String Orchestra

This 35 page music theory book is perfect for beginning band, orchestra or choir in middle school. Students will learn treble, bass, and viola clef lines and spaces as well as note reading skills, and an understanding of basic rhythms and time signatures, 4/4, 3/4 and 2/4. Unit assessment and teacher key is included.

This book can be used for anyone who is learning the basics of music reading. However, I wrote this for the specific purpose of getting all of my beginning 6th grade students on the same page before starting Concert Band or Orchestra. I teach both middle school band and orchestra, and my sixth grade beginners are always in different places. The purpose of this 35 page book is to have a crash course in general music theory and music reading before we start playing instruments out of the method books.

I wrote this book to accommodate beginning band, orchestra or choir students, and every musical concept can be explored in treble, bass or viola clef. This makes for a great foundational resource that gives common ground to any middle school music student, no matter which music class they are in. I also wrote this to be simple, basic and easy to understand. This book is not meant to be a course to master music theory. Rather, it is “learning before the learning”, so all students are off to a great start in middle school music.

The goal for this resource is to give every one of your music students the knowledge of the staff, clefs, notes and rhythms that they will see when starting their method books or concert music in beginning band, orchestra or choir. Be sure to print this book out for all of your students so they can follow along, as most pages have exercises as well as lessons and information. They can always refer back to this book as a resource throughout the year. Give students the unit test at the end to truly assess their understanding.

This product comes with 5 method books for every instrument in a beginning string orchestra. Included are 32 beginning songs, fingering charts, parts of the instruments and bow, with a guided curriculum showing students everything from the first notes and rhythms, terminologies and parts of the instrument they should learn in the first quarter of string orchestra. There are also four cumulative “play tests” included at the end of each of the four units. This is about 8 weeks or one quarter (one week per student page) of beginning string orchestra curriculum.

In these books, students will learn eight different notes, as well as the basic rhythms in a 4/4 time signature. Also, a fingering chart is provided each time a new note is introduced. The book is complete with terms, symbols, definitions and illustrations. The conductor’s book includes full arrangements of every piece as well as helpful guidelines to show what students see in their books.

Also, every piece in the book has a corresponding YouTube video with a play-along track on the Early Ensembles YouTube channel! Just scan the QR code to listen/play along.

Here is a full breakdown of every concept covered in these books:

• Eight notes – D, E, F#, G, A, B, C# and D
• half notes, quarter notes
• quarter rests
• Pizzicato
• Finger positioning
• Repeats
• 4/4/common time
• Definition of scale
• Common beginning orchestra terms – finger 1, 2, 3, and 4, scroll, pegs, neck, fingerboard, c hole, f hole, fine tuners, bridge, tailpiece, endpin, chin rest, steps on how to hold the instrument

Here is a list of all the books included in this product:

• Conductor/teacher’s Book – 24 Pages
• Violin – 13 Pages
• Viola – 13 Pages
• Cello – 13 Pages
• Double Bass – 13 Pages

This is a full 8 weeks of music and curriculum for quarter 2 of the beginning, first year string orchestra. This Bundle has everything you need to teach the beginning string orchestra an introduction to bowing within the first octave of the D major scale, and has four complete arrangements of winter/holiday concert pieces. Included in this product are:

Intro to Bowing Books:

This product comes with 5 method books for every instrument in a beginning string orchestra. Included are 20 beginning exercises and songs with a guided curriculum showing students everything about beginning bowing they should learn in the second quarter of string orchestra. There are also two cumulative “play tests” included at the end of each of the units. This is about 4 weeks (two weeks per unit) of beginning bowing for string orchestra curriculum.

These books are part of a larger curriculum, and assume students have learned pizzicato, as well as the first eight notes in the D Major scale. In these books, students will review eight different notes, as well as the basic rhythms in a 4/4 time signature. The book is complete with terms, symbols, definitions and illustrations. The conductor’s book includes full arrangements of every piece as well as helpful guidelines to show what students see in their books.

Also, every piece in the book has a corresponding YouTube video with a play-along track on the Early Ensembles YouTube channel! Just scan the QR code to listen/play along.

Here is a full breakdown of every concept covered in these books:

• Review Eight notes – D, E, F#, G, A, B, C# and D
• Review half notes, quarter notes
• Review quarter rests
• Review Pizzicato
• Review Finger positioning
• Repeats
• 4/4/common time
• Arco
• Down Bow
• Up Bow
• Bow Lift
• Half Rest
• Arpeggio
• Round
• 2/4 Time Signature

Here is a list of all the books included in this product:

• Conductor/teacher’s Book – 16 Pages
• Violin – 7 Pages
• Viola – 7 Pages
• Cello – 7 Pages
• Double Bass – 7 Pages

Full Winter/Holiday Concert of Four Beginning String Orchestra Pieces:

This product also features a beginning, first year orchestra concert arrangement of Jingle Bells, Jolly Old Saint Nicholas, Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, and Snowy Day Blues (an original composition). These sheet music arrangements are all full orchestra compositions for violin, viola, cello and double bass (with a piano accompaniment option as well), and are written for the beginning orchestra student’s first concert performance.

These arrangements are in D Major, and use one octave of the D Major scale. Both pizzicato and bowing techniques are used, as well as repeats, ending 1/2, and fermatas. Snowy Day Blues uses “C natural and F natural” (low 2’s) for a bluesy sound. The C and F naturals are used in a very accessible and playable way for the first-year orchestra student to easily grasp the concept. This music is written and arranged to only include techniques for the first year string orchestra student. Included in this product are:

Jingle Bells full arrangement

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas full arrangement

Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel full arrangement

Snowy Day Blues full arrangement

The conductor scores

Violin parts

Viola parts

Cello parts

Double Bass parts

Piano Accompaniment parts

QR code to scan and listen to play-along tracks

Terminologies, symbols and lessons included on the sheet music

This is everything you need to teach a full semester of beginning, year one string orchestra. This bundle comes with easy-to-use products for giving a pre-post test, teaching basic beginning music theory knowledge, 50+ scaffolded songs and exercises with a guided curriculum (student books for violin, viola, cello, double bass, and conductor’s score), four full concert pieces for the students’ first performance, and play-along audio tracks for every piece of music in the curriculum.

Everything in this curriculum is easy for students to understand, and no new concepts are introduced without explanation of every musical term, symbol and concept. I am so incredibly excited to be able to offer this full semester bundle for beginning string orchestra! Read below for a full breakdown of all the exciting products included in this full semester mega bundle!

Quarter 1 Method Books

Quarter 2 Method Books

Full Winter Holiday Concert of 4 Pieces

I Can Read Music! Book and Assessment

Pre/Post Test for Year 1, Beginning String Orchestra