Bella

Welcome to your lesson notes page Bella!

Wed 17^th December 2025

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty

• Warm up with the scale and arpeggio. See how fluent you can get the arpeggio in particular.
• Keep working lots on the middle and last sections.
• Practice the last 3 bars with the retakes.

Viola Time Christmas

• Keep working on the things we talked about in last week’s lesson.

Sun 14^th December 2025

Viola Time Christmas

• 4. Ding Dong – work on the 2nd line before you play the whole thing through.
• 7. I Saw Three Ships – remember to hook the bowing even when the notes are the same.
• 10. Once in Royal David’s City – practice this with the backing track, and try the harmony part too.
• 11. Go Tell it on the Mountain – be really ready for the string crossing in the first bar, and try not to slow down with it. Watch out for the bowing in the dotted rhythms.
• 20. Away in a Manger – eyes open for up bows and 4th fingers.

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty

• Great work on the first half!
• Practice mainly from bar 37 now.

Sat 6^th December 2025

Stamping Dance

• Do the air bowing stretch, then C major scale slurred 2 notes per bow, ALL THE WAY to the tip and heel.
• Remember to make the quaver rests obvious.
• Try to make the dynamics obvious too.
• Push yourself to play this at a faster tempo now, and have fun!

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty

• Watch out for the B natural in bar 10.
• Get to know the middle section, making sure to count the rests carefully.
• From bar 57, it’s the same as the beginning until bar 76.
• Practice sliding your 2nd finger like a toggle for bar 76, so work from bar 73 to get to know ending.

Sat 29^th November 2025

Stamping Dance

• Have an air down and up bow stretch before you start, then do some long loud bows in a C major scale and arpeggio.
• In the piece, watch out for quaver rests and aim for complete silence in them.
• Look ahead so you are prepared for patterns to change at the end of 4 and 8 bar phrases.

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty

• Warm up with B flat major.
• In the piece, if anything sounds scratchy, pick out those few bars and get your bow arm working by doing the open strings version. Aim for a relaxed arm and resonant (ringing) sound. When you’re ready, add the fingers, trying not to disturb the lovely feeling you now have in your bow arm.

Under the Sea

• Leave this for now.

Sun 23^rd November 2025

Lazy Beat

• Warm up with a G major scale in the rhythm of the first bar (GGAAA etc).
• Practice bars 5-8 before you start, making sure the first note of 7 is quick (make the crotchet rest longer).
• In general keep an eye out for the rhythms and get these as secure as you can.
• In the pizzicato, curl your bow fingers towards the palm of your hand and release your thumb so you can put it on the corner of your fingerboard. Take your time for now, but you’ll get quicker at it!

Under the Sea

• Make sure you do all your retakes!
• Try playing louder in the f passages.

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty

• Warm up with a 1 octave Bb major scale and arpeggio.
• Practice up to bar 35.
• For any tricky bars, remember to play them a few times in a row.

Sun 16^th November 2025

Lazy Beat

• Try a G major scale in the rhythm of the first bar (GGAAA etc).
• Decide at home whether you’d prefer to play bars 13 and 14 with your left or right hand.
• Be nice and strong on your pizzicato, like someone popping their finger in their cheek.

Under the Sea

• Look carefully at any syncopated bars and make sure you’re not playing too many notes!
• Keep your bow relaxed, free and jazzy!
• Watch out for retakes!
• This is in “Ternary Form”, so the structure is ABA. Make sure you practice the middle section (from 13) more than the other sections, so as to keep it balanced.

Waltz from Sleeping Beauty

• Start looking at this for next time.

Sat 8^th November 2025

Keep an eye on your bow hold thumb this week – is it curved?

Pomp and Circumstance

• Count yourself in before you start.
• Think about a noble, pomp character.
• Listen to some of the other Pomp and Circumstance marches (there are 5). See if you can you come up with 3 things that link them?

By the Brook

• Set a metronome for 80 and give the piece a go at that speed.
• Practice the rhythm of bars 11 and 12 a few times.

Under the Sea

• Listen to the song before you practice it.
• Set a metronome to 90 and clap the rhythm of the first line a few times.
• With the metronome still on, play the rhythm on one note (maybe a G, as that’s the key we’re in).
• Once you’re feeling safe, turn off the metronome and have a go at the piece.
• See if you can add the dynamics as soon as possible.

Sat 11^th October 2025

By the Brook

• Challenge yourself to play this at a faster speed.
• Keep an eye out for the dynamics.

Pomp and Circumstance

• Imagine Elgar with his big moustache! Use a heavy bow and keep the speed nice and steady.

Under the Sea

• Start looking at this on your own.

Sat 4^th October 2025

To Music

• Warm up with a B flat major scale (going up a few extra notes if you like).
• Be really careful about short quavers and long crotchets, especially in bar 5 and bars 17-18.
• Count dotted notes carefully, especially bars 4, 8, 11 and 13.

Mon 22^nd September 2025

Rondeau (More Time Pieces)

• Practice G major scale and arpeggio, 2 octaves, before you play the piece. (Arpeggio is 020, shift, 1314131, shift, 020.
• Practise this through a little slower than usual this week, just to iron out any tricky bits.
• Next, practice your shifts – first, the one in bar 15, then the one in bar 19.

To Music

• Start with a Bb scale and arpeggio (1 octave) to prepare for this. Start in 1st position, then try it in 2nd position (starting on your 1st finger).
• Practice up to the dotted line.

Mon 8^th September 2025

Rondeau (More Time Pieces)

• Remember to practice your warm-up scale and arpeggio!
• Like last week, first play up to the middle of bar 12.
• Next, practice your shifts – first, the one in bar 15, then the one in bar 19.
• For the shift in 19, imagine there’s a magnet in the side of your 1st finger, and another on the nut at the end of your fingerboard.
• Practice from the middle of bar 18 (up bow) to work on the slur in bar 19.

To Music

• Practice a Bb scale and arpeggio (1 octave) to prepare for this.
• Feel free to have a go at the piece, but we’ll start with it next lesson.

Mon 1^st September 2025

Rondeau (More Time Pieces)

• Warming up with E harmonic minor, make sure you remember the D# in the middle on the way down! Use the Loch Ness Monster to help you with the arpeggio. Try to think ahead as you play it!
• First, practice from the beginning until bar 12.
• Think about a light, long and flowing bow at the start, to contrast with the quavers.
• Before you practice the section that starts in the middle of bar 12, do some detailed work on the quavers in 14-15. Play the first 11 quavers, and land in 3rd position on the G# 5 times in a row.
• Then, go back to bar 12 and play from there, thinking about the shift before you get there.
• Practice 19 for the slur.

To Music

• We’ll look at this together next lesson. Have a listen to this a few times to get you in the right mood.

Mon 4^th August 2025

Rondeau (More Time Pieces)

• Warm up with E harmonic minor. In the scale, don’t use any open strings, only 4th fingers! You can use an open string in the arpeggio.
• Practice the quaver passages for smooth, confident string crossings, and a fluid bow hand.
• Can you use your whole bow for the f in bars 12-14?
• In bar 15, don’t commit to the string crossing too fully – we’re only visiting the D string for 1 note.
• Remember to slur at the start of bar 19.

To Music

• Warm up with B flat major, 1 octave.
• Watch out for notes that are the same.
• Watch out for the fresh up bow in bar 14.

Wed 16^th July 2025

Henry’s Hornpipe

• I don’t need to hear this anymore, but if you want to, you can keep upping the tempo over the summer.

Turtle Retreat

• Keep playing this, as it’s great for your bowing and C string notes.

By the Brook

• Think of the title before you start, and have that atmosphere in mind.
• Can you make the brook babble along, flowing yet calm?

Rondeau (More Time Pieces)

• Great work on this!
• Make sure you don’t speed up from halfway through bar 8.

Thu 3^rd July 2025

Henry’s Hornpipe

• D major scale – listen carefully to the tuning of your 3rd fingers.
• Work on clear open As on the first line.
• Aim to get crotchet=100 really solid this week, then up it to 110 at the weekend.
• Listen carefully for clean string crossings, making sure you’re not tickling the next-door string.

Turtle Retreat

• Great work on your C harmonic minor scale & arpeggio! Work on getting the top octave of the scale safer, and say the arpeggio’s note names as you play them.
• Practice bars 6-8 until they feel secure.
• Listen out in this piece too for your bow only touching one string at a time – use your right elbow to help with finding the right angles.

Rondeau (More Time Pieces)

• Warm up with G major scale and arpeggio 2 octaves, then E minor scale and arpeggio 2 octaves. The harder the scale, the more you should play it, until it becomes easy.
• Check your two slurred crotchets are always even lengths.
• We’ll work on the timing of the minims together next lesson.
• Work from the middle of bar 20 until the end.

Mon 23^rd June 2025

Move your rosin to your viola case.

Theory

• Work on chapter 8, Intervals – the gaps between two notes. Remember to start counting on the “floor”.

Henry’s Hornpipe

• Aim a little higher with your F# at the start, and connect it in your head and ear with all the other F#s in the first section.
• Aim to get crotchet=90 really solid this week, then up it to 100 at the weekend.

