(11) At what stage in students' development do they begin vibrato and shifting?
Interesting to pair shifting and vibrato, since they really are in so many ways, related concepts. I have some ancient Paul Rolland tapes (I haven't seen the new ones—assuming there are any, which I imagine there are), where *beginning* students are doing tapping and other exercises to develop the flexibility necessary for both of these practices.

By the time the student gets to Suzuki Bk. 4, shifting is necessary for Seitz concerti, and vibrato should be online by then, also. (See: Suzuki Repertoire list). Towards the end of Bk. 3 I introduce the Wohlfahrt studies and numerous exercises for developing a freer left hand, even in the Hrimaly. [I don't think it's wise to get into the habit of practicing scales with vibrato, all the time, but according to Dr. Michael Kimber you can practice scales with or without vibrato, but it should be either with or without, but not both, and deliberately, not habitually. If you're not careful, vibrato can be a hindrance to developing pure intonation, "frame," and "ringing tones."]

Depending on the age of the student—with adults there is *much* more verbalization—ideas about both vibrato and shifting are mentioned early on, but not addressed directly until maybe mid- Bk. 3. But indirectly addressed by seeing that the left hand is flexible, free, and able to operate independently of holding the instrument, which should be more a function of the collarbone and shoulder.

(12) Should a teacher who is primarily a violinist teach viola?
I've played the violin for many decades, teaching and performing, and then started studying viola seriously several years ago. I am enamoured of the sound and what the study of this instrument does for my overall musicianship.

The question is, should a violinist, however familiar with the violin etude and chamber music repertoire, be teaching viola? Even beginning viola? (I mean privately, private studio). I wonder about the ethics of doing this, particularly if there are good viola teachers available. Same with cello. In a rural area, with no other options, perhaps it's excusable. But in a larger city, with numerous other teachers, I wonder.

While many of the standard studies for violin are available for viola (Mazas, Rode, Dont, Kreutzer, etc.), one ought not to neglect the original etudes for viola: Hoffmeister, Campagnoli, Fuchs, and others. Violin etudes of course have to be selected and/or edited judiciously for study on viola: ones that feature useless extreme-high positions (that are VERY stressful on the left hand on viola) and nearly or literally impossible reaches (tenths—ouch!) are not going to do an advancing viola player much good, and indeed can easily lead to counterproductive frustration. Even such a thing as over-use of the fourth-finger extension in first position is going to be an issue for most players on a adult-sized viola.

I think Fuchs has a note in the introduction to one of her collections mentioning that a lot of violin etudes fairly well neglect the middle range of the instrumentand —she's right. You could play violin etudes all week without learning that the instrument has a third string (slight exaggeration only!), thus without playing much in the register that is the bread-and-butter, most highly characteristic part of the viola's range.

In general, the responses on the newsgroups support the idea that a teacher in this situation would need to be aware of the needs of advanced students, or students with exceptional potential, whereas teaching beginning students would probably be okay, at least initially or until the student was ready for more advanced studies. Care should be taken, however, that the teacher who is primarily a violinist continues to study the viola and continues to understand the pedagogical aspects of viola playing. These differences include but are not limited to: broader vibrato, differences of tone production with the bow, more use of second position, and different fingerings.

Barrett, Henry: The Viola: Complete Guide for Teachers & Students Dalton, David: Playing the Viola Giorgetti, Ferdinando, Franco Sciannameo An Historical Introduction Hoffheimer, Michael: Fiddling for Viola Madden, Maxine: Sounds on Strings: Getting to Know Your Viola Maurice, Donald: Bartók's Viola Concerto: The Remarkable Story of His Swansong Menuhin, Yehudi and William Primrose: Violin & Viola Stowell, Robin: The Early Violin and Viola : A Practical Guide Tertis, Lionel: My viola and I: A complete autobiography Williams, Amedee Daryl: Lillian Fuchs: First Lady of the Viola

GEWA Viola Outfits - $230.00

(13) How can I get my child to practice?
This is often, for parents, a very serious and sometimes troubling issue in music study. They should be told that it is normal for students to not want to practice, and home practice should be supervised by the parents until the child is older and has developed more independence. There is an excellent book about this: How to get your child to practice without resorting to violence. In general, the recommendations in the book include:

1. Remain calm but firm; don't nag, threaten, get angry, or give up. Brushing teeth is not optional, and neither is practicing. 10 minutes a day is fine at the beginning.
2. Create a musical environment: this will include listening to the Suzuki CD's, other CD's of classical music or other musics, going to concerts, and listening to NPR (National Public Radio) programs with classical music. Have music on all the time, or at least during meals and before bedtime.
3. Make it fun and enjoyable. Let the child be happy and loved at all times. Never make being loved contingent on whether they practice, or whether they do well.
4. Use lots of praise, even for the smallest thing, and even if it sounds awful. There is always something positive to say: "You really worked hard" "That sounded pretty good" "That was much better than last time." No negative or derogatory remarks!!

