Pete's planning

Here's what Pete is planning on for concerts this year:

Sixth Annual Northbrook School District 27 Festival of Strings


Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Mr. Peter Lograsso, Orchestra Director


First-Year Orchestra
* The Spanish Dancer . . . . . .Dale Brubaker

March of the Pioneers . . . Dale Brubaker

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star . . . Sinichi Suzuki
Viola section feature
Song of the Desert . . . . . Dale Brubaker

War Dance . . . . . . . Dale Brubaker

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star . . . .Sinichi Suzuki
Violin section feature
* Good News Blues . . . . . Carl Strommen

Can Can . . . . . . . Jacques Offenbach

Shabonee Strings
* Bees are Boppin’ . . . . . Thom Sharp

* Secret Agent 440 . . . . . Carrie Lane Gruselle

Ocean Storm “La Tempesta di Mare” . . . . Antonio Vivaldi / arr. Tom Fritz

Chamber Strings
Many Miles Away Across the Sea . . . . Susan H. Day

* Czardas . . . . . . . . Vittorio Monti / arr. Elliot Del Borgo
Solo Violinists TBA

Wood Oaks Junior High School Orchestra

North Country Legend . . . . . . Mark Williams

Slane (Be Thou My Vision) . . . Irish Ballad / arr. Percy Hall

* Cripple Creek . .. . . Traditional / arr. Michael Hopkins

Festival Orchestra
* Rock Around the Clock . . . Max Freedman / arr. Bob Cerulli

* Indicates alternative styles selection

DBR - in Chicago July 20

Here's a link to some info about this Hip Hop artist:

DBR

Teachers - artists - sign up to receive email newsletters about DBR (sign up on the DBR website)

He will be playing at Millenium Park in Chicago on July 20... click above for more info!! Great videos on this site!

Alt Styles music selection suggestion

Navigating the World of Alternative String Styles Georgia Alemis June 26, 2009

Alfred.com
1.)“Tchefuncte Shuffle” by Tim Aucoin
Grade 3.5
Jazz improv piece

2.)“Ludwig’s Tango” arr. by Richard Meyer
Grade 2
Beethoven’s 5th in a tango style with claves and maracas

3.)“A Playful Polka” by Edmund J. Siennicki
Grade 2

4.)“Ear-igami” by Richard Meyer
Grade 2
Pentatonic variations and using paper sounds

5.)“Mercurius” by Shirl Jae Atwell
Grade 3.5

6.)“Shore of Ireland” by Susan Day
Grade 2.5
6/8 (a minor and e minor)

7.)“Variable Stars” by Almon C. Bock II
Grade 3
A Twinkle Variation by using various styles: jazz, waltz, cha-cha, etc.

8.)“Song of Mexico” by Bob Cerulli
Grade 2

9.)“Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day arr. by Bob Phillips
Grade 2
Song is a little repetitive so I cut a repeat.

8.) “Legend” by David O’Fallon
Grade 3
Driving rhythms with special effects and a driving sound

9.)“A Gaelic Overture” by David O’Fallon
Grade 3
Using the old hymn “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” and an original gig. Celtic sounds with foot stomping and tapping on instruments like a drum.

10.) “Vir-cello Reality” by David O”Fallon
Grade 4
Shows off the cello section (fast paced rondo)

11.)“Critter Crawl” by Carol S. Johnson
Grade 2.5

12.)“Blue Tango” by Leroy Anderson arr. by Bob Cerulli
Grade 2.5

13.)“A Scottish Ballad” (Annie Laurie) Traditional arr. by Robert Sheldon
Grade 2.5

14.)“Dublin” (a Tribute to Dublin, Ohio and the Irish Festival) by Bob Phillips
Grade 3

15.)“Moondance” by Van Morrison, arr. by Michael Hopkins
Grade 3
Jazz, in the movie “August Rush”

Fjhmusic.com

1.)“Lion City” by Soon Hee Newbold
Grade 3
This piece uses diverse cultures of Singapore; imitating authentic instruments such as the ehru, pipa, and gamelon.

2.)“Basses Loaded” by Carrie Lane Gruselle
Grade 3.5
(funk, swing and rock)

Kjos.com

1.)“Mystical Quest” by Jeremy Woolstenhulme
Grade 2
Performed at the 2008 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic
(Performed in e minor)

2.)“ Drifen” by Shirl Jae Atwell
Grade 4
Winner of the 1997 Texas Orchestra Directory Association Composition Contest.

3.)“Orange Jam” by Jeffrey Bishop
Grade 3
Use of glissandos and driving rhythms.
The kids LOVE this piece!