Turtle retreat

• Warm up with C harmonic minor scale.
• Make sure you count your rests really carefully.
• Try to make your dynamics really obvious.

Rondeau (More Time Pieces)

• Warm up with G major, then E minor. Try the arpeggio if you like!
• Make sure you start at the right speed for your quavers!
• Keep counting, especially on the tied minims.

Mon 16^th June 2025

Theory

• Work on chapter 8, Intervals – the gaps between two notes. Remember to start counting on the “floor”.

Henry’s Hornpipe

• Keep working on your metronome challenge, starting this week at 90.

Rondeau (More Time Pieces)

• Warm up with G major two octaves, switching to 3rd position on the D string. We’ll learn E minor next time.
• Watch out for the C natural in bar 2.
• Try the whole piece.

Mon 9^th June 2025

Theory

Carry on from p.39.

The Merryman and his Maid

• Practice D major scale and arpeggio, slurred (scale in pairs, arpeggio in 3s). Whenever you have a slur that changes string, aim for great co-ordination of bow and fingers.
• Keep working on upping the tempo.
• Take more notice of the dynamics now.

Henry’s Hornpipe

• Keep working on your 2nd finger bridge over the A string.
• Set a metronome to 50. Once you can play the whole piece at that speed, try 60, then 70 etc.

At Anchor

• Think about the word “lilting” before you begin.
• Careful to count all your long notes.

Mon 2^nd June 2025

Theory

Please can you bring your book next lesson?

The Merryman and his Maid

• Practice D major scale and arpeggio, slurred (the arpeggio slurs in 3s).
• Allegro con brio = fast, with spirit.
• Work on linking small sections together.
• Hold the last note for 2 beats

Henry’s Hornpipe

• Work on making a bridge over the A string with your 2nd finger on the F#s, so that you don’t have to pick the finger up each time.
• Practice finding your way back to the beginning from the 1st time bar, then moving smoothly to the 2nd time bar.
• Set a metronome to 50. Once you can play the whole piece at that speed, try 60, then 70 etc.

Mon 19^th May 2025

Bring your theory book next time 😊

Congratulations on completing Viola Time Joggers! Play any of these pieces for a fun warm-up whenever you like now.

The Merryman and his Maid

• Keep an eye out for slurs.
• Count the minims well.
• Work on bar 28 to get the slurring and rhythm more comfortable (count quavers in your dotted crotchet, 3+4+).

Start having a look at Henry’s Hornpipe.

Mon 28^th April 2025

Theory

• Finish chapter 6.
• Try to do chapter 7 too!

In your playing, keep thinking about your bow thumb.

Carrion Crow

• Warm up with A major scale and arpeggio, going straight into the arpeggio from the last note of the scale.
• In the piece, don’t forget your C#s in bar 2.
• If you find bar 2 tricky, sing “1 2 3 B A”.
• On line 1, use lots of bow to help with the f.

Viola Time

• Practice this for us to play as a duet next lesson.

Wed 23^rd April 2025

Theory

• Finish chapter 6.
• Try to do chapter 7 too!

Calypso Dance

• Work on the D major scale and arpeggio. Keep your F#s nice and high in the arpeggio.
• If you like, you can practice going straight into the arpeggio from the last note of the scale.
• Aim to have a more free-flowing bow when you’re playing minims and semibreves.
• Do the LH pizzicato at the end with your 4th finger.

Tudor Tune

• Warm up with your G major 2 octave scale.
• Try not to pause your bow when you shift – keep the bow confident at all times.
• In the piece, work on good rhythm and big dynamic changes.
• How fast can you play this? Use a metronome to keep track.

Chopsticks for Two

• Again, look out for big dynamic differences.
• Also look out for the rests.

Wed 16^th April 2025

General point this week – try to keep your little finger on the bow on its tip, and use this stability to help you make a stronger sound.

38. Lazy Scale

• Get used to the feel of the bowings in every other bar.
• Have a relaxed, heavy bow arm at all times, but change how much bow you use to help you with the dynamics.

39. Runaway Train

• Play this one really nice and strong, with good energy. We’ll play this as a viola duet again next lesson.

41. Patrick’s Reel

• Get used to the notes in this one.
• Use longer bows for your crotchets – this will help with a nice strong sound.

Mon 24^th March 2025

VIOLA – keep thinking about a nice curved thumb on your bow.

34. Cattle Ranch Blues

• Keep practising the D major scale and arpeggio, focusing mainly on the arpeggio (with help from the Loch Ness monster!).
• Work on being confident with the first note of bar 8.
• Be strict with your crotchet rests.

35. In the Groove

• Keep practising this one for minims and counting the notes in bar 9.

36. Stamping Dance

• Practice G major scale and arpeggio (2 octaves) before you play this.
• Watch out for your Bs and open Ds in this piece.

37. Distant Bells

• Play this in the upper half of the bow to help with the calm feeling.
• Work on making the dynamics subtly different.

38. Lazy Scale

• Before you start, scan through with your eyes to find the 2 places where the notes are not next to each other.
• Be sure of your rhythm – you could even say “one” in each crotchet rest.

Fri 21^st March 2025

VIOLA

Think about a bent thumb on your bow this week.

33. Listen to the Rhythm

• Practice C major scale and arpeggio before you play this.
• Metronome challenge and retakes at the end of each phrase.

34. Cattle Ranch Blues

• Practice D major scale and arpeggio before you play this.
• Work on a heavier feel to this piece – it can be a bit slower, and you can use a heavier arm.
• Enjoy the tremolo at the end!

35. In the Groove

• Practice an A major scale and arpeggio before you play this.
• Practice retaking your bow in the rests.

36. Stamping Dance

• Practice G major scale and arpeggio (2 octaves) before you play this.
• Nice and heavy on the crotchets, and spiky staccato bowing on the quavers.
• Look out for more retakes in this piece!

Keep working through your folder this weekend, and we’ll visit the other pieces next Monday.

Wed 12^th March 2025

VIOLA

Practice everything in your viola folder, always making a nice strong sound.

Think about your bow hold before you start, placing your fingers a tiny bit further apart than usual.

Practice some violin pieces if you like, but it’s up to you!

Sat 8^th March 2025

Dig out your theory book so that we can start working on that again.

Entr’acte (p.18)

• Warm up with a B flat major scale (using 4th fingers) and arpeggio. Work on using a string bow for this – keep your bow hold secure and your arm heavy. Imagine completely covering a page with paint as you do this.
• Aim nice and low for your B flats in the piece.
• See if you can match the tuning of your 4th finger to your open A in bar 8.

The Lonely Goatherd

• Warm up with the scale, arpeggio and chromatic scale of G major.
• In the piece, start with your hand up against the violin, ready for the harmonic. As soon as you play the open Ds at the end of the bar, move your hand down to 1st position, ready for the next bar.
• Your hand needs to move every bar, so always move it as soon as you can, as you hit the open strings.
• Experiment with bar 11, playing it with a harmonic sometimes, and in 1st position sometimes. Choose your favourite.

Wed 12^th February 2025

Dig out your theory book so that we can start working on that again.

A minor

• Well done on your A minor scale today! Keep practising the arpeggio, starting by saying the finger numbers.

Abracadabra

• Pick 2 new pieces and play their scales first.

Wed 5^th February 2025

Greensleeves

• Work on your A harmonic minor scale (long tonics and slurs) and the arpeggio (using the Loch Ness Monster to help you).
• Keep playing this for familiarity, remembering to look out for G naturals and the dotted crotchets in bars 11 and 15.

The Jolly Miller

• Practice the G major scale and arpeggio before you play this.
• In the Theme, imagine the jolly miller singing confidently.
• In variation 1, make sure you are exactly double the speed of the Theme.
• In variations 1 and 2, work on moving smoothly to the open strings.
• Play Variation 3 near the heel of the bow, making sure we can hear the accents on the down bows. Martelé means hammered, so be nice and strong with the bow.
• In Variation 4, whoosh your down bows and save bow on your up bows. Try this bowing pattern just on one note for a while. Then try it in 1- or 2-bar chunks.

Pick another piece in your Abracadabra book. Play its scale and arpeggio to warm up.

Wed 22^nd January 2025

VIOLIN

Greensleeves

• Warm up with A Minor scale and arpeggio.
• Be ready for the 4th finger in bar 5, then be ready for the tone gap between the 4th and 3rd fingers.
• Play anything else you like in the Abracadabra book!

Sun 19^th January 2025

Your first VIOLA lesson! 🎻🥳

• Learn the alto clef open strings.
• Find yourself a folder for your viola music.

Greensleeves (violin)

• Learn this from your Abracadabra book.
• Pay attention to the slurs.

Wed 11^th December 2024

We Three Kings

• See if your Dad would like to play along with you for this on the guitar.
• Think about the contrast between smooth slurs and hooked bowing.
• Play nice and loud in the f section.

Makin’ Whoopee

• This is sounding great! Just play it lots so that you get more confident with the bowings and fingerings.

Wed 20^th November 2024

Dona Nobis Pacem

• Keep practising this one, looking ahead so you know exactly which notes and bowings are coming up.
• Double check last week’s lesson notes too.

Makin’ Whoopee

• Practice bar 10 to get the bowing 5 times in a row. Keep your right hand relaxed and try to start in the middle of the bow.