(14) Why we play.

1. The feeling of being a part of an ancient tradition
2. Sharing, if only briefly, with the greatest minds of the past
3. The sense that you are pursuing the thing which you are most suited to do
4. The pleasure of accomplishing something difficult and highly competitive
5. The pleasure of the audience
6. The sensual pleasure of the music, particularly when it goes well
7. The pleasure of working with your colleagues
8. The identification of the self with the profession
9. The joy of forgetting the Self
10. Dressing up, making money, the pleasure of having good equipment
11. The sense that you are contributing in some small way to the peace and intelligence of the world
12. The sense that you may be inspiring people with hope and beauty --and perhaps inspiring some children to have a better life

(15) I have been playing for some time but my technique is not very good. What is your recommendation?
If you will look at Question 9 in this FAQ, there is a section listing études. What I do with my students and myself is to divide the time spent with the instrument into three sections: Scales/arpeggios, études, and pieces. To develop a firm foundation, I would start with Wohlfahrt and Hrimaly, and then progress forward in the order mentioned above. [Wohlfahrt-Kayser-Don't Op. 37-Mazas-Kreutzer, followed by Rode, Gavinies and Dont Op. 35. Scale books: Hrimaly-Schradieck-Flesch-Galamian (in that order).] You could also add the Whistler, Introducing the Positions and the Trott Melodious Doublestops. It goes without saying that you will need a teacher to guide you; someone who is closely acquainted with this literature and has a history of developing students to a high level of proficiency.

Good luck with your work!

(16) If there is an harmonic alteration, that alteration is good for the whole measure: is the alteration also good in all octaves, or just for the note that's altered?

Brad Lehman: Depends on the composer, country, and century. At least! In music before the late 18th century (maybe the early 19th), all bets are off on what's going to come up. There was no international convention that all composers had to agree with, in any of their notation, as to the normal duration of accidentals.

There are also some spots, for example in CPE Bach, where the sharp or flat is supposed to be carried forward *across the barline*, if we happen to be within a port-de-voix, and preparing a note that becomes an appoggiatura. That is, for example: last note in bar 1 is an F#, and the first note in bar 2 is that same F# (but the # is missing), as an ornament to a G or whatever...the F in bar 2 needs to get a sharp anyway. BROADER PRINCIPLE ON THIS: No chromatic slithering within a complex ornament: if a note is being sharpened or flattened, it stays sharpened or flattened all the way through that same ornament, even if it extends across a barline that would normally cancel it.

Example: To the right is a short example from one of CPE Bach's sonata movements. In the first note in the right hand, bars 3 and 5, the C-flat has to be carried across from the anticipation in the previous bar, even though it doesn't say so. (Anticipation + appoggiatura + resolution = port de voix.) This happens similarly in other pieces of his, as well: a bunch of notes together comprising an ornamental unit, and a sharp/flat needing to be carried all the way through...even if it crosses a barline.

Joel Jacklich: You're getting this from a college music professor who taught theory for many years (now retired). I am writing this out off the top of my head without footnotes and references. You can look up these things yourselves later, if you wish; but I think you'll get the general drift from this narrative of what went on.