Halleonard.com

1.)“Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones, arr. by Robert Longfield
Grade 2.5 or 3
Austin Powers Theme

2.)“Besame Mucho” by Consuelo Velazquez and Sunny Skylar, arr. by Juan Ortiz
Mariachi for trumpet, voice, violins, guitarron and armonia
Grade ?

3.)“The Best of Queen” arr. by Larry Moore
Grade 3
Foot stomping and clapping on “We will rock you”
“Another one bites the dust”
“We are the champions”

Wjpublications.com
Wingert-Jones Publications

1.)“Red Pepper” by Jeffrey Bishop
Grade 3
Cajun fiddling style and Zydeco music
Carlfisher.com

2.) “Sunayama” by Keiko Yamada
Grade 2.5
Mysterious, lush Japanese Folk Song
String Quartet within the piece.

Physical Warm-ups
Choose a piece that you can actually march to.
1.)March in place to the beat
2.)Reach to the ceiling with one arm at a time
3.)Shoulders up and down
4.)Roll shoulders forward
5.)Roll shoulders backward
6.)Rotate your body 90-degrees if not enough room. Swing arms up and down in the air; make certain to breathe in and out.
7.)Stretch neck downwards, backwards, to the right and to the left. Then place ear to right shoulder and then ear to the left shoulder.
8.)Throw arms and fingers forward like you are throwing tennis balls at someone.
1010.) Open palm towards ceiling and stretch fingers downward. Do each hand.
1111.) Open palms downward towards the floor and stretch fingers towards your body. Do each hand.
12.) Do a karate punch and bend wrist downward. Do other wrist.
13.) Swing arms bent in a 90-degree angle and meet arms in the center to the beat.

Electric string quartet based in Detroit

Two members of this quartet are doing their Masters at VanderCook - they play alt styles (rock, hip hop, funk, etc...) on NS Designs instruments:

Il Segreto String Quartet

Check them out!!!

Lesson ideas for the Year

From Terri Krzyzaniak

Lesson Ideas for the Year

Folk
Twinkle: variety of rhythms, col legno, comp, harmony
Listening – Suzuki CD #1

Mary Had a Little Lamb: play on different strings, start tune on 1st finger (different patterns/ear training), swing rhythm, learn minor variation (darker sound)

Frere Jacques: rounds, comp, bass line
Listening – Suzuki CD #1

Allegro: comp, shuffle, bass line, harmony
Listening – Suzuki CD #1


Fiddle
Bile Them Cabbage Down: different sections of the tune, bass line, comp, shuffle, harmony, double-stops, begin improvising
Listening – Fiddler’s Philharmonic CD

Cripple Creek: bass line, comp, shuffle, scoops, slides
Listening – Fiddler’s Philharmonic CD

Wabash Cannonball: bass line, comp, slides, improvise
Listening – Wabash Cannonball - Roy Acuff

Other Listening: Mark O’Connor – Soppin’ the Gravy, Tennessee Wagoneer; Michael Doucet – L’Ouragon (The Hurricane); Bob Wills – San Antonio Rose (fr. American Songbook)

Video: Mark O’Connor, Michael Doucet


Mariachi
Cielito Lindo: comp, bass line, harmony
Listening – Mariachi Philharmonic

Las Mananitas: harmony, comp, bass line
Listening – Mariachi Philharmonic, Studio Group

Mi Ranchito: comp, bass line, harmony
Listening – Mariachi Philharmonic, Mariachi Garibaldi

Other Listening: Marosovia – Los Alegres; Sobre las Olas (Over the Waves) – Quinteto Tipico Mexicano; Jig in G (jazzy) – Emilio Caceres Y Su Orquesta Del Club Aguila


Jazz
Listening: Jean-Luc Ponty – Bowing-Bowing (electric insts.); Stephane Grappelli – Sweet Georgia Brown; Jean-Luc Ponty, Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli – Skip It

Video: Jean-Luc Ponty, Stephane Grappelli


Rock
Listening: Dave Matthews Band – Every Day (effects); Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Requiem (The Fifth) [Beethoven]

Video: Dave Matthews Band, Trans-Siberian Orchestra


Alternative
Listening: Daniel Bernard Roumain – Resonance, Fayetteville

Video: DBR

Powerpoint about Listening to Alt Styles as part of curriculum

From Megan Zalokar

Introducing Alt Styles to Young String Students

Jen Smith
Navigating the World of Alternative Styles
Project
6/26/09

Introducing Alternative String Styles to Young String Students

The following is a list of alternative string styles and warm up techniques/artists I would introduce to my students when teaching the alternative styles. (Artist section is just an idea of artists, not all)