Wed 13^th November 2024

Keep doing your bow exercises, making sure your fingers are curved at all times.

Dona Nobis Pacem

• Keep your bow light and use longer bows.
• Focus on counting, especially on minims and dotted minims.
• Keep this for one more week to get really secure with it.

Makin’ Whoopee

• Try to relax a bit more in this piece, so that you can think about the bowing a bit more.
• Practice the start of bar 6.
• Up bow bar 9.
• Well done with the 🕷️ flick bowing!
• Remember to retake in bar 13.
• Work on the slurred chromatic notes in bar 15, working from 14 for the bowing.

Wed 6^th November 2024

Start all your practice sessions this week with some bow exercises:

• Hold the bow upright, then see if you can crawl your fingers all the way to the tip, then all the way back to the heel.
• Hold the bow upright, with the screw in the palm of your hand. Tap your little finger on the bow.
• Hold the bow upright, with the screw in the palm of your hand. Draw circles with the screw by flexing your fingers.
• Hold the bow parallel to the floor and practice some pinkie push-ups.

Makin’ Whoopee

• Listen to the start of each note at the start of bars 2, 3 and 4.
• Work on the bowing from the end of bar 4. If you need to go a bit slower, do.
• Practice the spider-flick bowing from 10-16, but start your practice in bar 12 so you don’t have to worry about the string crossing at first. This will be easier if you start in middle of your bow and keep the bow light.
• Think about the bowing from bar 19 too.

Wed 30^th October 2024

Makin’ Whoopee

• Practice this ready for us to start with it next lesson.

Simple Gifts

• Careful in this piece that your bow isn’t too far over the fingerboard, and try to keep it a bit more upright. Checking your thumb is bent may help.
• Careful of the bowing on the 2nd line, especially in bar 7.
• Practice the last 3 bars so that the double stop starts to feel easier.
• See if you can up the tempo even more – maybe 120?

Dona Nobis Pacem

• Warm up with a G major scale and arpeggio, slurring the arpeggio in 3s.
• Count a calm beat before you start, and try to keep counting 3 as you play.
• Keep looking out for all the slurs.

Tue 15^th October 2024

Theory

• Continue from p.33.

Simple Gifts

• Keep practising this to get it comfortable at crotchet=100.

Dona Nobis Pacem

• Warm up with a G major scale and arpeggio, slurring the arpeggio in 3s.
• Look out for all the slurs.
• Count very carefully so that your main beat stays the same (longer on your long notes).
• Make sure C naturals are really low and F#s are really high.

Makin’ Whoopee

• Keep working on this and we’ll start with it next lesson.

Thu 10^th October 2024

Simple Gifts

• In your D major scale, think carefully about your 4th finger in 3rd position, both on the way up and the way down.
• In your D major arpeggio, before you play the whole thing, play the first 4 notes about 5 times to to practice your shift. See if you can move your hand as soon as you play your open A. Remember that you are shifting a tone and a half.
• Start adding some slurs to you scale and arpeggio. Scale – slur in 2s. Arpeggio – slur in 3s.
• Great work on the slurred quavers in this piece!
• Practice the trill by starting at bar 17. First, just play the A and the trill. Then start adding a few notes. Keep your bow string on the trill.
• Start your metronome practice at about 100 this week.

Have a listen to Vivaldi’s Spring to get used to hearing trills:

Makin’ Whoopee

• Do about 10 pinkie push-ups before you start this piece.
• Keep an eye on the slurs, especially in bar 7.
• Be really precise with your rhythm, and quick with the string crossings, in the 1st time bar.
• Careful of the bowing and string crossings from bar 10. Starting in the middle will help, so you don’t run out for bow
• Look out for the slurs from bar 18.

Wed 25^th September 2024

Theory

• Well done with what you have achieved so far!
• If you get time, continue from page 33.

Simple Gifts

• Warm up with D major scale and arpeggio, 2 octaves.
• Keep your 2nd fingers low on line 1.
• See if you can up the speed now – maybe start at crotchet = 80.

Makin’ Whoopee

• Great work on the first line! Make sure you are thinking about the rising sequence.
• Work on the rhythm and bowing of bar 5.
• Work on the bowing in bars 6 and 7.
• If you feel like it, please do start looking at the second half.

Wed 18^th September 2024

Theory

• Complete p. 27 & p. 32 before carrying on further.

Simple Gifts

• Play a 2 octave D major scale to warm up for this. You can either start in 3rd position (2nd finger on the G string) or start with an open D and shift to 3rd position on the D on the A string. We’ll learn the arpeggio next week!
• Start eh piece with an up bow.
• Careful of the notes in bar 4.
• Work on the bowing in bars 5 and 6 – can you make them sound like separate bows?
• Look ahead in bars 10-14 so that you don’t hesitate as much. The default movement here is in step, like a scale, but be on the lookout for notes that aren’t in step.
• Carry on to the end of the piece, missing out the trill for now.

Makin’ Whoopee

• Keep working on the first half of this.

Wed 11^th September 2024

Theory

• Have a go at the next section and bring it along next week.

Makin’ Whoopee

• 2 octave G major scale and arpeggio
• Keep practising the easy violin part, but not as often.
• Spend your time learning the melody now.
• One the first line, practice the first 5 notes on a loop to get used to the bowing. Once it feels natural, then try the who line.
• Work on the slurs in bars 6 and 7.
• Remember that the notes in bar 8 are like the arpeggio.
• Practice up until the end of line 3.

Simple Gifts

• Play a D major scale to warm up for this, and we might learn a 2 octave version next week.
• Look out for when the notes are in step and when they are more arpeggio-ey.
• Watch out for the bowing in bars 5-7.
• Definitely learn the first 16 bars, but you can try the rest too if you like.

Sat 17^th August 2024

Makin’ Whoopee

• Warm up with a 2 octave G major scale and arpeggio.
• Well done with the notes! See now if you can be bolder with how you use your bow – can you add the accents and make your rhythm really clear?
• In bars like 5 and 16, make sure your E flats are super low. The difference between flats and naturals need to be really clear to hear.
• Count the beats in any dotted minim bars really carefully (11, 13 etc.).
• Practice the section from 10 to 17 lots to get confident with the note changes and solid rhythm.

Wed 24^th July 2024

See if you can finish your theory book over the summer – either get Mum & Dad to mark it, or send me photos on WhatsApp so I can mark it for you.

Makin’ Whoopee

• Think about the rhythm of bar 2 before you start.
• Get used to getting from the end of the 1st time bar back to bar 2.
• Work on the 2nd half, first for the notes and then for the rhythm.

Abracadabra

See if you can learn the Wraggle Taggle Gypsies, Little Brown Jug and Simple Gifts. Remember to play the scale and arpeggio first before you start – if you can’t work it out, look in your scales book.

Fiddle Time Scales

• Keep going in this book and see how far you can get on your own!

Wed 17^th July 2024

Theory

• Keep going with this, remembering to keep it nice an neat – have a rubber handy for when you make mistakes.

E minor

• Think ahead before you start each scale so that you know whether to play C natural or C#.

Gavotte

• Work on holding your dotted crotchet at bar 5 for long enough.
• Practice Fingertips (p. 2 of Fiddle Time Scales) but move every note up 1 string.
• Then work on slurring your dotted crotchets.
• Careful of the C naturals in bar 8.

Learn the easy part of Makin’ Whoopee for next week, and feel free to start looking at the harder part too.

Wed 3^rd July 2024

Theory

• Keep looking for it!

B flat major

• Practice the scale with the rhythm and bowing on p. 18 of your book. Try to use whole bows for the minims and slurs.
• Practice the arpeggio without the retakes now. See if you can add 3-note slurs. If you struggle to get the feel of 3 notes per bow, think of the word “Leytonstone” as you play.

Hallelujah

• Keep practising this to get more confident with your 3rd position section.

E minor

• Remember that melodic minor raises 2 notes and harmonic minor only raises 1.

Gavotte

• Imagine quavers within the crotchets in bar 1 and the dotted crotchet in bar 4.
• Make sure you slur your mordents into the quavers afterwards.

Wed 19^th June 2024

Theory

• See if you can get some more done, and bring it next week so that I can mark it for you.

B flat major

• For the natural 4th fingers, just aim a little higher to get them really in tune.
• Keep playing the arpeggio with retakes, saying the notes in between. Try to give this some sort of rhythm, with the note name on beat one, then the note on beat two, etc.

Hallelujah

• Before you start, make sure your bow hold is set really nicely – think especially about your thumb.
• Careful of the rhythm in bar 20.

E minor

• Practice the harmonic and melodic minor scales.
• Play the arpeggio too.
• In all of these, be listening really well for excellent intonation (tuning).

Gavotte

• Get all your fingers ready on the A string before you start.
• Be very aware of low 2nd fingers on the A string and high 2nd fingers on the D string.
• The squiggle in bar 3 is called a mordent. Play a quick A and B before landing on the A properly.
• Work closely on line 1, but feel free to explore the rest of the piece if you get time.

Wed 12^th June 2024

Theory

Try another chapter of this for next week.