Historical background: Back in the days of "musica ficta," (later Medieval, Renaissance, and earliest Baroque), rules governing proper intervals meant that certain notes above the bass (or, in the earliest days the tenor, which used to be the lowest voice before the advent of the contratenor bassus or "bass") had to be altered to avoid the tritone (the augmented 4th or diminished 5th, the "so-called "devil's interval," which was considered so unstable as to be avoided at all costs) EVEN IF THOSE NOTES WERE NOT SO NOTATED. EVERY "good" musician knew these rules, so there was no need to notate them in the music. Also, in general, until Petrucci in 1501 and his first PUBLISHED music book for polyphonic music printed from moveable type, there wasn't much argument about what the notes were. The composer himself generally passed out the manuscript parts, rehearsed the musicians, and he would be the arbiter of correctness. After music began to be published, the music could be purchased by someone hundreds or thousands of miles from the composer. The composer was no longer there to "put things right." It became the responsibility of the publisher to make things clear to the performer (many times an amateur performer who didn't always know "the rules"). Each publisher set up his own essential "house rules" for where to include accidentals. There was no common agreement. Remember that in the days of Bach, key signatures would often be one accidental off from our current system. A piece in D major might have only one sharp (F#) with the C# (the "leading tone," most often the most prominent old musica ficta note in the old days) getting a written accidental. Key signatures, as we know them, weren't standardized until starting about 1750.

Now to today's point of discussion: The idea of whether to put an accidental in ALL octaves of a chord, or just in one (and assume that the others were also thus affected), again, comes from INDIVIDUAL publishers. One will find some 18th century and even 19th century publications that include only one accidental. HOWEVER, as we get to the late 19th c. and into the 20th c., the Garner Reed quote (given in earlier posts) becomes the generally accepted norm for the music publishing industry. The accidental must appear in any (all) octave(s) in which the note must be altered. Once written, an accidental remains in effect (but only for the single line or space upon which it is written) for the rest of the measure until cancelled by the bar line. If such an altered note (whether it has an accidental attached to a note, or whether it is a later note in the measure on the same line or space as an altered note) is TIED across the bar line, then the accidental is ALSO tied across. In that case, the accidental will continue until the tie (or continuous UNBROKEN series of ties) ends, even if that is many measures later. And in such a case, no accidental is needed on any of those later continuously-tied notes.

The above rules generally cover TONAL music.

With the advent of ATONAL (particularly dodecaphonic [12-tone, serial]) music, SOME (but not all) composers look at things a little differently. For SOME 20th c. composers, an accidental covers only the note to which it is attached. If it is followed by another note on the same line or space, then it, too, needs an accidental, IF it is to be altered. Otherwise, without the accidental, an unmodified note (even if it follows a modified note on the same line or space within the same measure) reverts back to its plain, white-note state. In the case of atonal music, it seems to make sense to notate each individual note requiring an accidental with an accidental even if it is in the same measure as a previous accidental on the same line or space. It does make the music easier to read for the performer. Again, not all 20th c. composers do this, only some. Many still follow the standard rules (i.e., Gardner Reed). [From Viola List]

(17) How can I produce a blues scale on the violin/viola?

Doesn't matter what instrument you use, or what key you're in, a blues scale consists of:

(18) What is the best method to produce a straight bow?
Getting students to play on the so-called "Kreisler Highway"** is a difficult task for the teacher. Some of the ideas that I use to get a straight bow include:

1. We discuss the math notion of "parallel." The bow needs to be parallel between the bridge and the fingerboard;
   
   
2. We discuss the terms (and sounds of) "Ponticello" and "Sul tasto." [See: Violin Terms] Ponticello is the sound, used primarily in contemporary music, produced by playing on or very near the bridge; alternatively, sul tasto is the sound produced by playing on the fingerboard, a softer sound requested in the score by some composers, for affect. Neither are appropriate for most playing;
   
   
3. We discuss how the arms of humans beings, specifically the right arm, naturally move in a circular motion. So in order to maintain the parallel placement of the bow, it is necessary to push outwards, toward the front of the player (sorry -- difficult to express verbally);
   
   
4. We discuss the notion of "cutting the string." Not a nice image, I realize, but useful in sound production on the violin: the bow "cuts" the string at the "sounding point" (Galamian's "point of contact"); sound is produced by the "spinning out" of the vibrations, created by a perfectly parallel "cutting" of the string, controlled by the second joint of the index finger of the bow hand.

(20) What areas might be covered in a private teacher's studio policy?

My policy has the following:

§1. Cancellations: Request 24 hour notice.

§2. Dismissals: The student's feelings are key.

§3. Illness: Children who are ill should stay home.

§4. Instruments: 100% trade in policy for student instruments.

§5. Fees: About middle ground for this area.

§6. Lesson Time: Not early, not late.

§7. Makeups: Only with two week advance notice.

§8. Parents: Observations.

§9. Parking: On the street but not in anyone's driveway.

§10. Recitals: Two per year, adult students not required.

§11. Retainers: Monthly fee remains stable.

