Concert Music for Beginners

I can't stand having my beginner students perform in unison.

I do it anyway.  Why?  For one thing, it's much easier to teach pieces and keep them engaged when they all have the same notes.  You all know that moment when you turn to work with one section and suddenly the other sections instantly transform into a scurry of squirrels.  (Yes - scurry - look it up😊)  If everybody has the same part, that moment doesn't happen.  It's also easier for the kids who are struggling with their notes to be successful.  The sound of the group lifts them up, or worst case scenario, hides those kids a little.

But I can't stand the whole group playing everything together because it takes out what I think makes what they are doing sound like "real" music.  I'm talking about harmonic complexities that make the whole sound greater than it's parts.  Even when you have decent piano skills to lift up Twinkle and Hot Cross Buns (which I sure do NOT) , the best performance comment you can hope for is "that was cute" or "not as squeaky as I expected!"

So, as soon as I can (usually for one piece in December and all pieces in May) I have my students playing in parts.  But, in my experience my first year players are not yet ready for my favorite beginning string pieces by Richard Meyer, Soon Hee Newbold, and Brian Balmages.  By parts, I usually mean two parts, not four or five. 

I have liked using some pieces from the "Stringing Along" book by Albert Stoutamire.  Most are rhythmically in in unison with simple harmonies. My beef with that book is that the low strings parts are less interesting, and I'd like to hide the eventual fate of my viola players from them as long as I can.

The "Concert Tunes for Beginning Strings" by Dale Brubaker is one that is popular in my district.  Pedagogically, it's great.  The pieces are in unison therefore the piano part is absolutely necessary for every piece to be musically interesting.  That's not my cup of tea- I don't teach well from behind a piano.   

So, I love to make my own arrangements for beginner strings.  In my ideal arrangement, every section gets the exact same melody part- just at different times.  That way I can teach the melody in unison.  Same for the harmony part.  I make sure it's either exactly the same or rhythmically the same for each instrument group.  As for the piano-  I write a simple piano part that will fill out the harmony but isn't musically necessary.  Parents aren't there to hear me at the piano (and it's a good thing too).

Another pet peeve of mine:  Concerts filled with nothing but D major songs in common time.  I teach F natural and C natural right along with F# and C#.  Why not?  Most concepts we teach are only as complicated as we make them.  Switch time signatures with your students early and it won't be a big deal.  Even for the first concert, I make sure I program at least one piece in a minor key and one with a time signature other than 4/4.

Check out my latest arrangement of the Japanese melody, "Moon Over Ruined Castle".  My beginner students are loving it, saying "It's so sad!", "It feels dark", and "This is my new favorite song".  Heads up- it's got F naturals and C naturals plus a few G string notes.  If you like it, review & share :)  I'll be making more arrangements and original pieces in this style in the future.