B flat major

• In the scale, see if you can relax your fingers so that you can reach your high 4th fingers easily.
• See if you can speed this up a little now.
• For your arpeggio, practice some lovely big retakes and say the name of the next note as you travel around in the circle. Don’t let yourself land the bow until you’ve said the note name!

Hallelujah

• Make sure you start on an up bow.
• Practice doing a backwards retake in bar 14 so that you also start the next phrase on an up bow.
• Remember to do the shifting exercise at the top of the page, starting with 1 bar in 1st position. Try to get your slide as even as possible by having a light left thumb.

Wed 5^th June 2024

Black Cat Rag

Keep practising this to that it’s ready for your talent show.

Hallelujah

• Warm up with B flat major scale and arpeggio (p.18 in Fiddle Time Scales). Use 4th fingers instead of open strings in the scale, but open strings in the arpeggio.
• Practice from the beginning to bar 21 in 1st position, noticing the bars with the same rhythm, back-to-front rhythm and mirror-image rhythm.
• Work on the shifting exercise at the top of the page, keeping your left hand light so that your thumb can lead the shift instead of your 1st finger tip.
• Then try from bar 22 in 3rd position. Remember to think about the spaces between notes – is it a next-door note or two notes away? And is it a tone or a semitone? Send me a message if you have any questions.

Sat 25^th May 2024

Recording your exam.

Do have a look at Hallelujah if you have any time to practice before our next lesson, see what’s next in your Fiddle Time Scales book and/or try some more theory.

Wed 22^nd May 2024

Well done on your 3 takes today! Some little things to work on:

Black Cat Rag

• This was great! Keep up the good work.

Da Rod to Moreview

• Work on the slurring in the middle section.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Keep the tempo relaxed.

Little Dance

• See if you can start quieter.
• Let “Bob the Baddie” slow you down in the sections like bar 17.

Fri 17^th May 2024

Practice your exam opening chat ready for next week.

Black Cat Rag

• Great dynamics in the opening section Bella! See if you can get all the rest just as obvious now too, especially the crescendo in the middle section.

Da Rod to Moreview

• Great work here too! Now see if you can keep your bow a little further from the bridge throughout.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Listen for the sound quality on the long notes to see if you could let the bow move more freely with less weight on the string.

Little Dance

• This has a great character to it! Now see if you can keep the tempo really steady on the staccato notes, and work on the contrasting dynamics on the middle section.

Wed 8^th May 2024

Black Cat Rag

• We’ll look at the crescendos together in your next lesson.
• Practice bars 17-18 for really good tuning.
• Practice bars 29 and 30 thinking about which fingers the semitones are between.

Da Rod to Moreview

• Well done! Try now to think in longer lines/phrases.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Try playing this a bit slower now – it will give you the chance to think about the details a bit more.

Little Dance

• Keep your B flats in bars 10 and 33 nice and low.
• Make sure bars 19 and 23 start down bow.
• Practice this with a metronome, first at 70, then 75, then 80.

Wed 24^th April 2024

Black Cat Rag

• Just like we did in the lesson, at the end of bar 6, take your bow off the string in a way that lets your open D ring.

Da Rod to Moreview

• When you practice the middle section, know that bar 15 is coming – be ready for the 2nd finger on the E string and the high 2nd finger on the C#.
• Remember to keep your bow hand relaxed for as much of this as you can.
• Remember to make the scotch snap really snappy.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Think about your dynamics more now, especially starting quietly at bar 18.
• Practice changing bow in the long note at bar 24.

Little Dance

• Try to relax your fingers when you have slurred semiquavers.
• Add more of the dynamics to this now too.

Wed 17^th April 2024

Black Cat Rag

• Play the minim in bar 6 a little longer.
• Bar 13 lower B flat.
• 29 and 30 staccatos a bit shorter.
• Work on your crescendos, speeding your bow up as the notes go on, or using more bow on each note if it’s a long crescendo.

Da Rod to Moreview

• Make sure you start this with a straight bow.
• Practice it in sections (2 lines at a time) starting slow and working with the metronome.
• Practice the middle section noticing exactly where your string crossings happen.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Keep listening out for your sound quality.
• Keep the tempo nice and relaxed.

Little Dance

• Before you start, think about the difference in your 1st finger position between sections and A and B, and how a high 1st finger in section B is close to your 2nd finger.
• Work on your finger placement before you start playing so that bar 1 is in tune.
• Think about your dynamics much more.
• Great f! Can the p be quieter?
• Work on your tuning from 17, especially keeping the Cs low.

Wed 10^th April 2024

Black Cat Rag

• Use a bit more bow on the crotchets in bars with rhythms like bar 4.
• Let’s practice the minim crescendos.
• In bars 10 and 31, make sure the crotchet-minim pair go up-down.
• From 13, make sure the B flats are lower.
• Make sure you slur 3 notes in bar 20.
• How long can you play the dotted crotchets in bars 16 and 26 before the retakes?
• How short can you play the staccatos in bar 29 and 31?

Da Rod to Moreview

• Work on bow accuracy: any bars where you hit other strings, try playing the open string version first until it feels really easy. Then add your fingers back in.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Excellent work landing your retakes!
• Make sure your F natural in bar 6 is super low, and the F sharps in 8 is super high.
• Practice 18-25 for comfort – try to start the really long notes right at the heel of the bow, and keep your right hand relaxed so we don’t get a squeezy sound.
• Save bow at the end on the dotted minim and the semibreve, but use a fast bow on the slurred quavers.

Little Dance

• Work on the dynamics, using a faster, longer bow for the louder notes.
• Careful not to speed up in bar 8 and 15.
• See if you can give the accent in bar 14 a bit more of a dig.
• Lower C naturals in 17, 18 and 21, 22.
• Try and get me to tell you you’re playing too loud at bar 17 and too quiet at bar 19! 😊

Thu 28^th March 2024

Da Rod to Moreview

• Before you start this, make sure your little finger is on tip before you start.
• Stick with 100 all of this week as it would be great to get it really comfy at that speed before speeding up further.
• If any little bits feel a bit out control, go half speed for a few minutes.
• When you’re not playing with the metronome, listen out for any notes that aren’t as clear as all the rest.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Keep working on a light right hand and forearm and a heavy upper arm – this will help you use a slow bow on the really long notes without them sounding squished.

Little Dance

• Keep playing F major before you start this one, making sure the 1st and 2nd fingers are low enough. Taking your thumb down with the fingers will really help to keep you in tune.
• Work on this a little slower this week to really work on tuning.
• Check where your semitone should be in the section from 17.
• In bars 10, 12, 34 and 36, think of the words “piccadilly line” to help you change bow at the right time.

Wed 20^th March 2024

Black Cat Rag

• Use a metronome to help you get this up to performance speed.
• Try not to press with the bow when you play tricky bars.
• Work on getting your bow retakes super confident, looping bars 6 and 7. See if you can come off the D lightly, to let the string ring as you take your bow off.

Little Dance

• Be really gentle with your bow at the beginning for the p dynamic.
• From bar 10, keep your 1st fingers really low.
• From bar 17, make sure B naturals are high and C naturals are low. Ds and Es need to be high too.
• Also from 17, be really aware of your dynamics.

Wed 13^th March 2024

Little Dance

• Great job on this piece Bella!! 🤩
• Keep warming up with the scale and arpeggio of F major.
• Keep your 1st fingers nice and low.
• In bar 18, see if you can make your staccato even lighter.
• Remember to retake at the end of bar 8.
• Work on bars 9-12 to get comfy with the bowing.
• Make a big difference in the dynamics between bars 1-8 and 9-16.
• In 17-19, keep your 1st and 2nd fingers together.
• Feel free to write in a few fingerings here and there if there’s something that is taking a while to get the hang of.

Black Cat Rag

• Awesome work on this too!
• Work now on the dynamics.

Da Rod to Moreview

• Think about your bow hold before you start this – it should be nice and curved and relaxed.
• This should help your separate-bow quavers to flow nicely.
• See if this can help you hit any of the higher metronome speeds!

Sun 3^rd March 2024

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Try to use a lighter bow on this now – remember that we get good sounds quality by having a free bow hand and forearm, and a heavy feeling in our upper arm.
• Well done on the middle section today (18-25)! Keep practising it to get even more comfortable with it.
• Work now on the rhythm at bar 30.

Little Dance

• Play F major scale to warm up. Have a go at the arpeggio too!
• We looked at bars 1-8 in your lesson. Feel free to go as far as bar 16 at home.
• Keep your 1st fingers nice and low.

Thu 29^th February 2024

Theory

• Try to do 1 theory exercise at the start of every practice session.

Black Cat Rag

• Count the rests exactly even when you don’t have me playing the piano with you – then you’ll be really ready to come in when you do get to play it with the accompaniment.
• Keep playing it to get more and more comfortable with the notes.

Da Rod to Moreview

• Working with the metronome: if you stumble anywhere, work on that little section at least 3 times before you start from the beginning again. Give yourself time to recover and think about how you can make it better next time.
• If you feel like you’re getting behind, try using a lighter bow.
• Remember to count 3 beats on your dotted minims at the end of each 8-bar section.
• Before you move onto the next speed, think about whether there are any places where the tuning could be improved and work on that micro-section. Then practice that bit within its 8-bar phrase before playing the whole piece through again.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Let’s work on the rhythm from bar 18 next lesson.