§12. Time-out: Vacation policy.

(21) What are some of the techniques teachers use to approach beginning students? I will be happy to attempt to explain these things, though they would be better demonstrated in person. Since my training for two terms at Chapel Hill was in '89-'90, these ideas probably go by other names. I am sure there are thousands of such techniques used by teachers:

(22) I'm a music teacher with an online Studio Policy (as you recommended) but I receive a lot of odd emails that I suspect are phoney. What should I do?
This is, indeed, a very serious issue and I have designed a separate page to archive these types of emails. I have a Teachers Directory and an online Studio Policy and I daily receive one or two of these attempts to defraud. I am archiving these messages, with their IP addresses at: Fraud against Music Teachers. If you want to, send me any such messages, with the IP addresses, and I will post them. Instructions for getting the sender's IP address are on that page. The IP address tells the whole story, because usually the IP address is completely different than the stated or implied information in the email. Music Teachers need to stick together and fight these people.

(24) How much music history and music theory do you cover, or attempt to cover, in the private lessons?
I have found that I follow pretty much the "Unit Objectives" from the Lesson Plans in my Math/Music Curriculum unit: [See orig.: UNIT OBJECTIVES.]

1. Drawings of how a piece of music makes the student feel.
2. Drawings of staves, notes & rests, dynamic markings, clefs; creating a collage of music symbols.
3. Numbers as they relate to music (pitch, rhythm, conducting).
4. Acoustic properties of sound. Meaning and importance of A=440.
5. Use of electronic instruments (metronome, pitch devices).
6. Simple 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 conducting patterns (down-beat & up-beat).
7. Recognition of instruments, sight and sound.
8. Recognition of major and minor chords.
9. Recognition of major and minor scales.
10. Recognition of V-I and IV-I cadences.
11. Recognition of steps and half-steps.
12. Vocabulary of dynamics: Italian, French, German, English (say aloud in class).
13. Vocabulary of keys, scales and intervals.
14. Vocabulary: pitch, timbre, dynamics, duration, rhythm.
15. Learning of parts of the scale via solfeggio, numbers and letters.
16. Improvisation using all black keys (pentatonic scale) and percussive instruments.
17. Passing around of musical artifacts: things from the violin case.
18. Introduction of personalities: Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Cage.
19. Student conducting.
20. Student repetition of rhythmic patterns.
21. Student repetition of pitches.
22. Student singing of one-measure pitch-rhythm patterns.
23. Concert decorum; coaching of how students should behave during demonstration visits by guest musicians.

A timeline for determining when these subjects are understood, depends upon whether the student has begun lessons:

(c) begins as an adult, which is also very common nowadays.

As a general rule, it takes several years to integrate all of these concepts within the framework of learning an instrument. I would expect students who have had three or four years of private and group lessons to have grasped this material.

With a new student with prior training—either in public or private school, and with or without private lessons from a prior teacher—evaluations have to be made in order to determine where the student's training needs to begin. One way is a brief written or oral test. See: Music Pre/Post Test. It should be stressed that this is not a test anyone can "fail" but merely evaluative. If given orally, which is probably best during a private lesson venue, it will quickly become apparent if the student knows or does not know this material. Thus running through the entire test is not always necessary. Most students are not going to know this information initially.

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(25) What is the purpose of practicing scales? I found this interesting observation on the rec.music.makers.piano. It was written by a jazz pianist/teacher, but I think it's very worthwhile and applies to strings:

Why Practice Scales:
There are many possible answers, depending on your background and your goals. For a complete beginner, they help build finger dexterity by giving you something to play that you can work on without being slowed down by reading. They also teach you what notes are found in each key, which makes reading music go more smoothly as you'll cease having to read each note one at a time and start to see patterns within the key. If you're planning on playing jazz or any other style with improvisation, it teaches you what notes are available for use in improvisation, and teaches your hand good fingering habits that will hopefully come into play while improvising.

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(26) What is a cost effective and reliable way of recording students? In order to audio record students, I use the following combination of things, which are reasonably priced, and easy to use: Laptop or PC Audacity software, (free) lame_enc.dll, (free) Microphone Boom Placement of microphone(s) is very important. For ideas about microphone placement see: James Boyk's To Hear Ourselves As Others Hear Us: Tape Recording As a Tool in Music Practicing and Teaching. You may be able to get a better price on his book by visiting Professor Boyk's homepage.