Fiddle
ALTERNATIVE STYLE ARTIST
Mark O’Connor
Bob Phillips
Michael Cleveland
Darol Anger
Alisdair Frasier
Natalie Haas
Brittany Haas
April Verch

WARM-UP TECHNIQUES
shuffle bowing trills
double stops/chords rolls
chop open string rolls
cuts slides
double cuts pizz. guitar style

Blues
ALTERNATIVE STYLE ARTIST
Randy Sabien
Julie Lyonn Lieberman
Matt Stedman

WARM-UP TECHNIQUES
12 Bar Blues I, IV, V chords
Blues Scales dominant chords
Slides modes
Chop swingin 8th notes
Trading 2’s solos
Trading 4’s
Study most commonly used keys – C, G, D, A, E, (B)

Jazz
ALTERNATIVE STYLE ARTIST
Randy Sabien
Christian Howes
Sara Caswell
Matt Turner
Martin Norgaard
Danny Seidenberg
Michael Fraser

WARM-UP TECHNIQUES
II, V, I progression
Slide techniques
Harmonics
Study ALL keys
solos

Rock
ALTERNATIVE STYLE ARTIST
Mark Wood
Tracy Silverman
Daryl Silberman

WARM-UP TECHNIQUES
Bo Diddley beat
Concept of 3/2
Slides (chordal as well)

Mariachi
ALTERNATIVE STYLE ARTIST
(not sure on the best bands)
Spanish language John Nieto

WARM-UP TECHNIQUES
Singing
Cultural instruments involved in this style
Pizz. guitar style (back up/bass chords)

All styles: lots of listening to original artists for each style

Inclusion of Alt Styles in 1st and 2nd year group string settings

Alyson Berger
Navigating Alternative Strings

Overview of the inclusion of alternative styles into 1st year and 2nd year of study in addition to the usual course of study from their method book.
Objective: Integrating alternative styles into the group strings classroom
Materials; String Explorer volume 1, Fiddling Method Volume 1 by Carol Ann Wheeler, Basic Fiddler Philharmonic, Jazz Philharmonic, Mariachi Philharmonic
CD of Alternative Tunes they will study this year plus the tunes they can expect study in later years.

1st year players (4th/5th grade)
Students use the String Explorer method book 1
By the end of the first year they are expected to be able to read and play the D major scale and have be able to count eighth, quarter and half notes and rests.

By Unit 5 the students have bow control and are able to imitate easy rhythm and note patterns. This will be a good time to introduce the shuffle rhythm and the idea of melody and accompaniment and the AABB and ABA form.
Fiddle Tunes
Students will learn Bile Them Cabbages Down and Go Tell Aunt Rhody by ear first and then using written music. All students will learn the melody and accompaniment parts.
Sources: Basic Fiddler Philharmonic; Bile them Cabbages Down by ear first (in chunks) and then from the written version in their lesson book, “Go Tell aunt Rhody” from Children’s Fiddling Method Volume 1 by Carol Ann Wheeler

2nd year players (5th/6th grade)
String Explorer book 1-Unit 9
Students start with unit 9 their 2nd year of study and are introduced to ¾ meter and low 2nd finger.
Mariachi
Students will study Celito Lindo (melody only). This tune includes ¾ time and c natural (low 2nd finger vln/vla and 2nd finger for cellos and basses).

Blues
Students will study the 12 bar blues pattern (also studied in general music classes at this point) and work on improvising their own melodies using the d minor penta scale.
Students will learn the d minor pentatonic scale, walking blues bass line and 2 accompaniments (shuffle and chop). These skills will be used as an exercise and warm up for them students. They will also be working from their method books and should get to the end of the book by the end of the 2nd year of study.

Incorporating Alt Styles with 5th grade beginning students

From Mike McDonough

Here's a list of ways Mike's going to be looking to incorporate ideas from our week at this workshop in his program - he sees 5th grade beginning string students once a week for 45 minutes:

* Use a beat-heavy background for bow hand games
* Alt Styles and classical music in the background for bow games
* Exploring sound effects including bow effects and tapping on the instrument (all students in his school take African drumming... the violin/viola/cello/bass can be tapped on the back of the instrument like a drum
* Give kids choices in free improvisation - have the students respond simply to actions you make with your hands
* Call and Response - not only classically but with Alt Style sensibility. Include chopping, back beat, and different parts of the bow
* Basic Fiddlers Philharmonic - even though it's been out for a few years, it was a new one on him. Will work great with his program
* Have the kids bring in recorded music *they* like for body and bow warmups
* Have advanced students play their instruments completely backwards - left to right - to simulate what it feels like to be a beginner.

Transcribe!