Sat 17^th February 2024

Theory

• Finish chapter 2.
• Get as much of chapter 3 done as you can.

When tuning your violin at home, see if you can get braver about tuning with your left hand as you bow the strings. Stand with your violin over the sofa if you’re worried you might drop it.

Black Cat Rag

• Practice your first 8 bars imagining someone had to guess your dynamics.
• Look at the rest of the piece in 4-bar chunks, asking yourself what the most important things are to remember in each section.

Da Rod to Moreview

• Keep going with your metronome challenge!

Fri 9^th February 2024

Black Cat Rag

• Great work on your staccato notes! See if you can make all of them as good as your best ones.
• Work on your tuning from bar 13 – having a low 1st finger before you start that bar will help.
• Enjoy your dancing 2nd finger in bar 17! (Especially keeping the F# nice and high).
• Imagine a tiptoeing cartoon character in 17-18!
• In bars 19 and 20, try not to bow too close to the bridge and use a flatter bow hair.
• Look out for the dynamics a bit more.

Da Rod to Moreview

• To get a good sound on your upbeat quavers, first check your bow hold. Then place your bow about an inch from the bridge and angle it so you have a bit more hair on the string.
• If you find any bars that are tricky with odd string crossings, practice them without your fingers like we did with bar 15 in your lesson. Once it feels easy, add your fingers and then alternate between the open string version and the real version until it feels really good.
• From bar 9, make sure your 3rd fingers aren’t too high.
• Listen out for any places where you might be hitting the string next door by accident – the open string exercise is very handy for sorting this out too.

Wed 31^st January 2024

Try chapter 2 of your theory book for next lesson.

In your playing, experiment with how light your left hand fingers can be.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Listen out for any places where you accidentally hit the string next door. Raise or lower your elbow to fix it.
• Practice from the upbeat to bar 18, counting your 3-beat notes carefully.
• Work on bar 23 for the tuning.
• Work on the timing of the last two bars – let the quavers lead you into the last note.
• Practice the 2nd half more than the 1st half to get the whole piece up to the same level.

Da Rod to Moreview

• You’ve worked so well on the first section of this Bella!
• Try to keep all of this in the middle section of your bow.
• Make sure you count to 3 on the dotted minim in bar 8.
• Practice from line 3 in small sections, just like you did the beginning.
• For the dotted rhythm at the start of bar 10, imagine drawing a tick with your bow.

Black Cat Rag

• Can you get your staccato notes even shorter?
• We looked at the whole piece in your lesson – see how you get on with it all at home, perhaps working on one line at a time.

Fri 26^th January 2024

Scales

• Try singing your arpeggios as you put your fingers on the notes, like we did in the lesson.
• Practice G minor like you have been practising D minor, with all 3 types.
• We’ll learn A and B flat major 2 octaves next lesson and do some more sight reading.

Great work on your aural today! Keep up last week’s work on your pieces.

Wed 17^th January 2024

D minor scale

• Start adding slurs to these this week (2 notes per bow).
• In the natural minor, careful of the tuning of F natural, B flat and C natural. Focus especially on a very low F and B flat.
• In the harmonic minor, work on the big gap between B flat and C#.
• In the melodic minor, work on moving your 2nd and 1st fingers as you play the top note.

Black Cat Rag

• Great work on your clapping!
• Vocab for you: staccato (short and light, like bar 3) vs. tenuto (heavier and with a lean, like bar 4).
• Be mentally prepared for the F naturals before you start playing, putting your 1st and 2nd fingertips right next to each other.
• For the staccato bow stroke, make sure your little finger is curved on your bow and use the bow on your string like a paintbrush.

Climb Ev’ry Mountian

• Practice the second half most, from bar 18.

Da Rod to Moreview

• Start this in the middle of the bow.
• Keep your E string 2nd fingers super low.
• Try to learn the rest of this yourself at home!

Theory – once you find your book, try chapter 2.

Wed 10^th January 2024

Climb Ev’ry Mountian

• Listen to make sure your bow isn’t tickling any of the other strings.
• Reach a little higher for the 4th finger in bar 7, remembering to keep your hand open and relaxed.
• Whenever you have quavers (eg. bars 6 and 19) be really precise with your rhythm.
• Work on making the last beat of bar 19 sound like separate bows, but without slowing down.
• Make sure your 3rd fingers are nice and high in bars 21-23.

D minor scale

• Looking at the key signature for Black Cat Rag, play a D natural minor scale, which follows the key signature exactly. Make sure your B flat is super low, right next to the nut.
• Next, turn it into a D harmonic minor scale by raising the 7th note to make a C#. You should have a tone and a half gap between your 1st and 2nd fingers.
• Finally, turn it into a D melodic minor scale by raising both the 6th and 7th notes to make B natural and C#. Whilst your 3rd finger is on the top note, move both your 1st and 2nd fingers down a semitone to return to the notes you played in the natural minor scale.

Practice clapping the first two lines of Black Cat Rag before next lesson.

Try to get a chapter of theory done for next lesson too – have a sharp pencil and rubber ready!

Tue 19^th December 2023

Go Tell it on the Mountain

• Warm up with a two octave A major scale and arpeggio, remembering your high 3rd fingers on the bottom octave.

Well done Bella on all the Christmas tunes you’ve learnt this year! Nothing fazed you at all 😊

Once Christmas is over, look back at the lesson notes from our last few lessons and work on the things we did then.

Grade 2 scales: anything from p. 14 onwards in your scales book is for grade 2, so feel free to play any of those!

Thu 14^th December 2023

Remind yourself about a good bow hold this week. If your little finger feels unsafe, bring it backwards slightly.

Go Tell it on the Mountain

• Play the middle section a little more to get really comfortable with it, but otherwise this is great! Try playing it along with someone on the guitar chords now too.

Silent Night

• Keep your bow nice and light in this piece, and about 2cm from the bridge.
• Remember all those 3 note slurs!

The Rod to Moreview

• To count yourself in before you start (only up to 3!).
• Try not to stop on the bar line of 1-2.
• At the start of every 2-bar phrase, make sure your two slurred quaver upbeats aren’t faster than your other quavers.

You can leave your Grade 1 book at home now.

Wed 6^th December 2023

The Rod to Moreview

• Work on the first 8 bars, building it up by working on each 2-bar phrase separately. (Remember that each of the upbeat slurs is on an up bow).
• When each phrase is confident, put them all together.
• In bars 1 and 7, see if you can play your 4th finger without hesitating.
• In bars 3 and 7, remember that the bar starts with quavers instead of a crotchet.

Go tell it on the Mountain

• Keep up the great work on the first half, remembering to keep the dotted rhythms nice and snappy.
• Learn the 2nd half and practice the D.C. al Fine.

Thu 30^th November 2023

Keep practising tuning your violin with your left hand whilst playing your strings with your bow.

German Dance

• Great work on this! Keep it for one more week to really master the bowing as you switch between the first and 2nd half.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Practice the bracketed section lots, saving bow on the long notes and starting them right at the heel.

Feel free to pick a Christmas song or two as well – probably one in G, D or A major is best to start with.

Thu 23^rd November 2023

Try tuning with your left hand whilst playing your strings, like we tried in the lesson. Practice in front of the sofa so that you’re not scared of dropping it.

German Dance (1st piece in grade 1 book)

• Take a little breath before your extra up bow in the middle.
• Remember the slurs at 10, 11 and 12.
• Check the metronome mark and try this a little faster.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Work on keeping your low F naturals on bar 6, sliding your 2nd finger down your 1st finger like a it’s on a slide.
• Practice from the upbeat to bar 18 lots as it’s less familiar.

The Rod to Moreview

• Try out the first two lines.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

• Make sure you count 2 beats on your first note.
• Look out for the slurs.
• Learn the second section yourself and practice doing the Da Capo.

Fri 17^th November 2023

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

• Play D major scale and arpeggio before you begin. Use this finger placement to help you find your first note (F#) in tune.
• Keep your bow nice and light for the mp at the start.
• Reach out your 3rd finger for the 2nd note (G#).
• In bars 6 & 8, count your dotted crotchets carefully.
• Remember to count your long notes and rests carefully.

Keep using last week’s notes to practice your Fiddle Time Scales music.

Wed 8^th November 2023

C major scale

• Build your fingers up on the G string before you start as if you were playing a G major scale. This will help you be confident in knowing your first note is in tune.

Accelerator

• For the accents, give them a kick at the start of the note, then let the bow move for the rest of the note.
• Think about your retakes a little earlier.
• Practice the last line so that your arpeggio doesn’t have a pause between the C and G.

Double Decker

• For the double stops, think about your right elbow height, rest the bow on both strings and keep your bow hand relaxed.
• Keep your F naturals super low.
• Try to keep your left hand relaxed too.

German Dance (1st piece in grade 1 book)

• Keep playing your D major scale before you start, thinking about the sharps before you start.
• Be a detective and see if you can notice where all the slurs are and, maybe even more importantly, where they aren’t.
• Keep your bow light so that the sound can travel well.
• In the second half, make sure your 2nd and 3rd fingers are really touching.
• Try your best to use your right elbow to help you stay on the right string.

