. 290 includes stepwise instructions and line drawings for forming the viola bow hold p. 295 includes stepwise instructions and line drawings for forming the cello bow hold p. 300 includes stepwise instructions and line drawings for forming the bass bow hold (French and German) 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 44 instructs teacher to have students to bow through a tube 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow p. 38, 43 instructs the teacher to demonstrate connected bow strokes strokes without the bow p. 44 instructs the teacher to demonstrate and have students imitate connected bow strokes through a tube p. 44 instructs the teacher to demonstrate and have students imitate connected bow strokes on the instrument 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow p. 38, 43 instructs the teacher to demonstrate separated bow strokes strokes without the bow p. 44 instructs the teacher to demonstrate and have students imitate separated bow strokes through a tube p. 44 instructs the teacher to demonstrate and have students imitate separated bow strokes on the instrument 1.7 Direction changes 1.8 Short slurs p. 107 instructs the teacher to teach slurs 1.9 String crossings p. 50 instructs the teacher to teach students to roll the bow over to the next string for string crossings 1.10 Basic bow distribution 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement (contact point and part of bow) Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal patterns p. 37, 42, 46, 52, 58, 66, 73, 79, 86, 90, 95, 104, 111, 121, 128, 133 54

(simple patterns and melodies within a tetrachord), in instructs the teacher to teach a song and bass line by rote (vocally) major and minor tonalities (vocally, pizzicato, and/or p. 48, 49, 59, 60, 61, 62, 96, 112, 124-125, 129-131 instructs the teacher arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) to teach melodic patterns by ear vocally and with solfege p. 50, 54, 63, 64, 68, 69, 70, 71, 76, 77, 80-83, 87-88, 97-99, 101-102, 113-115, 116-119, 155, 170-171 instructs the teacher to have students echo rhythmic and melodic patterns on the instrument p. 64, 84, 93, 100, 107 instructs the teacher to have students learn to play a tune by rote p. 65, 71, 94 instructs the teacher to have students transpose tunes and patterns to a new key 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to- p. 111 instructs the teacher to teach Minor Aunt Rhody minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or p. 87, 99, 127, 132, 134, 138, 156, 163, 172, 189, 197, 223 instructs the arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; teacher to teach tonal improvisation by singing, chanting, and playing neutral syllable, then solfege) on the instrument 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 55, 68, 80, 91-92, 106, 108-109, 123, 126, 135-37 instructs the singing or chanting rhythm patterns teacher to have students echo and chant rhythm patterns 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while p. 67 instructs the teacher to have students chant rhythm patterns and singing or chanting rhythm patterns keep the macrobeats in the feet and the microbeats in the hands p. 69 instructs the teacher to teach the difference between duple and triple meter 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 105, 108, 122, 135-136 instructs the teacher to have students echo playing rhythm patterns rhythmic patterns on the instrument 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while playing rhythm patterns 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 107, 126, 181 instructs the teacher to teach rhythmic improvisation corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring techniques based on common objectives 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 55

1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic p. 130-131, 139, 149-152, 165-167, 173, 183-184, 215-216, 219-222 music notation and symbols associated with the students read notated tonal patterns following skills and understandings to each p. 141, 157, 160, 164, 178, 190-192, 198-199, 207-208, 217-218 corresponding curricular level students read rhythm patterns p. 142-148, 153-154, 158-159, 161-162, 168-169, 174-177, 179-181, 185-188, 193-196, 200-205, 209-214 students read tunes

1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following key signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their relative minors) 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare distinguishing characteristics of composers and styles from selected repertoire 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Do It! Play Strings

Do It! Play Strings by Froseth and Smith (2003) also emphasizes ear training and creative 56 musicianship in its 389-page teacher manual. Within the first standards category, Executive

Skills and Knowledge, the method covers some of the learning tasks in Content Areas 1A Body

Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge. In the second standards category, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, Do It! Play Strings promotes the development of aural skills by teaching melodies by ear, and encourages creative musicianship with numerous improvisation and composition exercises. Concerning the third standards category, Artistic Skills and Knowledge, the method describes many different musical styles and provides a companion CD featuring familiar tunes with a variety of styles of accompaniment.

Table 12 identifies the learning tasks found in Do It! Play Strings.

Table 12

Baseline Learning Tasks in Do It! Play Strings

Baseline Learning Task Do It! Play strings Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all p. 2-A, 2-B, 2-C, and 2-D introduces seated and standing posture for violin, instruments viola, cello, and bass with instructions and line drawings of children demonstrating correct posture 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 2-A, 2-B illustrate violin and viola playing position with a line drawing 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 2-C illustrates cello playing position with a line drawing 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 2-D illustrates bass playing position with a line drawing 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 3-A, 3-B, 3-C, and 3-D include instructions and line drawings of left hand position for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 6-G, 9-D, 13-C, 15-A, 18-D, 20-B, 22-C, 22-D, 23-B, 24-D, 27-G, 36, 37-C, 37-E, 38-A introduces new fingerings with a black and white photograph of the left hand, a fingerboard diagram, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 13-A, 24-A instructs violins, violas, and cellos to use fourth finger instead of an open string; reminder to leave the left fingers down and form a tunnel while bowing a higher string 1.2 Initial finger patterns 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 5-A initial exercises are presented for either pizzicato or arco beginning 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments p. 3-A, 3-B, 3-C, and 3-D include instructions and line drawings of the bow hold for violin, viola, cello, and bass (French and German) 57

1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 8-D instructs students to do “shadow bowing” through tubes 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) p. 5-C introduces connected and separated bow articulation with instructions bow strokes to listen to both styles on the accompanying CD p. 7, 7-D defines legato and détaché bow styles 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow p. 5-C introduces connected and separated bow articulation with instructions strokes to listen to both styles on the accompanying CD p. 10, 10-C defines staccato 1.7 Direction changes 1.8 Short slurs p. 20 defines slurs 1.9 String crossings p. 13-A instructs students to make the string change part of a large curve in the right hand 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 19 defines upper half, lower half, and whole bow 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement (contact point and part of bow) Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal p. 5-A-5-E, 6-A-6-D, 8-C, 20-A, 26-A, 26-E “listen and play” exercises: call patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a and response exercises in which the teacher or the CD recording play a tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities pattern and the students play it back (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, p. 6-E, 23-E, 23-F, 28-L, 29-E, 31-G, 32-B, 32-D, 33-C, 38-B, 38-D then solfege) instructs students to transpose familiar songs by ear p. 7-7-D instructs students to practice variations on a melody by ear p. 14, 14-D, 17, 17-D, 23, 27-H songs for students to play by ear p. 18-C, 27-A vocal call and response exercise 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and p. 28-A instructs students to harmonize tonic and dominant patterns by ear dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or p. 8-B lists procedures for creating a safe environment for spontaneous arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; music making neutral syllable, then solfege) p. 9-C, 10-B, 11-B, 12-A-12-B, 13-B, 14-B, 16-A, 22-A-22-B, 26-C, 31-A- 31-B, describes a procedure for teaching improvisation on particular tunes p. 10-A, 10-B instructions for creating a fiddle tune and bass line by ear p. 17-A, 22-E, 26-H, 27-H-27-I instructs students to improvise harmony and variations on a familiar melody or scale p. 17-B, 18-C, 24-B, 26-B, 27-A-27-C, 27-F, 28-D-28-F, 29-D present other spontaneous music making activities p. 26-E, 27-D-27-E, 28-G-28-H, 29-B, 29-C, 31-C, 37-A call and response improvisation exercise p. 30-E improvised musical dialogue p. 36-A-36-C reviews strategies for creating music improvisations 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while 58 playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while playing rhythm patterns 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 5 introduces rests containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 17 introduces ties containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 19 defines pick-up notes containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 10-D defines rhythmic improvisation corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 11-A instructs the students to compose a rhythmic round techniques based on common objectives p. 21-A, 30-D, 37-B instructs the students to compose a tune from a single musical idea using repetition and variation p. 26-D instructs the students to compose a tune by notating and combining improvised riffs p. 30-C instructs the students to compose a tune based on an original motif 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic p. 4-5 dictionary of musical signs and symbols music notation and symbols associated with the following skills and understandings to each corresponding curricular level 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following key signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their relative minors) 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 29 defines naturals 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 59

1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 6-H defines folk song, honky tonk, and rock and roll distinguishing characteristics of composers and p. 6-I defines bluegrass and reggae styles from selected repertoire p. 8 defines jazz p. 11 defines lullaby, waltz, branle p. 12 defines polka p. 13 defines ballad, march, hymn p. 14 defines country swing and Dixieland jazz p. 16 defines jazz ballad style p. 21 defines jazz waltz p. 25 defines bouffons p. 27 defines sea chanty p. 31 defines ostinato, folk hymn, and gospel music Tunes are introduced with several different accompaniment styles 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles p. viii-ix lists the numerous different musical styles that are included in the book 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Essential Elements 2000 for Strings

Essential Elements 2000 for Strings: A Comprehensive String Method by Allen, Gillespie, and Tellejohn Hayes (2004) covers one or more learning tasks from almost every content area in the 272-page teacher manual. In the first standards category, the method includes stepwise instructions and drawings to illustrate Content Areas 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and

Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge. As to the second standards category,

Essential Elements 2000 for Strings addresses Content Area 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear

Training with echo exercises, 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training with explanations of rhythmic concepts, 2C Creative Musicianship with improvisation and composition exercises, 2D

Music Literacy by notating initial exercises with the name of the note in the note head, and 2E 60

Ensemble Skills with instructions concerning rehearsal and performance etiquette. In the third standards category, Artistic Skills and Knowledge, the method covers Content Area 3B

Historical and Cultural Elements by providing descriptions of the historical and cultural origins of some pieces.

The specific learning tasks that are covered in Essential Elements 2000 for Strings are presented in table 13.

