Posted in Printables, Repertoire, Sheet Music, Teaching Aids, Videos

Valentine Special – Salut d’Amour Study Edition

Posted on by J Melin

Salut d’Amour, a salon piece by Edward Elgar, is a favorite for students who enjoy its unabashedly romantic vibe and mandatory expressive shifting. I place it at advanced-intermediate Level 6, where it is technically comparable to the Accolay Concerto or Haydn Concerto in G. I teach the version in the original key of E, not transposed to D which is also available. Because Salut d’Amour is in the public domain (published in 1899), early editions in both D and E are freely available on sheet music websites like IMSLP.org.

But the public domain editions have some troublesome fingering notations. Some fingerings are awkward, some are missing details (at 4 before E, is it 1st finger in 1st position or 5th position?), some suggest 4th finger when 3rd would allow a stronger vibrato. In the overall style, there seem to be more expressive shifts implied in the fingerings than are really appealing to a 21st-century ear – like, twice in Bar 11.

When I listened to recordings for guidance, it didn’t seem like the artists were shifting quite as often as indicated by the fingerings. Nor were they playing the last two lines exclusively in high positions on the G, D and A strings. (Most student instruments don’t sound their best played high on these strings either.)

Daniel Hope’s lovely modern performance here inspired some shifting choices in the study edition.

I just assigned Salut d’Amour to two students, one a young teen and the other an adult. I spent the first lessons on the piece once again transferring all my hand-written fingering suggestions to their undersized public domain PDFs. Finally the light dawned, and I decided to start again from scratch with a newly transcribed part in MuseScore, to which I could add as many of my fingerings and position clarifications as I liked.

Sample of the violin part of the Study Edition

The result still fits on one page! Along with larger finger-numbers, I added position designations in Roman numerals, and slide-marks where it’s most tasteful to add an expressive shift. I’m calling the result a “Study Edition” due to all these extra markings. Once a student has incorporated them into their playing, they can go back to reading a vintage edition. No changes were made to the piano part, and all rehearsal letters are in their traditional positions.

I’m posting this for sale at SheetMusicPlus.com for $5.99, but you can download a copy here for just $2.99. Enjoy it with the instrument you love!

Download Salut d’Amour

And, here’s more violin repertoire for intermediate students.

Posted in Technology

ZOOM Settings for Online Music Lessons – iPad Version

Posted on by J Melin

Click here if you’re looking to set up the desktop version of Zoom.

{This post has been getting the most hits on my studio website since April of 2020. I’ve updated it a few times as Zoom settings have changed. Here is the current procedure as of August 2024. Go to the Zoom website for detailed information on using this app’s other features.}

Zoom’s M.I.Q. (Music I.Q.) has risen quite a bit since the spring of 2020 when music teachers began to widely use the Zoom app for online lesson delivery. The sound settings for transmitting music are now explicitly built in and identified. In case it’s been a few months since you last updated Zoom, or if you never got the audio settings just right, here is a quick guide to the iPad version of the app. The desktop settings are covered here.

Follow these visual steps to configure the Zoom app’s Audio settings for music lessons on an iPad.

Install or update the app.

Go to the App Store on your iPad to set up Zoom initially. If you already have Zoom installed, you can’t update it from inside the app. You need to go to the App Store, find Zoom in the list of your installed apps, and see if it is flagged as needing an update. If so, with one touch, it will be updated to the latest version.

Access the Audio Settings.

Run the Zoom app. In the startup screen, touch the SETTINGS gear.

Select the Audio Settings category. 

Adjust the Audio Settings.

Here is the selection for Original Sound. “Recommended for musicians or studio environments. This will enable a toggle during meetings that will disable noise suppression.” You should select this feature before you start a meeting.

Turn on “Original Sound” in-meeting.

When you’re in a live meeting, tap the screen to view the control icons. Touch the three dots that represent “More” options. The third item down is Enable Original Sound. Touch this to turn on Original Sound during the meeting.

If you want to turn off Original Sound, go back to the “More” menu and your option will look like this:

As you can see if you compare this post to the one on the desktop Zoom app, there are a lot fewer sound-control options in the iPad app than the desktop version. That is why I only use a desktop or laptop computer during online music lessons, and encourage my students to do the same.

Star Teacher #3: Paul Rolland

Over the holiday break from teaching, I finally completed a resolution for 2021: to rent and watch the Paul Rolland video series titled “The Teaching of Action in String Playing.” This influential pedagogue died prematurely in 1978, but we are fortunate that he preserved his teaching approach on video, and now it’s accessible to all on Vimeo.