Sun 5^th November 2023

C major scale

• Learn this a few different way – separate, slurred, printed rhythm and even notes.
• Remember that even though the 2nd fingers need to be low, the other other fingers need to be in their normal places.
• Learn the arpeggio too, thinking about the note names and the fingering.

Accelerator

• Play line 1 with long slow bows so that it won’t be too fast for the semiquavers when you get to line 3.
• Keep your F naturals and C natural nice and low.
• Ask your Mum or Dad to help you find a metronome (app or online) to use as you practice this, set to 50 at first. See if you can get it any faster.

German Dance (1st piece in grade 1 book)

• Play D major scale before you start.
• See how much of this you can learn for next lesson.
• Look out for where there are and aren’t slurs.

Sat 21^st October 2023

Somerset Folk Song

• Hunt out all the C naturals and make sure they are low enough.
• Count the beats in you 2- or 3-beat notes.

Drunken Sailor

• The beginning of this is sounding fantastic!
• Well done with the hooked bowing at 13, 15 and 17!
• Practice bar 25 to the end lots to get more familiar with it.
• Once you’re familiar with all the notes, use the 5 ways to change dynamic (listed below) to help you add that extra dimension! I would recommend tilting the stick and playing near the fingerboard for the p leggiero section.

Learn the 5 ways to change dynamic

• Bow arm weight (heavy for loud, light for quiet)
• Closeness to the bridge (for loud, near the fingerboard for quiet)
• Bow speed (fast for loud, slow for quiet)
• Length of bow (long for loud, short for quiet)
• Amount of bow hair on the string (all the hair for loud, tilt the bow stick away from you for quiet)

Thu 19^th October 2023

What Shall we do With the drunken Sailor?

• Warm up with E minor scale and arpeggio.
• You did really well sight reading this in your lesson!
• From bar 13, work on your “hooked” bowing.

Somerset Folk Song

• Keep remembering to look at the music for any notes you’re unsure of.
• Count 3 quavers within each dotted crotchet using the numbers I’ve written at the top of the piece.

Wed 11^th October 2023

Ode to Joy

• You’ve done a great job on this so far and worked really well in your lesson to fix things! Remind yourself of these places before you play it through:
• Aim to use 4th fingers wherever we’ve written them in.
• Look out for the 4 bars with slurs.
• Make sure bar 6 is different to all the other slurred bars.
• Play from bar 11 thinking about the tie in bar 14-15 – the F# needs to happen in time. Sam at bar 22-23.

Somerset Folk Song

• Warm up with your E minor scale, making sure the bow is neat on the top notes.
• Go through the piece with your Mum to find out where the rhythms could be clearer.

Feel free to look ahead at the next scale in your book!

Sat 7^th October 2023

Scales

• Keep playing G major and E minor, but always think about a light bow and left hand.

Somerset Folk Song

• Remember to always start this on an up bow.
• Go through this thinking more about the rhythm now. Look out especially for notes after quavers coming in quickly, but lasting their full length.
• Remember there’s no 2nd finger at the start of bars 7 and 11!

Ode to Joy

• Have a duet session with your Mum on this, looking out for dotted rhythms and slurs.

Wed 27^th September 2023

In general: try to be lighter and more relaxed with your left hand fingers and your bow hold.

Scales

• Keep practising G major and E minor, working on your low 2nd finger and high 3rd finger on the A string.

French Carol

• Great progress on this!
• Practice “performing” this now – look ahead so you know what’s coming.

Somerset Folk Song

• We learnt about upbeats with this piece – they are a less important note that is played before the first main barline, like the “the” in the phrase “the cat sat on the mat”.
• We learnt the first two lines. See if you can learn the rest for next lesson!

Wed 20^th September 2023

Well done with tuning your violin today! You’re absolutely right to be experimenting with this.

Bow hold reminder: make sure your rabbit isn’t sticking his tongue out, and that his teeth (your middle fingers) are curved over the bow.

Fiddle Time Scales

• Keep practising G major 2 octaves, especially the arpeggio.
• In Fast Food, keep working on your low 2nd fingers on the A and E strings. Practice the second half more than the first, as you have played it less.
• French Carol – after warming up with E minor scale and arpeggio, practice the first line in 3-bar phrases or sections. You can also practice the second line in smaller phrases.

Bring your Grade 1 book next week too.

Wed 13^th September 2023

Fiddle Time Scales

• Play G major with the new rhythm, which I’ve written in your book.
• Fast Food – Clap through the rhythm of the first 2 lines. Before you play the first line, put your fingers on the string in position for the first 3 notes, making sure your left hand is relaxed, your 1st and 2nd fingers are together and your 3rd is far away. Imagining your left wrist is hanging like a sloth will help with this. Use nice long bows on the 2nd half.
• Remind yourself of E natural minor scale and arpeggio.
• French Carol – definitely learn the 1st line, and if you’re feeling clear-headed after that, have a go at the second line too.

Wed 19^th July 2023

Fiddle Time Scales

• G major scale 2 octaves – listen out for your tuning on the E string.
• G major arpeggio – play the “custard on your cornflakes” rhythm on each note.
• Ring my number – keep practising this for familiarity. Try to look ahead as much as you can, and watch out for the bars that start crotchets-2 quavers. Check last week’s notes too.
• Learn the pieces on page 9.

In the holidays, do some exploring:

• Feel free to carry on in this book, learning the pieces that go with each of your grade 1 scales.
• Play any of the pieces in your Fiddle Time Joggers book, playing along with the backing tracks (here).
• Look at any of the other pieces in your grade 1 book – there are 6 pieces we didn’t play for the exam!

Wed 12^th July 2023

Fiddle Time Scales

• Play G major scale and arpeggio, 2 octaves (we might as well, as you have learnt the second octave now!)
• Ring My Number Working on this, make sure you keep going past the bar lines. Be really strict with your rhythm. Always look out for whether it’s a scaley bar or an arpeggioey bar.
• Learn the pieces on page 9.

Wed 5^th July 2023

Your mock grade 1: 123/150 Merit, well done! 🥳

Sat 1^st July 2023

Y Delyn Newydd

• To help have a clean string crossing in your first bar, play an open-strings version of bar 1 until it is neat and feels safe. Then add the fingers back in.

Skye Boat Song

• See if you can fill bars 14 and 18 with sound – no gaps!
• Do a nice big retake at the end before the last note.

Tango

• See if you can memorise this properly, so that not looking at the music isn’t an issue.

Try to do one sight reading exercise a day til the exam, and keep practising your scales. You’re doing so well Bella – I hope you can enjoy showing all the hard work you’ve been doing on Wednesday!

Wed 21^st June 2023

Scales

• A major scale – listen out for good tuning on the E string.
• E minor – practise this separate bows first, listening for the tuning of your C on the A string.
• E minor – next, practise it with slurs, trying to use all of your bow.
• G major – keep using nice long bows – great job!
• A major arpeggio – try to use the memory of your C# 2nd finger placememnt to help tune your 3rd finger.
• E minor arpeggio – have a really good stretch between your 1st and 4th fingers on the A string.

Sight reading

• Remember how to start – check the key signature, time signature, then tap the rhythm.
• Try and do as much practise of this as you can, remembering that you need longer bows for crotchets and shorter bows for quavers.

Y Delyn Newydd

• Make sure your bow is squarely on the E string for the last line.

Skye Boat Song

• This has such a nice feel to it now!Try not to wait at the end of bars 6 and 10.
• Remember to keep your bow on the string for the whole of bar 14.
• Remember to do a retake at the end so that you finish on a down bow.

Tango

• Well done! Just remember to keep looking at the music so there aren’t any surprise notes.

Tue 13^th June 2023

Y Delyn Newydd

• Check your metronome speed before you start – you might find you can relax the tempo a bit!
• Look out for the tuning of your C in bar 8.
• Otherwise, this is sounding great!

Skye Boat Song

• Practise the middle section from bar 11.
• Count 6 beats in your dotted minim in bar 14.
• Try to hold bar 18 for 6 whole beats with no gap between that and the next note.

Tango

• Well done on fixing all the things we worked on last lesson!
• An extra details to add now is to be light and short on all your staccato notes.
• Remember to diminuendo and slow your bow down on your last note.

Keep practising your Grade 1 scales and arpeggios: D and A major 1 octave, G major 2 octaves and E minor 1 octave.

Thu 8^th June 2023

Excellent sight reading today today Bella, well done!

Tango

• Keep looking at the music so you know what’s coming next.
• Play it a little slower this week just to get all the details in.
• Play the middle section a bit more to get familiar with the notes.
• Practise bar 20 to get used to the little gap in the middle of the bar.
• Practise doing a long diminuendo on the last note, slowing your bow down and letting it stray over the fingerboard. (a little!)

Sat 20^th May 2023

Scales

• Keep listening for the tuning of your 1st fingers in your scales.
• Try not to press too hard with your left hand fingers and your bow.
• Before you play G major 2 octaves, hold your violin in guitar pose and put your fingers on the string for B, C# and D. Then slide your 2nd finger along the string to C natural position. Do this back a forth a few times, trying to keep your 3rd finger still and your left hand relaxed.
• In G major 2 octaves, remember to keep your 2nd fingers low on the A and E strings.
• In your arpeggios, aim for higher 2nd fingers.

