What makes Stringtastic so Flexible?
We wanted to write a book for beginners that was ideal for the whole range of teaching scenarios.
• This would be a book that violin, viola, cello and double bass players could use in individual and group lessons, but which would also work in a whole class setting and in beginner string orchestras. That's why the layout of each book is identical. For example, the teacher might say "Let’s all play 'Rock with Spot!' on page 18" and everyone would find the right tune without any problems.
• The books work by themselves or in any combination. No violas or basses? No problem: the books still work.
• While the tunes are numbered 1 - 43 you don't need to use them in that order. Think of the book in two sections, open strings and D major finger pattern. All of the rhythms used in the finger tunes are covered in the first nine pieces of the open string section. We know that teachers like to introduce fingers and bowing at different times. Feel free to play around with the number order.
• In the violin, viola and ’cello books, the order in which the fingers are introduced is as follows: 1st finger D string, 1st finger A string, 2nd finger D string, 2nd finger A string, etc. As there are no new rhythms introduced in this half of the book, there is nothing to stop the teacher introducing the fingers in a different way. For example, 1st finger, 2nd finger, 3rd finger on the D string. The choice is yours!
• The duet parts allow pupils who have finished the book to extend their technique and to consolidate what they have learnt. They also allow pupils of different abilities to play together.
• The duets can be expanded into larger pieces - everyone plays the open string part, then sings the lyrics, those who can could then play the B part, then combine both parts.
• The lyrics help pupils to learn the rhythms. Sometimes they tell you how to play the technique you are working on, sometimes they just tell a story. We love using lyrics which are fun to say and to sing.
Please let us know in the comments below, how you use Stringtastic Beginners. If you have shared any performances of our music on social media, we’d love to feature it on our Stringtastic Facebook page. We hope that you and your students get as much pleasure from using the book as we got from writing it.