Table 13

Baseline Learning Tasks in Essential Elements 2000 for Strings

Baseline Learning Task Essential Elements 2000 for Strings Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on p. 37-38 includes directives for violin and viola to stand “with feet about a all instruments shoulder’s width apart” or “sit on the front part of the chair,” for cello “sit on the front half of your chair with your feet positioned underneath your knees,” and for bass “ sit squarely on the front half of the stool with your right foot on the floor and your left foot on a rung of the stool” p. 47 teacher checkpoint includes body position and feet position 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 37 introduces playing position for violin and viola (guitar and shoulder position) with stepwise instructions and line drawings p. 53 illustrates unacceptable and acceptable position of the left wrist p. 60 instructs the teacher to review holding position for violin and viola p. 60 “workouts” box features exercises for finger taps, pull aways, and fourth finger strumming in play position p. 95 directs teacher to check left hand position while bowing; left hand is positioned on the upper bout while bowing open strings p. 140 directs the teacher to instruct violin and viola students to bring the left elbow under the instrument when playing on the G string 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 38 introduces playing position for cello with stepwise instructions and line drawings p. 60 “workouts” exercises for finger taps, and fourth finger strumming in play position 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 38 introduces playing position for bass (standing and sitting) with stepwise instructions and line drawings 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 46-47 higher number fingers (third finger for violin and viola and fourth for cello and bass) are introduced before lower fingers in order to develop hand shape and establish accurate intonation; includes line drawings and descriptions of the left hand position for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 46-47 includes a diagram of the finger placement on the fingerboard for all instruments p. 51 instructs student to keep fingers down on the string and prompts the teacher and students to check left hand position p. 64 introduces C sharp and D in third position for the bass with a fingerboard diagram and line drawings of the hand on the fingerboard p. 123 directs the teacher to introduce fourth finger for violin/viola p. 125 includes a fingerboard diagram and drawing of finger placement for violin and viola 61

p. 142 directs the teacher to check that violin and viola students are forming a square with the first finger on the fingerboard p. 145 directs violins and violas to check the pitch of fourth finger D on the G string with the open D string 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 71 introduces shifting between first and third position for the bass p. 138 introduces the notes on the G string with fingerboard diagrams and drawings of the hand position for violin, viola, and cello p. 139 introduces the notes on the A and E string for the bass with a fingerboard diagram and drawings of the hand position p. 152 introduces second and a half position for the bass p. 172 introduces low second finger pattern for violin and viola and second finger position for cello and bass with a description, fingerboard diagram, and drawing of the hand p. 183 introduces second position for the bass p. 190 “alert” warns students that the following example mixes finger patterns to play both C natural and F sharp in the same piece p. 195 introduces notes on the C string for viola and cello with fingerboard diagram and drawing of the left hand position p. 206 introduces the notes on the E string for violin with a fingerboard diagram and drawing of the left hand position 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, p. 39 tells the teacher to demonstrate how to pluck open strings by using the viola thumb in guitar position 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 39 tells the teacher to demonstrate how to pluck open strings by using the first finger 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all p. 52 instructs students to shape the bow hold on a pencil in five steps with instruments line drawings of each step; directives to practice bow hold daily p. 56-57 features exercises to develop finger flexibility and correct position: wave wrist, thumb flexes, finger taps, check thumb p. 75 features five steps to shaping the bow hold on the bow; an early bow hold is used for violin and viola that forms the bow hold at the balance point; line drawings are included of the bow hold from two angles for violin/viola, cello, and bass (French and German bow holds) p. 82 instructs the teacher to allow violin and viola students to move the bow hold from the balance point to the frog once students demonstrate acceptable bow hand shape in rosin raps p. 93 features line drawings of the bow hold with the bow on the string for violin/viola, cello, and bass 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 56-57 introduces bowing motion exercise for the right arm without the bow for each instrument p. 81 introduces a shadow bowing exercise in which students bow on rosin or through a PVC or paper tube away from the instrument; line drawings are included for violin/viola, cello, and bass p. 82 “Rosin Raps” three notated rhythmic exercises in which students are directed to bow on rosin away from the instrument p. 94 features drawings and instructions for bowing on the instrument with a straw in the “F” hole, and through a tube attached to the strings 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) p. 218 defines staccato and describes how to play staccato bow strokes bow strokes p. 223 introduces hooked bowing as two staccato notes in the same direction 1.7 Direction changes p. 82 bow direction changes are introduced in the pre-bowing “Rosin Rap” exercises in which students say “down” and “up” as they bow on rosin 1.8 Short slurs p. 156 defines slurs, describes two methods to teach slurring from trills and slurred staccato; the next several exercises use slurs p. 160 features slurs across string changes 1.9 String crossings p. 98 introduces string crossings with drawings and instructions for raising 62

and lowering the right elbow for violin/viola, cello, and bass 1.10 Basic bow distribution 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and p. 201 directs students to use a slow bow when playing whole notes placement (contact point and part of bow) Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal p. 48 features four-beat echo pattern for teacher to play and students to echo patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a using D major tetrachord pizzicato tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities p. 65 features patterns for the teacher to play and students to echo using the (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, notes of the D major scale pizzicato then solfege) p. 95 provides sample open string patterns for teacher to play and students to echo using the D and A strings p. 139 provides sample patterns of notes on the G string for teacher to play and students to echo p. 173 provides sample patterns of F sharp and F natural for the teacher to play and students to echo p. 179 provides sample patterns using the notes of the D major scale as well as F natural and C natural for the teacher to play and students to echo p. 196 provides sample patterns for the teacher to play and students to echo using notes on the C string for viola and cello p. 207 provides sample patterns using the notes on the violin E string for the teacher to play and students to echo p. 215 provides sample patterns using the fourth finger B on the violin E string for the teacher to play and students to echo 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, p. 255 instructs students to improvise and later notate a melody using the D and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a major pentatonic scale tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 44 addresses counting and encourages the teacher to count, sing, and clap singing or chanting rhythm patterns all exercises with the students before playing them; line 8 “Count Carefully” is preceded by the directive to “keep a steady beat when playing and resting” p. 68 reminds the teacher to continually review the counting system and recommends that students count aloud each exercise while they play p. 107 directs teacher to introduce eighth notes counting exercise 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter p. 117 introduces 2/4 time signature while playing rhythm patterns p. 146 introduces common time and instructs the students to practice conducting in 4/4 time to reinforce the feeling of the time signature p. 150 introduces 3/4 time signature 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 39 defines rest symbol containing rests 63

1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 155 defines ties containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 162 defines upbeats containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 254 instructs students to improvise rhythms on given pitches corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 78 directs students to notate pitches that spell words on the staff in the techniques based on common objectives appropriate clef for the instrument p. 255 instructs students to improvise and later notate a melody using the D major pentatonic scale 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform p. 39-80 the first 36 exercises feature the note names in the note head; new basic music notation and symbols associated symbols are introduced in orange boxes before appearing in an exercise with the following skills and understandings to p. 144 instructs students to write in the note names of the G major scale each corresponding curricular level before playing it 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and p. 103 details a four-step process for combining right and left hand skills symbols while reading music 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root p. 132 defines chord only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following p. 90 introduces the D major key signature key signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their p. 140 introduces the G major key signature relative minors) p. 183 box introduces the C major key signature 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 49 introduces sharp symbol and defines natural p. 174 introduces and defines natural symbol 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working p. 196 includes a message to violin and bass students about the importance of cooperatively with peers to produce a quality team work and encourages patience while the viola and cello students learn musical performance the notes on the C string p. 207 includes a message to viola and cello students to promote team work while violin and bass students learn the notes on the E string 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and p. 130 instructs the teacher to discuss appropriate concert etiquette venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic p. 229 introduces dynamics variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point 64 of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 88 briefly describes the life and music of Mozart and directs the teacher to distinguishing characteristics of composers and play recorded examples of Mozart’s work styles from selected repertoire p. 128 briefly describes life and music of Beethoven and directs the teacher to play recorded examples of Beethoven’s work p. 136 briefly describes life and music of Jacques Offenbach and directs the teacher to discuss similarities between European operettas and Broadway musicals p. 191 briefly describes life and music of Thomas Tallis p. 217 directs the teacher tore play recorded examples of the music of Brahms for the students before playing exercise 166 “Academic Festival Overture Theme” p. 190 briefly describes the life and music of Rossini and directs the teacher to play recorded examples of Rossini’s music 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles p. 163 describes Latin American music; exercise 117 is a Caribbean folk song p. 117 describes Far Eastern music and exercise 125 is a Far Eastern folk song p. 188 describes Russian folk songs and exercise 139 is a Russian folk song p. 236 describes African music, and exercise 189 is a Kenyan warrior song 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Orchestra Expressions

Orchestra Expressions (2004) by DeBerry Brungard, Alexander, Anderson, and Dackow has a very detailed teacher’s manual with 969 pages divided into four volumes. The teacher’s manual consists of scripted lesson plans for teaching a beginning string class and contains more pedagogical text addressed to the teacher than any other method in this study. Orchestra

Expressions covers most of the baseline learning tasks in Content Areas 1A Body Format, 1B

Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge, the content areas of the Executive Skills and Knowledge category. Within the second category, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, the method addresses at least one learning task in each content area, including

2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2C

Creative Musicianship, 2D Music Literacy, and 2E Ensemble Skills. In the third category, 65

Artistic Skills and Knowledge, the method covers Content Areas 3B Historical and Cultural

Elements and 3B Evaluation of Music and Music Performances, but does not address 3A

Expressive Elements.

Table 14 identifies the specific learning tasks that appear in Orchestra Expressions.