Y Delyn Newydd

• Open up your finger base joints with the recorder stretch to help your fingers not be too “huggy”.
• In the second half of the piece, angle your bow near to the A string when you’re playing on the E string.

Thu 11^th May 2023

Bow hold practise:

• Pput your bow on the music stand, ready to pick up in a minute.
• Find a small cuddly toy like my moose to squeeze gently in your right hand. Notice how curved all your fingers are!
• Drop the toy and take your new curved hand over to the bow. When you pick it up, try to keep your fingers curved and soft. Then you’re ready to play!

Skye Boat Song

• Before you start, play bars 13 and 14. Work on the crotchet being full length, without a gap between your two up bows.
• Next, practise bars 13-15, aiming for 6 full quaver beats on the dotted minim.
• Once you have practised these two things, put the 8-bar phrase together from 11.

Tango

• Start this piece in the middle of your bow.
• Practise the first bar in two halves – long bows for the first half, and then short light bows (that could come off the string) for the second half. Once these feel safe, put the whole bar together.
• Work on 13-20 the most, looking at the music as much as you can! Try to remember all the double up bows too.
• Make sure you start the 3 quavers in the 2nd time bar start on an up bow.

Wed 3^rd May 2023

Y Delyn Newydd

• See if you can find out what a metronome at 126 sounds like, then try playing this at that speed.
• Careful of your tuning in the first half – we can work on this together next lesson.

Skye Boat Song

• Keep your bow nice and smooth in bar 2 and in bars 13 and 17.
• Well done on the even quavers!!
• Hold bar 14 right to the tip of the bow and don’t do a retake for the next bar.
• Careful not to play the last note too early!

Tango

• Next lesson we’ll practise how to start after hearing the introduction.
• Work on the section from 13 onwards lots to get it feeling as secure as the beginning.
• Well done on your timing in the 2nd time bar! Can you get 16 and 20 just as good?
• Hold last note longer as it has a pause on it.

Scales

• A major scale with slurs – practise getting a cleaner string crossing.
• G major scale – don’t forget the long tonic in the middle!
• E minor scale – practise this with slurs and try to use your whole bow.
• D major arp – F# on the way down.
• G major – practise open strings
• E minor – again 1st note a bit high – open strings

Aural

• Practise clapping along to the beat with pieces you hear and guessing if it’s in 2, 3 or 4 time.

Wed 26^th April 2023

A general thing to think about this week – keep your left thumb pointing up to the ceiling as it will help keep your left wrist down.

Y Delyn Newydd

• Your 1st fingers were a bit high to start with, but otherwise your tuning is really good, and I was especially impressed with your 4th finger.
• See if you can add the dynamics this week, making the second half a little bit louder than the first half.

Tango

• Remember your fancy bowing in your 1st bar, then very long bows for the minims.
• Keep looking at the music – there’s lots in this piece that is very similar, but not quite the same.
• Practise the whole piece now.

Wed 19^th April 2023

Skye Boat Song

• From bar 11, work on keeping your quavers all the same length.
• Hold the note at bar 14 right to the tip of the bow, then you’ll be in the right part of the bow for bar 15’s up bow.
• Keep an ear on the tuning of your 3rd fingers – they were a bit high today.

Wed 29^th March 2023

Y Delyn Newydd

• In the first half, how smooth can you make your bow on the slurs?
• Keep the C naturals nice and low.
• When practising the second half, be careful you aren’t adding or leaving out any slurs.
• Noticing that it’s only the bars with minims in with slurs might help!
• Keep your C natural nice and low on the last line.

Skye Boat Song

• Think lots about the bowing on the first line.
• From bar 11, keep the quavers even – you’re trying to make them fancy as the beginning!
• Make sure you count 3 quavers in each dotted crotchet, and at least 8 beats on the last note of the piece – keep the bow relaxed and let it come to a gentle stop at the tip of the bow.

Sat 25^th March 2023

Sight Reading

• You can try his yourself by finding a piece in Fiddle Time Joggers you’ve never played before (or can’t remember anymore!). Choose a section that’s 4-8 bars long.
• Think about the key signature and play the scale.
• Think about the time signature.
• See if you can notice any patterns in the rhythms and notes.
• Give yourself about a minute to practice before “performing” it (to Mum, Dad, Toby or the guinea pigs).

Tango

• Play a D major arpeggio to warm up.
• Play the first bar’s rhythm on an open D.
• Keep looking at the music!
• We learnt the middle section and the final two bars of the piece, so you’ve now played all the material! You can now practice the whole piece, but working in sections stops it feeling quite so long.

Sat 18^th March 2023

Skye Boat Song

• Keep an eye on your bow in your 1st and 2nd bars to make sure you start bar 4 on an up bow.
• Learn the section from bar 11, making sure you look at the music carefully as you play – especially in bar 12.
• Start 11 in the middle of the bow so you don’t get too near the the heel on the long notes.

Practice E minor scale the most this week.

Wed 8^th March 2023

Scales

• Start every practice this week with D, A or G major, but always play E minor.
• Flip a coin to decide if you’ll play them slurred or separate bows.
• Use a whole bow on your minims.
• Remember that in in G major 2 octaves we need long Gs in the middle, as well as the top and bottom notes.

Tango

• Great work on the clapping! You can leave this now, unless you feel a bit wobbly on the rhythm every once in a while.
• Start by playing the rhythm of your first bar on an open D string to get your arm feeling good.
• Remember the first 4 notes are the D major arpeggio.
• Keep practising just up to the 2nd time bar.

Sat 4^th March 2023

Tango

• Practise the bowing of the first 2 bars on your open D string, starting in the middle of the bow and remembering your bouncy dots on your last notes.
• Play this until it feels comfortable.
• Next, play the D major arpeggio.
• Then try the first 2 bars with the fancy bowing. Once it’s gone well, try to play it right 5 times in a row to get it to stick, or until it feels comfortable.
• We played up to bar 8, but I’d love you to see if you can learn up to bar 12.

Wed 22^nd February 2023

Skye Boat Song

• Wow Bella, you’ve done a great job on this!!
• Make sure you start your second bar with an up bow as you change string.
• Add the section from bar 11 to your practice this week.
• Keep your 1st finger on the string for the whole of bar 11.
• We’ve added a fancy bowing to bars 13 and 17 – don’t worry if you can’t quite get it yet, we can look at it together next time.

Well done on a really good sight reading exercise today! You’re making a really good sound – keep up the good work!

Wed 8^th February 2023

Scales

• In G major, can your 2nd and 3rd fingers be closer together on the G and D strings?
• Practise getting your bow to flow more in the arpeggios. Try to change direction with your bow without stopping. Try to keep your right arm relaxed, and make sure you’re thinking at least 1 note ahead.

Y Delyn Newydd

• Try to relax your bow arm in this too.
• See if you can get this a little faster – top tip for playing faster: use less bow and play closer to the middle of the bow.
• Practise bar 1 as we did in your lesson, just using your open strings. It will have the same rhythm, but using the notes AADAAA. Then put your fingers back and see how much easier it is!

Skye Boat Song

• Count to 6 then clap the rhythm of the first 4 bars.
• Talk through the notes.
• Practise the first 8 bars, getting to know one bar at a time.

Keep practising the Tango rhythms and your Fiddle Time Joggers sight reading.

Wed 1^st February 2023

Sight Reading

• We spent half of today’s lesson on sight reading.
• You can practice this at home by opening your Fiddle Time Joggers book on any random page. Choose 4 bars, notice the key and time signatures, clap the rhythms, think about the notes and then give it a go.

Tango

• Clap the rhythms on the post-it note and notice what changes each time.

Keep practising your Welsh piece and your scales.

Sat 28^th January 2023

Y Delyn Newydd

• Don’t play your second bar too fast.
• Remember to hold your minims for 2 beats.
• When you change strings on the last line, don’t go too far or we’ll hear the D string!

E minor scale and arpeggio

• Remember to use your whole bow for the minims.

Aural Tests

Well done on your first go at these today! To help, see if you can describe any music you listen to at home:

• Are the notes detached or smooth?
• Can you clap along and work out what the time signature is?
• What happens with the dynamics? Do they change suddenly or gradually?

Sat 21^st January 2023

Don’t forget to put your shoulder rest on!

Add E minor to your scale practice, but keep G major 2 octaves, A major 1 octave and D major 1 octave in your rotation. You have now looked all the scales you need for Grade 1!

Well done in your first sight reading exercise today!

Y Delyn Newydd

• In the first half, be stricter with your rhythm.
• Careful of the notes in bar 10.
• Careful not to add slurs where there aren’t any.

Wed 18^th January 2023

Use the star on the side of your violin’s neck to help keep your left hand in the right place. Try to keep your left wrist away from the violin body too.

G Major 2 octaves

• Smoother bow.
• Make sure you count two beats on each minim. You should pass the star sticker on beat two.
• On your crotchets, use half of the bow from tip or heel to the star.
• When learning the arpeggio, try to name the notes before you play them.

