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SARAHTIM Music Resources
Beginning String Class Demonstration Videos
(The credit for the information videos below goes to Mimi Zweig and her string pedagogy DVD,
and the Suzuki Book 1 and 2 pedagogy classes I had with Ruth Meints.)
Though I am primarily a brass player, I'm pretty sure during my 40 years of teaching, that most of my K-12 string students turned out okay. Well, at least the ones who practiced did pretty well.
I used both Suzuki Book 1 and the Essential Elements String Books together. We started with the exercises below to help my students develop good posture, fine motor skills, and a proper bow hold—essentially focusing on "how" to play their instruments. We then worked through all the Twinkle Variations in Suzuki Book 1 before transitioning them to reading music.
For my mixed string classes, which include viola, cello, and string bass, I adapted the activities in the videos below for the D and A strings.
The Ant Song
Gee Dee Gee
Washing the Arm
Holding the Bow
The Spider Crawl
Bow Buddy (Optional - it might help)
Bowing through a Tube
Putting Rosin on the Bow
Playing the Open "E" String
Playing the Open "A" String
Playing Open "A" and "E" Strings
The Flower Song
The Monkey Song on the "E" String
The Monkey Song on the "A" String
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