Table 14

Baseline Learning Tasks in Orchestra Expressions

Baseline Learning Task Orchestra Expressions Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) p. 4 introduces “perfect posture” warm-up exercise on all instruments p. 8-10 instructs students to practice perfect posture in rest position as illustrated in color photographs p. 31 introduces playing position warm-ups 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and p. 20-21 introduces playing position for violin/viola with stepwise instructions viola and color photographs 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 22 introduces playing position for cello with stepwise instructions and color photographs 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 23 introduces sitting and standing playing position for bass with stepwise instructions and color photographs 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 4-5, 16, 19, 28, 36, 37, 43, 46, 47, 56, 62, 80, 86, 98, 106, 112, 126, 134, 142, 154, 166, 172, 178, 188, 196, 204, 214, 224, 232, 244, 256, 262, 268, 278, 288, 298, 304, 314, 324, 334, 346, 364, 370, 382, 392, 400, 408, 416, 422, 442, 448, 454, 460, 474, 484, 492, 502, 508, 520, 530, 540, 548, 560, 574, 588, 602, 612, 620, 636, 648, 654, 670, 680, 688, 694, 700, 714, 722, 742, 752, 758, 772, 780, 786, 798, 806, 812, 826, 838, 844, 854, 862, 868, 874, 884, 890, 902, 910, 918, 930, 934, 946, 952, 958, 964, 968 instructs the teacher to have students perform left hand shaping warm-up exercises with and without instruments p. 41-42 introduces left hand playing position with stepwise instructions and color photographs for violin/viola and cello/bass p. 110-111, 132-133 instructs the teacher to have students play with the tips of the left hand fingers to create a “tunnel” effect so that the higher adjacent string will sound when four fingers are on the D string p. 113-116 introduces initial left hand finger placement on the D string with stepwise instructions, color photographs, a fingerboard diagram, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 119, 127, 206, 237, 238, 249, 338, 350 instructs the teacher to make sure that students are “pressing firmly” into the string to make a clear sound p. 126, 346 instructs the teacher to review left hand finger placement p. 135-136 provides color photographs and instructions for the teacher to assess left hand finger placement p. 155, 156, 166, 172 instructs the teacher to assess left hand position and finger placement 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 29, 36, 62, 73, 86, 98, 106, 112, 126, 188, 196, 232, 256, 262, 334, 370, 392, 400, 408, 484, 602, 620, 648, 654, 670, 680, 688, 694, 806, 812, 826, 838 instructs the teacher to have students do left hand finger pattern drill without instruments p. 142-145 introduces the 2-3 finger pattern for violin/viola and the open finger pattern for cello with stepwise instructions, color photographs, a fingerboard 66

diagram, and staff notation p. 179 introduces shifting from third position to first position for the bass p. 234-236, 245-248, 335-337, 347-349, 729-730, 813-814 introduces finger patterns on a new string for violin, viola, cello, and bass with stepwise instructions, color photographs, a fingerboard diagram, and staff notation p. 622-623, 655-657 introduces the low second finger pattern for violin/viola and the second finger pattern for cello and bass with stepwise instructions, color photographs, a fingerboard diagram, and staff notation p. 618-619, 634-635, 658-659, 668-669, 678-679, 686-687 reminds the teacher about the finger pattern required for F/C natural p. 631 instructs the teacher to address finger pattern differences for bass in first and third positions p. 701, 705 introduces fourth position for the cello with a color photograph, a fingerboard diagram, and staff notation p. 820 introduces second position for the bass 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - p. 11-12 instructs students to play pizzicato in “rest position” violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 38-39 introduces pizzicato in playing position with stepwise instructions and color photographs for violin/viola and cello/bass 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all p. 90-91 introduce the bow hold with stepwise instructions and color photographs instruments for violin/viola, cello, and bass p. 101, 107, 120, 127, 137 instructs the teacher to review the bow hold p. 148 instructs the student to check the bow hold p. 175 instructs the teacher to assess student bow holds 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 17, 28, 36, 46, 51, 56, 62, 72, 80, 86, 98, 106, 112, 126, 134, 142, 154, 172, 178, 188, 196, 204, 214, 224, 232, 244, 256, 262, 268, 278, 288, 298, 304, 314, 324, 334, 346, 364, 370, 382, 392, 400, 408, 416, 422, 442, 448, 454, 460, 474, 484, 492, 502, 508, 520, 530, 540, 548, 560, 574, 588, 602, 612, 620, 636, 648, 654, 670, 680, 688, 694, 700, 714, 722, 742, 752, 758, 772, 780, 786, 798, 806, 812, 826, 838, 844, 854, 862, 868, 875, 884, 890, 902, 910, 918, 930, 934, 946, 952, 958, 964, 968 instructs the teacher to have students do right hand shaping warm-up exercises p. 47-50 introduce the bow hold on a pencil with stepwise instructions and color photographs for violin/viola and cello/bass; German bass bow hold is introduced on the bow only p. 92, 102, 108, 120 students perform rhythmic shadow bowing exercises p. 787, 789, 798, 799 instructs the teacher to have students shadow bow a tune 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) p. 589, 602 introduces staccato bow strokes bow strokes 1.7 Direction changes p. 92 introduces down and up bow movement and symbols 1.8 Short slurs p. 510 introduces slurs 1.9 String crossings p. 128-130 introduces bow levels for different strings on each instrument with color photographs for each instrument p. 147, 158 instructs the teacher to review and assess bow levels of string crossings 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 477 instructs the teacher to explain and demonstrate bow division p. 520, 531 instructs the teacher to explain planning bow division when slurring two notes p. 551, 560, instructs the teacher to explain appropriate bow division in specific tunes 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and p. 727, 741 instructs the teacher to have bass students alter the speed and weight placement (contact point and part of bow) of the bow to achieve a good tone quality on the E string p. 810-811, 814, 824-825, 826, 836-837, 838 instructs violas and cellos to use a slower bow stroke on the low C string 67

Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, p. 184, 503-504, 583, 822 instructs the teacher to have students improvise a and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a simple melody within specific guidelines tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse p. 24, 40 instructs students to count, clap, sing, and play rhythmic patterns with a while singing or chanting rhythm patterns steady beat 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse p. 47, 57, 64 instructs the teacher to have students play a rhythmic exercises while playing rhythm patterns pizzicato 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while playing rhythm patterns 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 63 introduces quarter rests containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 508-509 introduces ties containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 561 introduces upbeats and anacrusis containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 31, 58 instructs the teacher to have students improvise rhythmic patterns on corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 open strings 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm p. 101 instructs students to improvise pizzicato using their names patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 138, 162, 168, 172, 252, 284, 354, 378, 455, 466, 684, 864, 953, 965 provide techniques based on common objectives composition worksheets for students to complete 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 68

2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform p. 63 introduces bar line, clef sign, music staff, quarter note, rest, repeat basic music notation and symbols associated p. 65 initial exercises indicate the note name in the note head with the following skills and understandings p. 87 introduces ledger lines to each corresponding curricular level 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation All exercises and tunes appear in standard musical notation; initial exercises have and symbols the note letter name in the note head. 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following p. 475 instructs the teacher to explain the key signature of D Major key signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with p. 828-829 introduces C Major their relative minors) 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 146 introduces sharps p. 621 introduces naturals 1.6 Students correctly identify musical p. 82 introduces ABA form with music listening and visual art examples forms: AB and ABA p. 228, 328, 615, 724, 885 instructs the teacher to have students complete a listening map and analyze the form of a piece of music 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style p. 416, 930 instructs the teacher to discuss appropriate concert etiquette and venue of musical performance p. 930 provides a concert etiquette worksheet 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from p. 4-83 instructs the teacher to have students listen to “Les Toreadors” from diverse cultures and musical eras Carmen by Georges Bizet as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 1-3 p. 86-229 instructs the teacher to have students listen to “Ode to Joy” from Symphony No. 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 4-8 p. 232-330 instructs the teacher to have students listen to “Hoedown” from Rodeo by Aaron Copland as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 9-11 p. 334-463 instructs the teacher to have students listen to Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 by Johann Sebastian Bach as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 12-16 p. 466-471 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to a current masterwork as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 17-18 p. 474-616 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” by Johann Strauss, II as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 19-22 69

p. 620-725 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to Danse Infernale from The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 23-25 p. 728-809 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to Spring from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 26-28 p. 812-887 instructs the teacher to have students listen to the Academic Festival Overture by Johannes Brahms as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 29-31 p. 910 instructs the teacher to have students listen to a selected masterwork as the opening and closing music for each lesson in units 32-36 p. 920 instructs the teacher to have students listen to and discuss Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks” 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 67 instructs the teacher to discuss opera and tell the story of Carmen distinguishing characteristics of composers p. 67 instructs the teacher to discuss the style and instruments used in Spanish and styles from selected repertoire dance music p. 68 instructs the teacher to identify Georges Bizet’s position on the music history timeline and relate “Les Toreadors” from Carmen to Picasso’s painting “Bullfighting Scene” p. 76 instructs the teacher to discuss 19th century style as heard in Georges Bizet’s “Les Toreadors” from Carmen p. 81 instructs the teacher to have students to complete a listening map for Bizet’s “Les Toreadors” from Carmen p. 87, 352 instructs the teacher to discuss and show students a picture of a steel drum p. 118 instructs the teacher to discuss jazz music and show a picture of Louis Armstrong p. 189 instructs the teacher to discuss the lyrics and historical background of “Good King Wenceslas” p. 209 instructs the teacher to discuss the genre of the symphony and indicate Beethoven on a music history timeline p. 217 instructs the teacher to discuss Slavonic folk dance music p. 220 instructs the teacher to discuss the life and music of Beethoven and show a picture of Beethoven p. 281, 290 instructs the teacher to discuss India and Hindustani music p. 291, 642 instructs the teacher to have students listen to and discuss Blues music p. 308 instructs the teacher to discuss the American fiddle tune “Bile ‘em Cabbage Down” p. 309 instructs the teacher to indicate Copland on a music history timeline p. 310 instructs the teacher to discuss the story of the ballet Rodeo p. 319 instructs the teacher to discuss the life and musical style of Aaron Copland p. 376 instructs the teacher to discuss Islamic music and show the students pictures of Middle Eastern instruments p. 410 provides program notes for several previously learned melodies p. 428 instructs the teacher to discuss Baroque music and instruments p. 438 instructs the teacher to discuss the life and music of J. S. Bach p. 480 instructs the teacher to explain the historical background of “Suo Gan” p. 487 instructs the teacher to discuss Dvorak’s New World Symphony p. 525 instructs the teacher to locate Austria on a map and discuss Haydn’s symphonies p. 531 instructs the teacher to discuss the historical background of “Long Long Ago” p. 542 instructs the teacher to discuss the historical background of “Jasmine Flower” p. 556 instructs the teacher to discuss the historical background of “Sweet Betsy From Pike” p. 597 instructs the teacher to indicate Strauss’s “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” on the music history timeline and discuss the style and history of the music p. 608 instructs the teacher to discuss the life and music of Johann Strauss, II p. 639 instructs the teacher to discuss Japanese koto music p. 709-710 instructs the teacher to indicate Stravinsky’s The Firebird on a music 70