Y Delyn Newydd

• Start with the second half.
• All 2nd fingers in this half need to be super low, as the are G natural and C natural.
• In the first half, clap the rhythm of the first two bars before you start. You could say “short short short short long long”.

Wed 4^th January 2023

Y Delyn Newydd

• Warm up with the scale that matches the key of this piece, G Major. You can start with the one octave version you already know and love, then have a go at the version with two octaves. Can you keep your left hand relaxed so that your 2nd finger can move close to your 1st on the A and E strings? My recorder stretch can also help to make some space between your fingers between the base knuckles.
• We learnt the first half of this piece in your lesson. Work on that this week, always trying to keep your 1st finger in tune – can you feel the nut with the side of your finger?
• If you get time, start looking at the second half too.

Sat 17^th December 2022

A major

• Scale – This was great today! The only thing to keep listening out for is your 1st finger tuning on both strings.
• Arpeggio – try this a little faster and careful not to tickle the string next door to the one you’re on.

Preparing for January

• Go through your Grade 1 violin book with YouTube and search for all the pieces to listen to (search the title and “grade 1 violin”. Choose your favourite piece from each list: List A, List B and List C. You could give each piece a score out of 10 to help you decide!

Fri 2^nd December 2022

The Holly and the Ivy

• Keep practising A major scale and arpeggio to warm up. Can you keep your 1st fingers in tune on the way back down?
• Do we start with an up boww or a down bow?
• Work on the rhythm of line 1, looking out for the dotted crotchet and being areful to play enough As!

Mary had a Baby

• Start by practising D major scale with slurs, then the arpeggio.
• Clap the rhythms with a metronome before you play.

Fri 25^th November 2022

General note on tuning this week – keep your 1st finger a little closer to the nut.

Practice A major and Super Sprinter, then have a go at The Holly and the Ivy. Look at a line at a time, thinking about your bowing and rhythm.

Wed 16^th November 2022

G major one octave

• Play this as a warm-up for Follow Me (don’t forget your shoulder rest!).
• As you learn the first line, look out for bits of arpeggio and scale.
• Work on keeping going so that you can play it as a duet, or even a trio!

Fiddle Time Christmas

• You can start looking at any that take your fancy, as long as they are in G, D or A major! Look out for ones that you know or that have simple rhythms.

Wed 9^th November 2022

Well done with Super Sprinter! See if you can play it at crotchet = 80 now (or if that feels too fast, you can try 70 first).

Scales and arpeggios

• Play G major one octave, then have a go at G major two octaves. Remember to check your finger positions on the A and E strings in this!

Step, Skip, Jump

• Keep practising this, noticing the descending arpeggio at the end.

Fri 4^th November 2022

Scales and arpeggios

• Choose one scale and arpeggio to play each practice – G, A or D Major. Try them both separate bows and slurred.

Fiddle Time Joggers

• You did really well today revisiting In the Groove! It’s great to pick an old piece to play through every now and then to make sure you’re reading different notes and rhythms.

Step, Skip, Jump

• We played the first two lines – can you learn the next two yourself before next lesson?
• Keep an eye out for the rests – they are just as important as the notes!

Wed 19^th October 2022

Scales and arpeggios

• Start adding the slurs to the D major and A major scales now.

Accelerator

• Download a metronome and try to play though the whole piece at 60 without hesitating.

Wed 28^th September 2022

Scales and arpeggios

• Practice D and A Major scale and arpeggio. Can your minims last for two full beats?
• In your arpeggios, make sure you think about the next note as you play the one before – this will help get rid of the gaps between the notes.

Low D High D A In Between

• Make sure you read the music so that you know what notes are coming next – try not to make them up!
• Put the whole piece together now and remember to use your little finger for the harmonics.

If you get time, start looking at Super Sprinter.

Wed 28^th September 2022

Keep playing your scale and arpeggio. If you feel like it, start on the A string instead.

Fingertips

• Great work on this! Work now on making sure you don’t add any accidental slurs as you change the string.

Low D High D

• Put your finger on the string before you start.
• When you’re not using your 3rd finger, keep it close to the string hovering over its spot.
• In the second half, remeber the D harmonic is on the D string and the A harmonic is on the A string.
• In the second half, hover your finger over the harmonic when you’re playing the open string.

Wed 21^st September 2022

D major one octave

• Can you say the finger numbers of the arpeggio from memory before you start?

Fingertips

• Look through the notes before you start and think about the patterns.
• Try to keep your fingers on their tiptoes so you don’t have to take them off.
• You did so well on this today!!

Start looking at the first half of Low D High D.

Wed 14^th September 2022

D Major one octave

• Great work with your fingers on this!
• Keep your bow smooth and flowing.
• Practice the arpeggio now too.

In the Groove

• Look at last time’s lesson notes on this.

Thu 4^th August 2022

In the Groove

• Practise the bits in brackets to help with your string crossings.
• Practise from bar 17 to help remember to take your bow off the string at the retake symbols. Try to land cleanly on the E string after each retake – keeping your right elbow low will help.

Start looking at the notes of La Peteite Valse D’Amelie and we’ll start learning this next lesson.

D Major Scale

• Once you’re happy with the notes, practise this with the correct parts of the bow, starting at the heel and using whole bows for minims and half bows for crotchets. Keep the bow as light as possible and remember you only need one top D.

Wed 13^th July 2022

In the Groove

• We played the whole piece today – well done!
• Find any places where you hesitate and look carefully at them to remember wwhat note comes next.
• Try playing along with the backing track.

Feel free to start looking at the next piece, ready for next lesson!

Wed 6^th July 2022

Well done with Rosie’s Dream!

In the Groove

• Think very carefully before you start about the rhythm.
• Practise at least the first 3 lines – maybe even more!

Wed 29^th June 2022

• Try not to play close to the bridge.
• Keep your little finger on its tip on the bow.

Practose Rosie’s Dream and In the Groove (Fiddle Time) this week focussing mainly on rhtyhm.

Wed 22^nd June 2022

Rosie’s Dream

• Careful not to touch the G string with your bow.
• Be really careful with the rhythm of the minims and crotchets.

Next lesson we’ll start looking at In the Groove in Fiddle Time Joggers (no.35). You can start looking at it yourself if you like!

Thu 9^th June 2022

Mattachins

• Watch that your bow stays nearer the bridge.
• Keep your right elbow high so you don’t accidentally get the D string.

The Bells of Vendome

• Think about your elbow here too, to make sure it’s in D string position.
• Make your bow as smooth as you can – don’t let it be shy.

Cattle Ranch Blues

• Try playing this along with the backing track, either on your CD or here.

Wed 25^th May 2022

Mattachins

• Talk through the notes before you play.
• Clap the rhythm before you start too – it’s like “piccadilly circus”. This will help you play your crotchets longer.

D string notes

• Read and learn this page, then start looking at the pieces on the next page.

Wed 18^th May 2022

Dinosaurs

• Sing this through first with letter names and then with finger numbers.
• If this sounds a bit scratchy, use a lighter faster bow.
• Use double the length of bow for your minims.

Wed 11^th May 2022

Keep practising Cattle Ranch Blues and work on playing it all the way through.

Read and fill in the G String Notes page, then talk through the notes of Dinosaurs on the next page, first with note names and second with finger numbers. Remember not to write on the ppieces page!

Wed 4^th May 2022

Cattle Ranch Blues

• Before you start, remind yourself there are no open Gs on the first line!
• We looked at the whole piece today, so you can practice the whole piece! Try to count to 4 before you start, and keep looking at the music as you play so you know what’s coming next.

Wed 27^th Apr 2022

Cattle Ranch Blues

• We learnt the first line. Don’t forget the two As in bars 2 and 4!
• Learn the rest of the piece by naming the notes before trying each bar separately.

Wed 20^th Apr 2022

Listen to the Rhythm

• Keep your right elbow up nice and high for the first 2 lines.
• For bars 11-14, think “1234123412ABC”.
• Great work on this! Next week we’ll work on linking the sections by counting the rests.

Cattle Ranch Blues

• Talk through the notes of each line before trying each one.
• When you’re happy with each line, put it all together!!

Sat 26^th Mar 2022

Listen to the Rhythm

• Count 4 beats on all the semibreves, especially in bars 8 and 10, 18 and 20.
• Use some bow circles in bars 14 and 24 to help you get ready for the next bar.

Look carefully at the 3rd and 4th finger notes page and learn the letter names for things like G1, G2, G3 etc before looking at the first few bars of Cattle Ranch Blues for next lesson.

Thu 17^th Mar 2022

Listen to the Rhythm

• Practice this with a metronome set to crotchet = 110. My metronome app is called Pro Metronome if you need a recommendation!
• Practice getting from section to section in time – counting “2,3,4” in the rests will help.
• Try to keep the last note as short as all the other crotchets.

Start looking at the next piece in the book.

Wed 9^th Mar 2022

Your first lesson with me! 😄🎻

Shortnin’ Bread

• See if you can manage the pizzicato with your index finger – rest your thumb on the corner of your fingerboard for stability.
• Try this a little faster now, especially the quavers near the end of lines 2 and 3.

Listen to the rhythm

• Great job on the first two lines of this Bella!
• See if you can learn the rest of the piece this week too.
• You might even like to sing it before you play it!