November 1, 2023 Homework Poco Players

Review and Refine: Review is very important for everyone ( I still check all of these things every day) but especially this age group. Don’t assume things will be correct today simply because they were correct yesterday.

Violin Hold: make sure they are still holding it with their head and out to the left

Bow Hold: Continue to check every time they play (especially once they are starting to play on the violin! I have been seeing beautiful bow holds but they try to bow back to random things once they are playing on the violin)

Shoulder Bowing: Good bow holds with this! Review starting from the square and opening to triangle. Review Mississippi Hot Dog rhythm and opening the elbow (bow should not fall off the shoulder.

Review: String Names. Use the Ant Song we learned earlier to assist with this 🙂

**New: Magic X slides and smiley face on the back side of the hand (they should be able to slide the x back and forth and see the smiley face at all times. Ideally fingers should hover over the strings to get ready for putting fingers down)

A String Concerto: Practice with the accompaniment. Parents may need to assist with keeping the bow on the string, finding the A string, and opening the elbow to keep the bow tracking parallel to the bridge. Bow should be between the bridge and the fingerboard

Silent Bow Arm Flapping: Good Bow Holds Check! Flap the entire arm to change strings. Keep weight in the string to keep the bow from moving around

**New E String Concerto: Practice with Accompaniment. Stay with the piano. E String the whole time. Wait for 4 Mississippi Hot Dogs and then play 8 Mississippi Hot Dogs in a row.