history timeline and discuss the work p. 718 instructs the teacher to discuss Igor Stravinsky and his music p. 758-759 instructs the teacher to discuss influences on Latin American musical style p. 773-774 instructs the teacher to discuss instruments used in latin American music p. 787 instructs the teacher to discuss the origin and musical characteristics of “Happy Birthday to You” p. 789 instructs the teacher to discuss Baroque music p. 794 instructs the teacher to indicate Vivaldi on a music history timeline and discuss his music p. 799 instructs the teacher to have students listen to a Latin accompaniment and describe the instruments and musical features p. 801 instructs the teacher to discuss the life and music of Vivaldi p. 832 instructs the teacher to discuss the music of Brahms p. 847 instruct the teacher to discuss the musical characteristics of a Japanese folk song p. 856 instructs the teacher to locate Australia on a map and discuss the culture in relation to an Australian folk song p. 863 instructs the teacher to discuss the didjeridu p. 869-870, 877 instructs the teacher to discuss the life and music of Johannes Brahms and locate him on a music history timeline p. 894 instructs the teacher to discuss Puerto Rican music p. 911 instructs the teacher to discuss the historical background of a fiddle tune p. 925 instructs the teacher to discuss the jaw harp p. 935 instructs the teacher to have students write program notes for concert repertoire p. 936-941 provide sample program notes p. 969 provides a listening activity worksheet for students to describe a piece of music 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group p. 299, 365, 394, 695, 780, 875 provides a worksheet for students to evaluate performance using established criteria their classmates’ compositions p. 449 provides a worksheet for students to evaluate the class’s performance p. 470 provides a worksheet for students to evaluate a recorded piece of music p. 541 provides a worksheet for students to evaluate classmates’ performances p. 614, 947 provides a worksheet for students to evaluate personal and group performances 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

New Directions for Strings

New Directions for Strings: A Comprehensive String Method by Erwin, Horvath,

McCashin, and Mitchell (2007) is the only method in this study that addresses one or more of the learning tasks in every content area described in the ASTA String Curriculum. The 535-page teacher manual is organized into eighteen units that are divided into preparation and review skills, focus instruction, review for integration, and a skills assessment. Each unit contains a large amount of pedagogical text addressed to the teacher, explaining specific string techniques 71 in detail and providing teaching tips. Concerning the first standards category, Executive Skills and Knowledge, New Directions for Strings begins with a detailed analysis of posture and instrument position for each instrument, introduces left hand position in terms of tetrachords, and covers every learning task related to Content Area 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge. Within the second standards category, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, the method teaches Content

Areas 2A and 2B Tonal and Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training with melodic and rhythmic echo exercises, 2C Creative Musicianship with composition and improvisation exercises, 2D

Music Literacy with a color-coded introduction to open strings, and 2E Ensemble Skills with encouragement to listen to ensemble balance. As to the third standards category, Artistic Skills and Knowledge, the book briefly addresses Content Area 3A Expressive Elements by introducing dynamic, and more thoroughly covers Content Areas 3B Historical and Cultural

Elements and 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances with instructions to discuss and listen to music of various composers and styles such as Vivaldi, Beethoven, Sibelius, and

African American music.

Table 15 indicates the specific learning tasks that are found in New Directions for Strings.

Table 15

Baseline Learning Tasks in New Directions for Strings

Baseline Learning Task New Directions for Strings Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on p. 26-31 provide an in-depth analysis of correct posture for string instruments all instruments according to the I-beam model of the alignment of the shoulders, spine, and pelvis; components of correct posture include: feet flat on the floor, I-beam between the shoulder, spine and hips, shoulders in line with the hips, head in line with the pine, and sitting tall p. 65 instructs the teacher to have students demonstrate and describe the components of good posture 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 29 describes six steps to basic playing position on the violin and viola p. 31 repeats stepwise instructions for playing position on violin and viola and includes line drawings of children demonstrating good position in practice (guitar) and playing position 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 29-30 describes six steps to basic playing position on the cello and bass 72

p. 32 repeats stepwise instructions for playing position on cello and includes line drawings of children demonstrating good position 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 29 describes six steps to basic playing position for the bass p. 32 repeats stepwise instructions for playing position on bass and includes line drawings of children demonstrating good position 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 37-38 provides line drawings of the hand shape, hand position on the fingerboard, and a fingerboard diagram for fingered notes on the D string for violin, viola, cello, and bass; D and A positions are provided for the bass p. 66-70 provides a detailed introduction to left hand placement, including specific physical directives for upper and lower strings, a discussion of finger markers, teaching strategies, and line drawings of the hand shape, left hand on the fingerboard, and a fingerboard diagram for initial fingered notes p. 76 includes line drawings and stepwise instructions for developing the left hand position with the correct contact points p. 81 instructs the teacher to have the students evaluate their left hand position with a classmate p. 105 describes the left hand shape in detail, including block fingering, hand shapes, finger tunnels p. 106-107 defines tetrachord and illustrates the G down tetrachord with a drawing of the left hand, a fingerboard diagram, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 108 instructs the teacher to explain to the students that hand shape is responsible for determining intervals p. 137 instructs the teacher to have students with large hands to take fingers off the string when going between a fingered note on one string and the adjacent open string 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 122, 123, 132 describes left hand pivot (one finger replaces another using a small shifting motion) for the basses with instructions for a bass pivot exercise p. 124 instructs the teacher to have students to set the left hand position correctly before beginning a piece p. 136 instructs the teacher to review pivoting with the bass students p. 143 describes in detail the importance of the block hand frame for intonation and recommends that students play descending tetrachord patterns to practice correct hand shape p. 145 illustrates the “D down tetrachord” with drawings of the hand shapes, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 159 introduces the fourth finger for violin and viola with drawings of the hand shape, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation p. 185-186 includes a fingerboard diagram and staff notation for the fingering of the D major scale for violin, viola, cello, and bass (D and A positions) p. 245-246 introduces the “C down tetrachord” with drawings of the hand shapes, fingerboard diagrams, and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 316-318 describe in detail technique and teaching strategies for teaching finger patterns that use low second finger for violin and viola, and second finger for cello and bass p. 320 illustrates the (low) second finger hand shape with drawings of the hand shape and hand on the fingerboard and a fingerboard diagram p. 323 includes fingerboard diagrams of low second finger notes for violin and viola, and second finger notes for cello and bass on all string p. 357-358 introduces the “C down tetrachord” and the “F down tetrachord” with fingerboard diagrams and staff notation for violin, viola, cello, and bass 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - p. 33 instructs violin and viola students to pluck the strings in practice position violin, viola (guitar position) 73

1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 33 instructs students to pluck the strings in playing position p. 55-56 illustrate and instruct the teacher to explain the circular motion of the arm while playing pizzicato p. 68 instructs the teacher to have the students do left hand pizzicato with the fourth finger 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all p. 84 describes three bow hold preparation exercises instruments p. 85-88 include stepwise instructions for forming the bow hold for violin, viola, cello, and bass (French and German) with line drawings of each step and the correct bow hold p. 103 instructs the teacher to have students list the components of a correct bow hold and then evaluate a classmate 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 89, 91 instructs the students to do bowing exercises first with air bows before bowing on the instrument 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) p. 297 defines détaché and legato bowing bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) p. 200 introduces staccato bow strokes bow strokes 1.7 Direction changes p. 83 describes bow direction changes in detail for the teacher p. 86, 87, 88 identifies the symbols and defines up bow and down bow for violin/viola, cello, and bass 1.8 Short slurs p. 283 pre-slurring trill exercise p. 284 introduces slurs 1.9 String crossings p. 90 includes line drawings of the bow levels required by each string p. 281-282 describes “advanced string crossing skills” in detail p. 290 introduces string crossings with stopped and smooth slurs with color- coded drawings of bow levels 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 82-83 identifies the frog, middle, and tip of the bow and describes the characteristics of playing in the lower half, middle, and upper half of the bow p. 168 identifies the parts of the bow and instructs the teacher to help students plan bow distribution p. 182 instructs the teacher to have students write in bow division markings in a review piece p. 209 instructs the teacher to help the students plan bow distribution for dotted quarter notes followed by an eighth note p. 215 written quiz of the parts of the bow (frog, tip, upper half, lower half, middle) 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and p. 82 describes the variables of speed, weight, and sounding point placement (contact point and part of bow) p. 83 describes parallel “lanes” between the bridge and fingerboard in which the bow plays p. 97 instructs the teacher to use the concepts of speed, weight, and contact point to teach dynamics p. 166 describes the bow placement and the importance of controlling each part of the bow p. 230 instructs the student to play with a good sound and big tone by combining weight, speed, and contact point p. 245, 252, 321 describes the slower bow speed needed to play on the bass E string p. 310 instructs the teacher to teach students to save bow during long notes Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal p. 45, 69, 85, 105, 123, 144, 167, 184, 230, 245, 282, 334, 356, 382, 401 patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a instructs the teacher to perform rhythmic and echo patterns in which the tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities teacher plays and the student echoes (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 74