By Phil Kent

Transcribe! This program allows you to take any tune in your iTunes library, or on your computer, and open it in this program. The program will analyze the tune. You can change all sorts of parameters:

Tempo
Pitch
Balance
Loop sections

Then you can save what you work out, export it, then make a CD of what you make.

Free 40 day download and/or purchase it for $50:
www.seventhstring.com

Implementing Alt Styles from the Get Go! Rock 'n Roll by Friday

By Beth Zaluba

Musings and Reflections of Teaching Beginning Teen String Players
by
Incorporating Alternative Styles

(aka: The reverse brain dump)

Elizabeth Zaluba
June 25, 2009

Alternative styles of music have already been wholly adopted by my high school students prior to their pursuit of string playing. Most of my students deliberately enrolled in beginning orchestra, but some were just put in the class. This lack of choice--just fulfilling their music credit--makes the use of alternative styles even more critical to the success of the one school year my teens will study a string instrument. All but one, perhaps two, of the arrangements and compositions we read through this week may be simple enough to be played accurately by the students at the end of the school year. Add incorporating special education students of all challenges, disruptive standardized testing schedules, and lack of administrative understanding of what a string ‘program’ needs, and string instruction of any style seems to be doomed before it can begin.

Here are the parameters of my program:

- daily 43 minutes class periods (most weeks)

- instruments shared by two sections of orchestra

- a one year course with no subsequent orchestra offerings

- no dedicated budget

- no library

(Ironically, we do own full Kalmus scores and parts for major orchestral pieces like Mozart’s Overture to the Magic Flute)

As mentioned in class, orchestral repertoire is an alternative style for most of my majority/minority students. Even students of African-American heritage are far removed from the blues, jazz, and standards that their predecessors performed and popularized. Improvisation is the obvious method to begin using alternate styles. Simple improvisation allows students of any ethnic and racial group to express themselves musically even with basic skills on their instrument. It also requires no written materials.

When I present the instrument choices to the students at the beginning of the school year, I’ve only played alternative styles on the bass--the Ode to Joy excerpt from the Ninth Symphony, the bass line from “Stand By Me”, and a walking 12 bar blues line. Violin has had a token “Turkey In The Straw” effort. Right off the bat I will be able to play alternative styles as instruments are demonstrated.

I also want to ‘hook’ them by promising the students they’ll play rock and roll by Friday. (We start school the Tuesday after Labor Day.) Here’s the outline for the weeks plans:

Tuesday: Introduction to the class; syllabus and course requirements; assessing prior string experience. (There is usually one or two.)

Wednesday: I show a video (received in the string repair class) that begins with blocks of wood aging in a warehouse through the entire process of the pieces being fabricated into violins and bows. It is wordless and has an unaccompanied Bach violin sonata as a soundtrack. This has been a great help in teaching students to respect and care for their instruments. We’ve had only one act of vandalism to a violin (scratching) but the violin remained playable. Three cellos were decapitated though. More emphasis that large is still fragile this year.

Thursday: Try ‘em out! Let every student try the instrument they think they’ll want to play. I try to direct the more petite students to my 2 3/4 cellos. Larger instruments have been a harder sell, so presenting them with cool alt styles will make them much more popular choices. Model postures for left arm and bow arm and grip.

Friday: Get everybody set up properly with appropriate bow tension and reinforce correct postures. Look for naturals. It will be challenging enough to get the students playing accurately on one string right away, so again, go ahead and have the students play double stops (bass open strings) for the piece “Sunnymoon for Two”. I will walk the bass line that I played on Tuesday with them and remind the students I promised “rock and roll by Friday”. Follow ups to this activity would be listening to similar audio or videos of rocking strings or perhaps even inviting students to try taking short solos themselves and see what comes out.

Long term: I want to revisit improvisation on a regular basis to strengthen aural skills and maintain student interest. Improvisation as composition also meets Illinois State Goals in music. I would probably try introducing strumming and singing “Cielito Lindo” next as an alt style and assess if it could be a long term project to prepare it for eventual performance at the spring concert. Hip Hop has repetitive ‘riffs’ that I can also use as a basis for improvisation. (Using an appropriate song). I also plan to get a simple digital recording device to use to create student audio portfolios and for student assessment. This will also meet the goal of integrating technology into the music curriculum.

Me personally: I’ll try to score an electric instrument on Craig's List or Ebay for myself, search for potential funding, and eventually acquire electric instruments for school to integrate with student owned guitars to begin a core electric group. Most likely I’ll try to get a ‘price’ for multiple clip-on bud mics like I’ve used when touring bands (I’ve done Moody Blues and ELO) hire local strings as a back-up players. The school already owns a quality PA and the choir teacher is a guitarist and has lots of equipment and an after school club. I’ve already phoned him about collaborating this fall.