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(27) What are some of the questions perspective students ask? Teachers will all likely have very different answers, but these are the questions that I get asked the most frequently; click on the links for my answers.

Music Lesson FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)

1. How much do you charge?
2. How old do you have to be?
3. I have x-number of children: Do you have group rates for my children, or may I bring the younger ones to the lessons?
4. Can we use a keyboard to start piano lessons?
5. I (or my child or children) want to study fiddle, or jazz, exclusively: can you do that?
6. Can you come to our home to teach us?
7. Do you teach guitar, mandolin or 'cello?
8. Do you teach group piano?
9. May I take lessons twice a month, or every once in a while?
10. Do you take autistic, learning disabled or other differently abled students?
11. What methods do you use?
12. Where can I purchase a violin or viola?
13. What is your background and how long have you been teaching?
14. How do I contact you for further questions?

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RE: Fiddle and Alternative Styles

(28) How many different fiddle styles are there?
In Arnold Steinhardt's Violin Dreams he wrote about his visit to Mark O'Connor's summer fiddle camp:

where violinists of all types -- jazz, bluegrass, country and western, blues, rock, Texas style, old-time, classical, and Cape Breton -- gathered to teach and play. (p. 240, 2006 ed.)

So he mentions eight styles, other than classical. I have a couple of questions about this: (a) Should there be other styles on this list?; and (b) What are the definitions of each?

Responses:
"In addition to those already mentioned, I'm aware of the following fiddle styles: Irish, Scottish, French, Swedish, New England, Midwestern, Quebecois, Southwestern, Alaskan, and Northwestern. These are just the ones I can pull out of my head at the moment, and I'm sure there are many more. . .they vary widely in the type of music played, the bowing styles, and ornamentation. Within Irish fiddle music alone there are as many different styles as there are counties in Ireland."

The list is definitely incomplete. There are other musical cultures in which the violin or fiddle is used extensively, and the style or styles in which the instrument is played would not fit any of the categories already listed. For instance, the violin is a very important instrument in Indian classical music. It is also played quite a bit in Greek traditional music. The category "Gypsy" would not be adequate to represent Hungarian traditional playing as well as Romanian fiddling. We also have all the Native American traditions of fiddle playing, Metis (ND and Canada), Tarahumara and other Northern Mexico tribes, Bolivia, etc...

I can think of five very different fiddle styles in Michoacan. Around Lake Patzcuaro (Morelia, Uruapan); Tierra Caliente part of Michoacan; the southern coast; Tarascan (native fiddle); and modern Mariachi, which is found everywhere but seems strongest to its roots in the western part of the state.

Let me suggest a few styles that have thus far not been mentioned: Son Huasteca, from Veracruz on the Gulf Coast side of Mexico and the son and gusto styles from La Tierra Caliente, over on the Pacific side. Is it proper to call that Son Calientano. And the fiddle is used in Michoacan, in a configuration that differs from its neighbors (Son Michoacano?), Also there's some wonderful fiddle music from the Andes that is unlike any other I've heard. Have you tried to list the various Indian styles in North America? Waila, Athabascan, Metis from the Red River Country, North Woods styles (Anishanabe, Menominee, etc.) And don't forget the Poles (several varieties right here in Chicago), and the Danes, and the Finns, and the South Slavs.

I'm not sure if you can even list all the styles, even in one specific geographic region. West Virginia probably has a half dozen different styles, to the discerning ear, as does North Carolina. Eastern Kentucky is different from Western Kentucky, East Texas/ West Texas, Southern Missouri/Northern Missouri. It goes on and on.

Thus far, we have:

American fiddling (e.g., New England, Northwestern, Midwestern, Southwestern, Appalachian, Missouri, Tennessee) Balkan bluegrass blues Cajun Canadian (e.g., Ottawa Valley, Western/Midwest, North Dakota Norwegian, Ottawa Valley, East Coast, West Coast (Métis), Red River, Prince Edward Island) Cape Breton country and western English French

Greek Gypsy (e.g., Serbian, Armenian) Hungarian Indian raga (e.g., Hindustani, Carnatic) Irish (e.g., Donegal, Kerry, Clare, Galway) jazz Kletzmer Mariachi Maritime metal Mexican Northumbrian Norwegian

old-time (e.g., ragtime) Quebecois rock Romanian Scottish Shetland Southwestern Square Dance Swedish Swing Tarahumara Texas style Western Swing