1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies p. 316 instructs the teacher to have students change familiar tunes from D (major-to-minor, minor-to-major) major to D minor by altering F sharp to F natural 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, p. 35 instructs the teacher to have the students improvise using the open D and and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a A strings tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) p. 64, 112, 254, 363 provides a notated improvisation ostinato loop over which students can improvise rhythmic or melodic patterns p. 81 instructs the teacher to have the students improvise four measures in 4/4 meter quarter notes and the pitches D, E, F sharp while the class places an ostinato p. 103, 121, 142, 150, 165, 182, 228, 244, 263, 264, 280, 315, 333, 355, 380, 400, 425 instructs the teacher to have the students improvise within specific guidelines 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 35, 39, 47, 51 instructs students to clap and count, clap and sing, and play singing or chanting rhythm patterns pizzicato for each tune 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 79 teaches counting with a ruler playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter p. 51 introduces 3/4 and 4/4 time signatures while playing rhythm patterns 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 47 introduces rests containing rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 320 introduces ties containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 313 labels upbeats containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 81 instructs the teacher to have the students improvise four measures in 4/4 corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 meter quarter notes and the pitches D, E, F sharp while the class places an ostinato p. 315 instructs the teacher to have students improvise rhythmic patterns 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 50 includes a composition exercise in which students write compositions techniques based on common objectives using D and A in quarter notes and rests p. 60 includes a composition exercise in which students complete partial measures using quarter and half notes and rests on open strings p. 65 instructs students write rhythmic compositions on the D string, as well as a four-measure piece using the D and A strings p. 81, 96, 103, 121, 142, 165, 182, 244, 263, 280, 315, 333, 355, 380, 400, 425 instructs the teacher to have the students write a short composition within 75

specific guidelines 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform p. 33 initial exercises use color-coded letter names basic music notation and symbols associated p. 44 instructs the teacher to use flash cards to teach musical symbols with the following skills and understandings to independently before having students read music each corresponding curricular level p. 47 includes color-coded open strings notated on the staff p. 72 introduces the musical alphabet p. 131 instructs students to write note names in the note head for violin, viola, and cello p. 141 instructs students to spell words by writing the note names p. 228 instructs the teacher to have the students evaluate their posture 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following p. 185 defines key signatures and identifies the key signature for D major key signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with p. 267 introduces the key of G major their relative minors) p. 357 introduces the key of C major 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 227 a written exercise in writing sharp symbols for each instrument in the appropriate clef p. 319 defines sharps, naturals and flats and includes an accidental writing exercise for each instrument 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay p. 382 instructs the teacher to have students listen for balance and rhythmic together as an ensemble precision when playing in an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple p. 97 instructs students to change bow lanes in order to change dynamics dynamic variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 160 includes a brief description of Ode to Joy as the theme from distinguishing characteristics of composers Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and styles from selected repertoire p. 179 brief description of Vivaldi’s four seasons p. 198 brief description of Offenbach p. 211 brief description of Dvorak p. 234 brief description of William Billings p. 236 brief description of Stephen Foster 76

p. 238, 420 brief description of Johannes Brahms p. 311 brief description of Jean Sibelius p. 338 brief description of Beethoven p. 339 brief description of African American songs before exercise 143 Kum Ba Yah p. 352 brief description of My Country Tis of Thee p. 367 brief description of African tune Funga Alafia p. 373 brief description of fiddle tune Cripple Creek p. 375 brief description of a minuet p. 377 brief description of Rossini p. 414 brief description of Bizet p. 417 brief description of Handel p. 423 brief description of Karl Goldmark 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group p. 81 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to a piece of music with performance using established criteria rests and describe the musical impact of the pauses p. 103 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to Haydn’s Surprise Symphony and describe how dynamics are used in the symphony p. 121 instructs the teacher to play Jingle Bells with rhythmic variation and have the students identify which measures are altered p. 142 instructs the teacher to have students listen to orchestral music in 3/4 or 4/4 and ask them to identify the meter p. 165 instructs the teacher to play the “D down tetrachord” with various rhythms and ask the students to describe the musical elements heard p. 182 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to several excerpts of orchestral music with expansive dynamic ranges and diagram the dynamic contour of the music p. 228 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to music that uses major scales and identify how many major scales they hear p. 244 instructs the teacher to have the students to listen to pieces with varied dynamics and describe how dynamics make it more interesting p. 263 instructs the teacher to have students play two similar pieces and describe how they differ p. 280 instructs the teacher to have the students listen to folk songs and identify similarities between them p. 315 instructs the teacher to have students listen to and discuss pieces with staccato and legato bowing p. 333 instructs the teacher to have students listen to a piece with chromatic alteration and write about how it affects the musical value p. 355 instructs the teacher to have students listen to a blues recording and write about the character of the swing articulation p. 380 instructs the teacher to have students listen to and write about music with obvious syncopations p. 400 instructs the teacher to have students listen to and describe the ensemble skills involved in a string piece p. 425 instructs the teacher to have students perform solos on each instrument and have the class write about the differences between the instruments 1.2 Students describe personal preference in p. 65 instructs the teacher to have students listen to a piece of music and music listening and group performance describe how it makes them feel

Simply Strings

Simply Strings: A Standards-Based, Comprehensive String Method was written by

Odegaard, a member of the ASTA String Curriculum authorial committee. With 104 pages in the 77 teacher edition, it is one of the more compact method books reviewed in this study and includes notated music for only violin and bass. Pedagogical text addressed to the teacher provides detailed descriptions of holding the instrument and bow, as well as small text boxes titled “tips” that occur every few pages and contain teaching strategies and reminders. In standards category one Executive Skills and Knowledge, the method covers Content Areas 1A Body Format, 1B

Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge with stepwise instructions and photographs. As to standards category two, Musicianship Skills and

Knowledge, the method addresses Content Areas 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2B

Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2C Creative Musicianship, and 2D Music Literacy, but not 2E Ensemble Skills. In the third standards category, Artistic Skills and Knowledge, the book cursorily covers Content Areas 3A Expressive Elements and 3B Historical and Cultural

Elements, but does not address Content Area 3B Evaluation of Music and Music Performances.

Table 16 indicates the learning tasks addressed in Simply Strings.

Table 16

Baseline Learning Tasks in Simply Strings

Baseline Learning Task Simply Strings Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all p. 8, 10 instructs the teacher to review posture/position steps instruments p. 19 includes reminder phrases for the teacher to use to prompt students to check posture and position p. 62, 90 reminds students to check the position of the left arm 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 6 Stepwise instructions for playing position for violin and viola 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 6 Stepwise instructions for playing position for cello 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 6-7 Stepwise instructions for standing and sitting playing position for bass 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 6-7 introduces left hand position p. 9 introduces initial fingered notes for each instrument with staff notation and a photograph of the left hand position; all instruments start on F sharp on the D string p. 26 introduces A on the G string for bass with a photograph of the left hand and staff notation p. 38, 44, 52, 62, 66, 76, 78, 80, 88, 90 introduces new notes with staff notation and a photograph of the left hand 78

p. 55 introduces second and a half position for bass 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 82, 84 introduces low second finger for violin and viola, and second finger for cello and bass with staff notation and a photograph of the left hand p. 97 introduces fourth finger for violin and viola 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 9 introduces pizzicato with black and white photographs of each instrument p. 10 instructs the teacher to demonstrate pizzicato 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments p. 18-19 introduces the bow hold for violin, viola, cello, and bass (French and German) with stepwise instructions for teaching the bow hold p. 20-21 includes stepwise instructions and black and white photographs of forming the bow hold for violin, viola, cello, and bass (French and German) p. 28, 30, 33 reminds the student to follow all steps for making the bow hold before playing 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow p. 46 introduces staccato bowing strokes 1.7 Direction changes p. 25 defines down and up bow symbols 1.8 Short slurs 1.9 String crossings 1.10 Basic bow distribution 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement p. 18 instructs the teacher to explain that bow placement, speed, and (contact point and part of bow) weight work together to produce a good tone p. 56 instructs students to use a slower bow on longer notes Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic p. 10, 12, 14, 16, 22, 23 instructs the student to name intervals and motion (within a tetrachord) identify if an interval goes up or down 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major-to- minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and p. 35, 38 introduces tonic and dominant and instructs the teacher to have dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, students identify whether they hear tonic or dominant chords while pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) listening to chords 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or p. 29 call and response improvisation exercise in which students arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; improvise a musical “answer” to a question neutral syllable, then solfege) p. 32 instructs students to improvise and then notate a four beat ostinato p. 42, 48, 64 instructs the students to improvise a melody using familiar notes and rhythms 79

2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while p. 12 defines 2/4 time signature and instructs student to count aloud playing rhythm patterns p. 55 defines 3/4 time signature p. 58 defines 4/4 time signature 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing p. 14 introduces quarter rests rests 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing ties 1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns containing p. 86 defines pickup note upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns p. 72 instructs the teacher to have students improvise rhythmic corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 variations 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from p. 12-16 students learn rhythms for each tune by learning the lyrics speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 23, 25, 70 includes a composition exercise that instructs students to techniques based on common objectives compose a melody using familiar notes and rhythms 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own physical language for conducting 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic p. 10 students read musical notation from the beginning music notation and symbols associated with the following skills and understandings to each corresponding curricular level 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and symbols 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) 1.4 Students correctly identify the following key p. 14 defines key signature and introduces the key of D major signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their relative p. 64 instructs the student to check the key signature minors) 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 8 defines sharp symbol 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB p. 30-31 defines form and introduces AA form and ABA p. 38 introduces AB form and AA1 form p. 40, 42, 48 instructs students to label the form of a piece 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal 80 demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic p. 14 defines dynamics variation p. 28 describes how to play piano 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique (WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 50 brief description of Mozart distinguishing characteristics of composers and p. 74 brief description of Beethoven styles from selected repertoire p. 99 brief description of Vivaldi p. 101 brief description of Dvorak 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Sound Innovations for String Orchestra

Sound Innovations for String Orchestra: A Revolutionary Method for Beginning Musicians by Phillips, Boonshaft, and Sheldon (2010) addresses one or more learning tasks in almost all of the ASTA String Curriculum content areas in its 200-page teacher manual. In standards category one, Executive Skills and Knowledge, the method covers Content Areas 1A Body Format, 1B

Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, and 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge with initial instructions and drawings of correct technique and frequent reminders to check position, left hand position, and bow hold. As to standards category two, Musicianship Skills and Knowledge, the book addresses Content Areas 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training with aural discrimination exercises, 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training with explanations of rhythmic concepts and reminders to keep a steady beat, 2C Creative Musicianship with composition and conducting exercises, 2D Music Literacy with explanations of musical notation, and 2E Ensemble Skills with rules for concert etiquette. Within the third standards category, 81

Artistic Skills and Knowledge, Content Area 3B Historical and Cultural Elements is addressed through brief descriptions of various composers, but Content Areas 3A Expressive Elements and

3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances are not covered.

