September 10, 2025 Homework Accelerando

ByVicky Bufano

Welcome Accelerando!

Next week September 17: VIOLINS have techniques class!
Accelerando: Should be spending at least 15-20 minutes a day on practice for this class. These are minimums not maximums.
If a student is hoping to move up to Sinfonia next year, they should already be bumping up their practice time from the minimum to make sure they have mastered the fundamentals before moving on to more difficult music and concepts.
Listen to all the pieces. This counts as practice!
1) Bow hold exercises: they happen every day.
Check for:
*bent thumb on top of the frog, inside the bow
*Middle finger right across from the thumb
*ring finger right next to middle finger
*pinky bent and on top of the bow
*index finger touching close to the 2nd joint and relaxed
With this good bow hold, do
1 Rocket Song (up, down, across, in a circle)
10 Windshield Wipers
5-10 Elevators
2) Red Finger pattern
Practice red patten
Violins and Violas: Play red pattern with the mississippi hot dog pattern on the E,A, D, and G string. Use 4th finger!
Cellos and basses: On every string except your highest string with mississippi hot dog (like we did in class).
Optional: Red pattern with shifting
Basses: Use shifting pattern
3) Blue Pattern
Violin and violas: low 2s. Still use 4th finger instead of open strings
-play on every string and use the mississippi hot dog pattern
4) D and G One Octave Scale with Mississippi Hot Dog Rhythm
Double check violin/viola holds (keep out to the side, hold with your head. Violin/viola should be flat and not tilted up or down)
5) Burst: Learn all. Mark any notes you need into the music neatly with a pencil
6) Ninja:  Learn all. Mark any notes you need into the music neatly with a pencil. Use 4th finger when you see a “4” above a note.
7) Mahler’s Mysterious March:  Learn all. Mark any notes you need into the music neatly with a pencil. Low 2s on the A string for viola and violin. Cellos use 2 instead of 3 for the C naturals.
8) Christmas Grace:
-start listening and learning the notes
-This includes red, blue, and yellow patterns. Practice these separately as a warm up
9) Music Reading Practice: If it is only your 2nd year of reading music/reading music on your instrument, OR you find yourself struggling to read the pieces at the speed we go in class, do the following:
Step1: Print an extra copy of all your music
Step2: Write neatly above each note the pitch (not the finger number) of the first line
Step3: PLay through the first line
Step4: Repeat with 3rd,4th, 5th and so on lines
Step5 (optional): Bring it to me or a class helper to check notes if you are not sure if you did it right

 

Theory homework: Please click on the link to download and print your homework.  Students working out of All for Strings will have their own book and it is not linked here. 

Theory A: Treble Clef (violins)

Bass Clef (cellos)

Theory B: AfS I – pp. 4-5

Theory C: Theory Time Fifth Lessons 3-4

Theory D: Theory Time Sixth Lessons 3-4

Theory E: AfS II – pp. 2-3

 

 

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