Teacher's Manual

MUSIC THEORY FOR YOUNG VIOLINISTS BOOK 1

Letter Names Students are not expected to understand the accidentals at this point and that is the reason sharps (#) are shaded in grey. Treble Clef The way structured here is slightly different from how treble clef is written traditionally as kids below certain age tend to struggle writing it. Treble Clef Notes To cater for different needs of violin learners, this chapter is designed in a way that student can start learning the notes by strings or by fingers. For example, if your students are using Eta Cohen Violin Method book 1, he/she will be exposed to D note first, followed by E, F and G notes on the same strings. As such, he/she can start this chapter from page 29. On the other hand, if the students are using Fiddle Time Joggers or Violin Star 1, they will be first exposed to all open strings followed by 1st, 2nd and 3rd finger. In this case, they can start this chapter from page 21, 29, 37 and 45. The pages are tagged for easier page turn.

Arco and Pizzicato Apart from introducing concept of the alternating nature of up and down bows, this chapter is designed to improve the awareness of the bowing symbol that usually appears in the pieces. This can be done by asking your students to play the short pieces after they have written the bowing symbols.

Open String 1st finger 2nd & 3rd finger

G string page 21 22-23 24-28

D string page 29 30-31 32-36

A string page 37 38-39 40-44

E string page 45 46-47 48-53

MUSIC THEORY FOR YOUNG VIOLINISTS BOOK 2 Ties, Slurs and Bowing This chapter is being revisited again with ties and slurs included. Notes within a slur or a tie symbol will be played in one bow stroke. Students may be asked to play the short pieces after bowing symbols are written. Introduction to Key Signatures The focus here is the position of ONLY the 2nd finger. Position of 3rd finger can be introduced when learners move to Book 3 - Key Signatures and Scales, to avoid possible confusion. Fourth Finger Notes In this chapter, the letter names on the keyboard are repeated a few times to enhance the memory of the fingering position in the key of C major. This will be especially helpful when the learners move to the Accidental in book 3 as 'natural notes' serve as starting point for accidentals introductions.

MUSIC THEORY FOR YOUNG VIOLINISTS BOOK 3

Accidentals Students can be asked to write the letter names on the keyboard before tracing/writing the accidentals so that they understand how different accidental is derived from the 'natural' key.

Key Signatures and Scales Being a guide for scales writing, the chart also serves as reference for scale learning.