Table 17 indicates the learning tasks found in Sound Innovations for String Orchestra.

Table 17

Baseline Learning Tasks in Sound Innovations

Baseline Learning Task Sound Innovations Executive Skills and Knowledge 1A Body Format 1.1 Establish posture (sitting and standing) on all p. 7 encourages the student to “use a good sitting or standing posture” instruments while playing p. 12 reminder to maintain good posture while playing p. 20 reminder to keep feet flat on the floor p. 28 reminder to maintain a straight back p. 44 reminder to relax the shoulders while playing p. 65 reminder to hold the instrument correctly for a better sound p. 83 reminder that good tone starts with posture and playing position p. 91 reminder to play in a relaxed manner p. 97 reminder to keep the left wrist straight p. 114 instructs students to evaluate their stand partner’s playing position p. 155 instructs the teacher to help students position the music stand correctly to ensure good posture, playing position, and visibility 1.2 Basic playing position for violin and viola p. 7 instructions about holding the instrument and line drawings of a child holding the violin and viola in guitar position and shoulder position p. 94, 148, 152, 161 reminder for violins and violas to bring the elbow under the neck p. 101, 162 reminder to keep violins and violas parallel to the floor p. 153 reminder for violins to use less weight when playing on the E string p. 159 reminder for violas to use more left-arm weight when playing on the C string 1.3 Basic playing position for cello p. 8 instructions about holding the instrument and line drawings of a child holding the cello p. 159 reminder for cellos to use more left-arm weight when playing on the C string 1.4 Basic playing position for bass p. 8 instructions about holding the instrument and line drawings of a child holding the bass in sitting and standing position p. 151 reminder for basses to keep the left elbow up when playing F# on the E string p. 152 reminder for basses to use more arm weight 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Initial left hand finger placement p. 14 features seven steps to placing the left hand fingers on the D string for violin/viola, cello, and bass and includes a line drawing of the hand on the fingerboard for each instrument p. 17 reminder to place the left hand fingers firmly on the string p. 20, 21 reminder to prepare the left hand fingers for the next note while playing and to relax the left hand p. 23 reminder that left hand fingers should be curved p. 31 reminder to keep the left hand fingers down as long as possible while ascending 82

p. 64, 95 reminder to keep the fingers close to the fingerboard p. 96 reminder to relax the left thumb p. 115 reminder to keep the left hand fingers down as much as possible p. 125 reminder to keep the left hand thumb bent 1.2 Initial finger patterns p. 15 introduces G with a drawing of the left hand and staff notation p. 24 basses play high D in third position, but no directives for shifting p. 78-79 introduces fourth finger for violins and violas with line drawing of the hand position p. 78 introduces G and A in third position on the D string for bass p. 118 introduces low second finger for violin and viola, second finger position for cello and bass p. 119 reminder for violins and violas not to let the third finger come back when playing low second finger p. 119, 120, 123, 125 instructs violin and viola students to practice sliding the second finger between high and low positions p. 132 reminder to check finger position 1.3 Lateral finger movement 1.4 Vertical technique 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge 1.1 Perform pizzicato in guitar position - violin, p. 7 directs the student to pluck open strings with the right thumb in viola guitar position for violin and viola 1.2 Perform pizzicato in playing position p. 7-8 direct the student to anchor the thumb on the fingerboard and pluck the strings with the index finger 1.3 Establishing initial bow hold - all instruments p. 37-38 four steps with drawings of each step to establishing the initial bow hold on a pencil for violin, viola, cello, and bass (French and German bow hold) p. 42-43 four steps with drawings of each step to establishing the initial bow hold on the bow for violin, viola, cello, and bass (French and German bow hold) 1.4 Perform pre-bowing exercises p. 46-47 pre-bowing exercises in the air for all instruments and on the shoulder for violin and viola p. 48 rhythmic exercises for air-bowing p. 51-52 instructions accompanied by line drawings of placing the bow on the string in the lower, middle, and upper parts of the bow for violin, viola, cello, and bass 1.5 Perform with simple connected (détaché) bow p. 74 reminder to fold and unfold the elbow when playing eighth notes strokes 1.6 Perform with simple separated (staccato) bow p. 106 introduces staccato bowing style with instructions to stop the bow strokes between notes p. 131 reminder to separate notes marked staccato 1.7 Direction changes p. 124 reminder to change bow directions a smoothly as possible 1.8 Short slurs p. 109 introduces slurs 1.9 String crossings p. 55-56 description and line drawings of the right arm level for each string for violin, viola, cello, and bass p. 57, 58 reminder to watch the level of the right arm during string crossings p. 93 reminder for violins and violas to raise the right arm and for cellos to lower the right arm to play on the G string p. 158 reminder for violas and cellos to move the arm to the right level to play on the C string 1.10 Basic bow distribution p. 82 explains bow distribution in terms of using the upper half, lower half, and middle part of the bow with instructions to play rhythmic patterns in different parts of the bow for violin/viola, cello, and bass 1.11 Intro to weight, angle, speed, and placement p. 59 describes and illustrates bowing lanes (bow contact points between (contact point and part of bow) the bridge and the fingerboard) and reminds students to keep the bow parallel to the bridge p. 60, 61, 63, 64, 145 instructs students to check bow angle p. 66, 67 instructs students to memorize the exercise and watch the contact point while playing 83

p. 69 defines bow speed and instructs students to move the bow more slowly when playing half notes p. 75 reminder to slow down the bow when going from eighth notes to half or quarter notes p. 113 instructs the teacher to remind students to use a faster bow speed on quarter notes than eighth notes p. 127 introduces dynamics in terms of contact point, weight, and speed; diagrams illustrate bowing lanes for forte, mezzo forte, and piano p. 128, 129, 140 reminder to bow in the appropriate dynamic lane p. 139 reminder to move the bow slowly when playing whole notes p. 166 reminder for violas and cellos to let the bow sink firmly into the C string p. 173 point out that the bow moves in half-note rhythm when playing a dotted quarter slurred to an eighth note Musicianship Skills and Knowledge 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students perform, by ear, melodic tonal patterns (simple patterns and melodies within a tetrachord), in major and minor tonalities (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.2 Students identify whether two performed p. 30, 49 instructs students to compare two similar musical exercises melodic tonal patterns are the same or different. p. 35 instructs students to raise a hand when a new theme is played while listening to a recording p. 40 directs students to identify which lines of music are similar in Jingle Bells while listening to a recording 1.3 Students correctly associate the words high and low with relative pitch differences (e.g., with the use of Curwen hand symbols and vocal solfege) 1.4 Students correctly identify direction of melodic p. 39 asks students to identify notes that do not move in stepwise motion motion (within a tetrachord) 1.5 Students alter melodies and harmonies (major- to-minor, minor-to-major) 1.6 Students perform, by ear, primary (tonic and dominant) harmonic tonal patterns (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco; neutral syllable, then solfege) 1.7 Students improvise (vocally, pizzicato, and/or arco) melodic tonal patterns (within a tetrachord; neutral syllable, then solfege) 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training 1.1 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 10 the first few exercises include instructions for the teacher to count, singing or chanting rhythm patterns clap, and pluck the piece with the students p. 18 reminder to clap every exercise before playing it p. 19, 25 recommends that half the group claps while the other half plays p. 68, 69, 74, 75, 167, 168, 172 instructs the students to clap, sing, and play the piece 1.2 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while singing or chanting rhythm patterns 1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while p. 14, 50 reminder to play with a steady tempo playing rhythm patterns 1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter p. 9 defines time signature while playing rhythm patterns p. 83 introduces 2/4 time signature p. 88 introduces 3/4 time signature p. 114 introduces common time 1.5 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 11 exercise 3 includes rests (quarter rests are first identified on p. 9) containing rests p. 13 reminder that the piece is not complete until the final rest is finished p. 45 reminder to count through three rests in the last measure 1.6 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 104 defines ties containing ties 84

1.7 Students will perform rhythm patterns p. 106 defines pickup notes containing upbeats 1.8 Students will improvise rhythm patterns corresponding to Learning Tasks 1.1-1.7 2C Creative Musicianship 1.1 Rhythmic: Students derive rhythm patterns from speech and environmental sounds and link them with the motion of the bow-hand 1.2 Tonal (Melodic and Harmonic): Students create one-note solos against a class-generated accompaniment 1.3 Textural: Students reproduce sounds effects from their environment on their instruments (exploratory focus) 1.4 Compositional: Students invent scoring p. 70 features a composition exercise in which students are instructed to techniques based on common objectives compose a four-bar piece using D, E, F#, G, and A with quarter notes and half notes p. 138 features a composition exercise in which students are instructed to compose a variation on Baa-Baa Black Sheep p. 185 instructs students to improvise and later notate a melody using notes in the pentatonic scale 1.5 Creative leadership: Students invent their own p. 135 introduces basic conducting techniques and patterns for 4/4, 3/4 physical language for conducting and 2/4 p. 136 instructs half the ensemble to play while the other half conducts 2D Music Literacy 1.1 Students correctly identify and perform basic p. 9 explains the symbols used in musical notation music notation and symbols associated with the p. 23, 33, 100 directs students to write in the note names before playing following skills and understandings to each the exercise corresponding curricular level 1.2 Students sight-read basic music notation and p. 15 new notes are introduced with a line drawing of the finger on the symbols fingerboard and the pitch notated on the appropriate staff for each instrument 1.3 Students understand chord symbols (root only) p. 89 defines chord 1.4 Students correctly identify the following key p. 35 defines key signature and illustrates the key signature for D major signatures: C, G, D, and F Major (with their relative p. 92 introduces the key signature of G major minors) p. 127 introduces the key signature of C major 1.5 Students correctly identify accidentals p. 9 labels accidentals (sharp, flat, natural) p. 118 introduces F natural p. 143 explains sharp, flat, natural 1.6 Students correctly identify musical forms: AB p. 35-36 labels Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with theme A and B and ABA 2E Ensemble Skills 1.1 Students match pulse and rhythm to stay together as an ensemble 1.2 Students adjust pitch within the ensemble 1.3 Demonstrates self-discipline by working cooperatively with peers to produce a quality musical performance 1.4 Display appropriate etiquette for style and p. 180 instructs the teacher to develop a list of concert etiquette rules venue of musical performance 1.5 Demonstrates well-disciplined personal demeanor during rehearsals and performance Artistic Skills and Knowledge 3A Expressive Elements 1.1 Students shape phrases with simple dynamic variation 1.2 Students alter tone by modifying bow technique 85

(WASP - weight, angle, speed, point of contact) 1.3 Students perform with articulations corresponding to baseline-level right-hand technical skills 3B Historical and Cultural Elements 1.1 Students listen to selected music from diverse cultures and musical eras 1.2 Students identify, describe, and compare p. 35 includes a brief description of Mozart distinguishing characteristics of composers and p. 73 includes a brief description of Offenbach and operettas styles from selected repertoire p. 113 instructs teacher to discuss J. S. Bach and characteristics of Baroque music p. 131 brief description of J. S. Bach p. 133 brief description of Haydn p. 140 brief description of Mussorgsky p. 174 brief description of Dvorak 1.3 Students perform music from diverse styles p. 130 defines sakura (Japanese word for spring) before exercise 130, which is a Japanese folk song 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical Performances 1.1 Students evaluate individual and group performance using established criteria 1.2 Students describe personal preference in music listening and group performance

Summary

The data revealed several similarities and differences between the 13 beginning heterogeneous string class methods. While none of the methods addressed all 58 baseline learning tasks described in the ASTA String Curriculum, all methods covered some of the learning tasks. All methods address at least some of the baseline learning tasks in the Content

Areas of 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, 1C Right Hand Skills and

Knowledge, 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training, and 2D Music Literacy. Most methods addressed at least some of the learning tasks in the following content areas: 2A Tonal Aural

Skills and Ear Training, 2C Creative Musicianship, and 3B Historical and Cultural Elements.

The content areas that were least frequently covered were 2E Ensemble Skills, 3A Expressive

Elements, and 3B Evaluation of Music and Music Performances.

Additional Topics of Consideration

After they were reviewed for the opportunities presented for teaching the baseline learning tasks of the ASTA String Curriculum, all 13 beginning heterogeneous string class methods were 86 reviewed according to additional topics of consideration. The additional criteria for analysis were (a) unique features, (b) supplementary materials, (c) sequential books, (d) origin of tunes,

(e) types of tunes, (f) key signatures used or implied, (g) time signatures used, rhythms used, (h) range for each instrument, (i) shifting or extensions, (j) bowing styles introduced, (k) presentation, and (l) cost and availability. This additional component of the analysis revealed more areas of similarity and difference among the methods.

Unique Features

The consideration of unique features revealed the specific purpose or distinguishing characteristic of each method. The Muller-Rusch String Method (Muller & Rusch, 1961), the oldest method in the study, stood out from all of the others because of the comparative lack of pedagogical text addressed to the teacher. In fact, the teacher book is labeled a “conductor’s score” as opposed to a teacher manual. A primary unique feature of All for Strings (Anderson &

Frost, 1986) is that the method includes options for starting by rote with play-by-ear exercises, and for starting by note with musical notation. Strictly Strings (Dillon, Kjelland, & O’Reilly,

1992) uses a letter-note approach to ease the transition to sight-reading. Spotlight on Strings by

Gazda and Stoutamire (1997) introduces all open strings pizzicato and arco before adding the left hand, and teaches students to play with all four fingers down when introducing the left hand. In

String Explorer (Dabczynski, Meyer, & Phillips, 2002), new right and left hand skills are introduced separately at the beginning of each lesson. Artistry in Strings (Frost & Fischbach,

2002) features middle and low position options for beginning bass, contains theory and enrichment worksheets, and emphasizes cultural and historical connections. Jump Right In

(Grunow, Gordon, Azzara, & Martin, 2002) focuses on improvisation and musicianship skills and uses tonal and rhythmic solfege. Do it! Play Strings! (Froseth & Smith, 2003) emphasizes 87 improvisation. In Essential Elements 2000 for Strings (Allen, Gillespie, & Tellejohn Hayes,

2004), beginning exercises feature the note name in the note head. Orchestra Expressions

(Brungard, Alexander, Anderson, & Dackow, 2004) begins the bass in third position and introduces the left hand with four fingers down for all instruments. New Directions for Strings

(Erwin, Horvath, McCashin, & Mitchell, 2007) introduces all four strings at the beginning of the method and provides first and fourth position beginning options for bass. Simply Strings

(Odegaard, 2007) starts with the left hand fingers down on F sharp and displays only violin and double bass parts in the teacher edition. Sound Innovations for String Orchestra (Phillips,

Boonshaft, & Sheldon, 2010) features a customizable director’s choice edition of the method.

Supplementary Materials

In addition to unique features, the availability of supplementary materials was considered.

All methods except Spotlight on Strings (Gazda & Stoutamire, 1997) have at least one type of supplementary material such as an accompaniment CD, correlated ensemble arrangements, technique books, interactive technology, pedagogical DVDs, teacher resource kits, and other instructional resources.

Several methods have supplementary technology. String Explorer, Essential Elements

2000, Orchestra Expressions, New Directions for Strings, and Sounds Innovations are compatible with the SmartMusic, an interactive music software program with which students can practice with a computerized accompaniment, receive immediate assessment, and send a recording to the teacher. Also, two methods have correlating websites; String Explorer has a website at http://www.stringexplorer.com that offers information for parents, free downloads, and puzzles and games for string students, and Essential Elements 2000 has an interactive website at http://www.essentialelementsinteractive.com that offers multiple options for 88 accompaniment tracks, practice tools, and teacher assessment for the tunes and exercises in book one. Furthermore, Essential Elements 2000 and Sound Innovations come with an instructional

DVD that features beginning level master classes and lesson demonstrations.

The particular supplementary materials offered by each string method are indicated below in Table 18.

Table 18

Supplementary Materials

Method Book Accompaniment Correlated Technique Technology Teacher Other CD Ensemble Book Resource Arrangements Kit Muller-Rusch X X String Method All for Strings theory workbook; flash cards Strictly Strings X X Spotlight on Strings String Explorer X X SmartMusic; X interactive interactive practice website CD Artistry in X parent Strings guide to strings Jump Right In X Do It! Play X Strings Essential X X X SmartMusic; X Elements 2000 interactive for Strings website; DVD Orchestra X SmartMusic X Expressions New Directions X SmartMusic for Strings

Simply Strings X Sound X X X SmartMusic; Innovations DVD

Sequential Levels

Another topic of consideration was the availability of sequential books. The majority of the methods have two sequential books that cover beginning and intermediate string techniques.

Exceptions are the Muller-Rusch String Method, which consists of five sequential levels, Strictly

Strings and All for Strings which each have three levels, Artistry in Strings, which has an introductory book, book one, and book two, and Simply Strings, which has only one book.

Origin and Type of Tunes

The origin and type of tunes was considered, and it was found that almost all methods incorporate a combination of composed pedagogical exercises, folk songs from various cultures, and melodies from Western art music repertoire. Unison tunes and exercises predominate, but most methods include at least a few ensemble arrangements that would be suitable for a first- year concert. Jump Right In and Simply Strings contain only unison musical material.

Key Signatures Used or Implied

The key signatures used or implied in each method were also examined. Every method covers the keys of D, G, and C major. Strictly Strings also uses the keys of A and E-flat major and E minor, String Explorer additionally include the keys of F and B-flat major, Jump Right In adds G minor, and Do It! Play Strings uses A, F, B-flat, and E-flat major.

Time Signatures Used

An investigation of the time signatures used in each method found that all methods include the time signatures 4/4, 3/4, and 2/4 with the exception of New Directions for Strings, which only uses 4/4 and 3/4. Artistry in Strings also introduces 1/4, and Jump Right In is the only method to introduce compound meter in book one. Jump Right In uses 6/8 and 3/8 time signatures. 90

Rhythms Used

Excepting Jump Right In, which starts with the eighth note, all methods begin with the quarter note as the first rhythmic value to be introduced. Every method uses the quarter note, half note, whole note, eighth note, and dotted half note. String Explorer, Jump Right In, Do It!

Play Strings, and Sound Innovations also introduce the dotted quarter note. Jump Right In is the only method to introduce sixteenth notes and dotted eighth notes in book one.

Range for Each Instrument

The range of pitches introduced for each instrument is similar among the methods. Every method covers the pitches accessible in first position on each instrument, with the addition of the pitches in second, third, or fourth position on the bass. For violin, the range is most often G3 to

B5, with the exception of All for Strings, Spotlight on Strings, Artistry in Strings, and Do It! Play

Strings, which only go up to A5. The range for viola is generally C3 to E5, with the exception of

All for Strings, Spotlight on Strings, Artistry in Strings, Do It! Play Strings and Simply Strings, which only go up to D5. The range for cello is C2 to D4, with the exception of Orchestra

Expressions, in which the cello shifts to G4 in fourth position on the cello. The range for bass is most commonly E2 to D4 (written pitch), with the exception of All for Strings and Spotlight on

Strings, in which the bass only goes up to C4.

Shifting and Extensions

In every method except Orchestra Expressions, which introduces shifting to fourth position for the cello, and String Explorer, in which the cello shifts to second position, the violin, viola, and cello remain in first position. For the bass, all methods cover shifting to second, second and one-half, and/or third position. String Explorer is the only method that introduces forward and backward extensions for violin, viola, and cello. 91

Bowing Styles

An examination of the bowing styles introduced in the methods revealed that all methods teach slurs and staccato bowing styles. Several methods also teach slurred staccato or hooked bowing: All for Strings, Strictly Strings, String Explorer, Jump Right In, Essential Elements

2000, Orchestra Expressions, and Sound Innovations. Spotlight on Strings, String Explorer,

Orchestra Expressions, and New Directions for Strings introduce legato bowing. Other bowing styles introduced include accents (Do It! Play Strings), louré (All for Strings), spiccato (Strictly

Strings, Spotlight on Strings, and Artistry in Strings), martelé (Spotlight on Strings and Artistry in Strings), and tenuto (Do It! Play Strings and Sound Innovations).

Presentation

Each method was also evaluated on the basis of its presentation, which includes the type and quality of illustrations and the layout and general appearance of the pages. Each of the methods uses either photographs or line drawings to illustrate correct instrument position, left hand placement, and bow hold. Muller-Rusch String Method, All for Strings, Spotlight on

Strings, String Explorer, and Simply Strings use black and white photographs, and Orchestra

Expressions uses color photographs of people playing string instruments. Strictly Strings,

Artistry in Strings, Jump Right In, Do It! Play Strings, Essential Elements 2000, New Directions for Strings, and Sound Innovations use black and white line drawings. The layouts of the pages range from simple and uncluttered to busy multi-color pages.

Cost and Availability

The final topic of consideration was the cost and availability of the student book and teacher edition for each string class method. The publisher, the current publisher cost of the student book, and the current publisher cost of the teacher book are listed below in Table 19. 92

Table 19

Cost and Availability of String Methods

Title Publisher Student Book Cost Teacher Book Cost Muller-Rusch String Method for Class Neil A. Kjos Music $4.50 $8.95 or Individual Instruction All for Strings: Comprehensive String Neil A. Kjos Music $5.50 $14.95 Method Strictly Strings: A Comprehensive Alfred Publishing $6.99 $29.95 String Method Spotlight on Strings Neil A. Kjos Music $4.95 $9.95 String Explorer: An Explorer’s Guide Alfred Publishing $7.95 $39.95 to Teaching Strings Artistry in Strings: A Comprehensive Neil A. Kjos Music $6.95 $49.95 Course of Study for Group or Private Instruction Jump Right In: The Instrumental Series GIA Publications $6.50 $50.00 for Strings, Revised Do it! Play Strings! GIA Publications $7.95 $55.00 Essential Elements 2000 for Strings: A Hal Leonard $8.99 $34.99 Comprehensive String Method Orchestra Expressions Alfred Publishing $8.99 $299.95 New Directions for Strings: A FJH Music $8.95 $39.95 Comprehensive String Method Simply Strings: A Standards-Based, Northeastern Music $8.95 $25.00 Comprehensive String Method Publications Sound Innovations for String Orchestra: Alfred Publishing $8.99 $39.00 A Revolutionary Method for Beginning Musicians

CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION

Similarities and Differences Among Methods

The data revealed similarities and differences among the 13 beginning heterogeneous string class methods. The ASTA String Curriculum baseline learning tasks that were addressed by all 13 string methods were 1A-1.2 Basic Playing Position for Violin and Viola, 1.A.1.3 Basic

Playing Position for Cello, 1A-1.4 Basic Playing Position for Bass, 1B-1.1 Initial Left Hand

Finger Placement, 1C-1.2 Perform Pizzicato in Playing Position, 1C-1.3 Establishing Initial Bow

Hold, 2D-1.1 Students Correctly Identify and Perform Basic Music Notation and Symbols.

Learning tasks that were addressed by almost all methods (ten or more) include 1A-1.1 Establish

Posture on all Instruments, 1B-1.2 Initial Finger Patterns, 1C-1.4 Perform Pre-bowing Exercises,

1C-1.6 Perform With Simple Separated (Staccato) Bow Strokes, 1C-1.8 Short Slurs, 1C-1.9

String Crossings, 1C-1.11 Intro to Weight, Angle, Speed, and Placement (Contact Point and Part of Bow), 2B-1.2 Students Will Demonstrate a Sense of Meter While Singing or Chanting

Rhythm Patterns, 2B-1.6 Students Will Perform Rhythm Patterns Containing Ties, 2B-1.7

Students Will Perform Rhythm Patterns Containing Upbeats, 2D-1.4 Students Correctly Identify the Following Key Signatures: C, G, D, and F major, and 2D-1.5 Students Correctly Identify

Accidentals. In general, the content areas that were most commonly addressed were 1A Body

Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, 1C Right Hand Skills and Knowledge, 2B

Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear Training, and 2D Music Literacy.

The data revealed that none of the beginning heterogeneous string class methods addressed all 58 of the baseline learning tasks, but each of the methods covered at least some learning tasks. The Muller-Rusch String Class Method addressed the fewest number of learning tasks, covering only 16. Artistry in Strings addressed the greatest number of learning tasks by covering 94

38 of the baseline learning tasks and addressing one or more of the learning tasks in all content areas except 3A Expressive Elements. New Directions for Strings was the only method reviewed in this study that covered one or more of the baseline learning tasks in every content area, including 1A Body Format, 1B Left Hand Skills and Knowledge, IC Right Hand Skills and

Knowledge, 2A Tonal Aural Skills and Ear Training, 2B Rhythmic Aural Skills and Ear

Training, 2C Creative Musicianship, 2D Music Literacy, 2E Ensemble Skills, 3A Expressive

Elements, 3B Historical and Cultural Elements, and 3C Evaluation of Music and Musical

Performances.

A chronological review of the methods revealed that the content of the methods reflected developments in American music education. In 1994, the Music Educators National

Conference, now the National Association for Music Education, published nine national standards for music education in order to promote a comprehensive music curriculum. These standards include singing, performing on instruments, improvising, composing, reading music, listening, evaluating music, understanding relationships between music and other disciplines, and understanding music in relation to history and culture. Instrumental method books reacted to the national standards and began to incorporate opportunities for teaching musicianship, music history, and music theory lessons in addition to performance techniques. Published in 1997,

Spotlight on Strings was chronologically the first method in this study to include composition and improvisation exercises. Almost all of the string methods published after 1994 addressed the

ASTA String Curriculum learning tasks related to composition, improvisation, history, and culture more thoroughly than the methods that precede the national standards for music education.

Because all of the methods reviewed in this study pre-date the publication of the ASTA 95

String Curriculum, it is not surprising that none of the methods addressed all 58 baseline learning tasks described there. Even the method that covered the most learning tasks neglected twenty baseline learning tasks. However, even though no single method addressed all of the baseline learning tasks in the curriculum, a knowledgeable and motivated teacher could use any of the methods to teach all of the ASTA String Curriculum learning tasks. All methods contain implied opportunities for teaching technical and musical skills. The teacher could use the musical material in the methods to teach learning tasks such as 1C-1.5 Perform with simple, connected

(détaché) bow strokes, 2A-1.2 Students identify whether two performed melodic tonal patterns are the same or different, 2B-1.3 Students will maintain a steady pulse while playing rhythm patterns, and 2B-1.4 Students will demonstrate a sense of meter while playing rhythm patterns.

Although they are not explicitly addressed in every method, these and many other learning tasks could be taught with the tunes and exercises in each method book in this study. The teacher could also supplement the method book with instruction in the content areas that were least frequently addressed: aural skills, creative musicianship, ensemble skills, expressive elements, and evaluation of music and music performances.

Although the method book provides the primary instructional resource for the string class, the success of any method in the classroom ultimately depends on the musicianship and pedagogical skills of the teacher. The decision of which method will be most effective for the beginning heterogeneous string class will vary depending on a number of factors, including the experience and expertise of the teacher. One of the more salient differences between methods is the fact that some methods provide greater pedagogical support for the teacher than others.

Whereas the Muller-Rusch String Method contains very few textual explanations, directives, and reminders for the teacher, Orchestra Expressions provides detailed scripted lesson plans for the 96 teacher that describe how to teach every concept. While an experienced string teacher could effectively teach with Muller-Rusch, a less experienced teacher, such as a band director who has been assigned to teach a beginning string class, might prefer a more detailed method that offers greater pedagogical support for teaching strings.

Suggestions for Further Research

This study has provided an overview of the content and characteristics of the teacher manuals of 13 beginning heterogeneous string class methods in relation to the baseline learning tasks of the ASTA String Curriculum. Although it was beyond the scope of this project, a future study could review the student books of each string method for compatibility with the ASTA

String Curriculum. In this study, the teacher manual of each method was reviewed in order to identify the support offered for teaching each of the baseline learning tasks of the curriculum, but an examination of the student books would give a more accurate representation of the experience of violin, viola, cello, and bass students in the string class.

Also, whereas this study was limited to the baseline learning tasks of the ASTA String

Curriculum and book one of each method, future research should examine books two and three of each method for compatibility with the developing and proficient level learning tasks of the

String Curriculum. It would be beneficial for researchers to investigate how the sequential levels of each method could be used to teach the remaining levels of the ASTA String Curriculum.

Finally, future research could include a survey of string teachers in order to identify which methods are used most commonly, what criteria teachers use to select a beginning method, how teachers use method books in their beginning string classes, and how teachers address the baseline learning tasks of the ASTA String Curriculum in their beginning string classes. 97

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