Paul Rolland’s methods form the basis for Mimi Zweig‘s “Suzuki Synthesis,” taught at her summer workshops at Indiana University and at sister-programs around the country. Having attended her workshop, it was fantastic to watch Paul Rolland’s original teaching videos on the same topics, as demonstrated in 1974. I was about the age of the kids in the video, in my second year of playing the violin too, when these films were produced! (I even think one of the little girls in the back row is wearing a Sears Catalog dress that was one of my favorites.)

When these videos were available only on DVD, it would set you back several hundred dollars to buy the set and watch them. Now for only $49, you can have access to all the videos (3½ hours of content) on Vimeo for an entire year. While I binge-watched them over the holidays, I’m sure I will return to them at my leisure to look for specific exercises that I can use with certain students. The biggest takeaway is how to establish “freedom from tension” in beginning and remedial violin students. The short, easily-digestible videos are almost all under 10 minutes long. Beginner’s topics include Establishing the Violin Hold – Learning to Hold the Bow – Developing Finger Movements – Extending the Bow Stroke. For more advanced players, there are segments on Martelé, Staccato, Spiccato, Shifting and Vibrato.

So for a very affordable price, you can access gold-nuggets of teaching wisdom that you would otherwise spend hundreds of dollars at a workshop to acquire (not to mention the airfare and hotel). If Rolland’s videos whet your appetite, he published a companion book. There is also an annual Paul Rolland String Pedagogy workshop you can attend, and certification you can complete.

Put “Watch these videos” on your list of New Year’s Resolutions, and you will also be a better teacher by the end of this year!

Posted in Repertoire, Sheet Music

Hooray for Public Domain!

Posted on by J Melin

On January 1, 2022 in the United States, Peter Warlock’s “Capriol Suite” for string orchestra marked its delayed entrance into the public domain. Published in 1926, it has finally cleared the benchmark of “96 years from publication” to be legally copied and distributed without a royalty payment. Prior to the United States Congress’ infamous 1998 “Sonny Bono Copyright Term” extension of its 1976 “Mickey Mouse Act,” the piece would have entered public domain in 2002. I have been holding onto an {ahem} illegal photocopy of the score since around 2010. Now I can finally introduce this piece to a student ensemble for just the cost of copy paper and printer toner.

The Queen of PD

The mother of all public domain sheet music websites is IMSLP.org. Here is their page for the Capriol Suite. The world owes a debt of gratitude to IMSLP’s founder for his persistence in building this treasure trove of heritage music, over barriers thrown up by music publishers. Today there are 625,000 scores (and counting) on the site. Not just solo and chamber music, but all the parts to major orchestral works! I’ve used it to practice an orchestral part before I’ve been issued my hard-copy of the music. A $28/year subscription to the site helps you bypass a 15-second delay when accessing sheet music. Be sure to follow your country’s public domain restrictions before downloading any scores. Continue reading “Hooray for Public Domain!” →

Posted in Accessories, Equipment

Selection Tools for Violin Strings, Part 2

Posted on by J Melin

In Part 1, we identified the strings that walked in the door on our student’s instrument. Now in Part 2, we’ll explore the possibilities that a change of strings can bring!

When Cheap Violins Meet Expensive Strings

Something I love to do for students is determine the optimum type of strings for their instrument. Lessons are often started on an inexpensive instrument with bargain-basement solid-steel strings (I’m looking at you, Red Label). The sound is typically tinny, narrow and eardrum-piercing. While a sub-$500 “student instrument” certainly isn’t made to high-quality specs with the finest woods, fittings and varnish, it is amazing the difference that can be made in the sound by putting a really great set of strings on. Continue reading “Selection Tools for Violin Strings, Part 2” →

Posted in Accessories, Equipment

Selection Tools for Violin Strings, Part 1

Posted on by J Melin

When a student brings in a violin “from Grandpa’s attic” or loaned by a friend, we always check the condition of the strings first, right? Now that I’ve learned a bit more about string qualities (see Part 2 of this discussion), I also look at the winding colors right away and try to I.D. what kind of strings are already on it. If that thing hasn’t been played in 5-50 years, it’s going to need new strings anyway… time to decide if it’s got the best possible strings for its tonal potential. Here’s where I go first to find out what kind of string we’re starting with.

String Identification Charts

Lashof Violins   —  A comprehensive chart of pro-grade strings, but a little hard to use. When you scroll down to find your string brand, you lose the column headings to tell you which string has which color of windings. But this page is still usually my first stop. If I can’t find the strings here, I move on to: Continue reading “Selection Tools for Violin Strings, Part 1” →

Posted in Repertoire

Contemporary Classical Pieces for Intermediate Violin Players

Posted on by J Melin

Read to the end for a favorite but forgotten student selection to download!

(This post contains some affiliate links to sheet music sources.)

The leveled repertoire lists that I use with violin students are a work in progress. Starting with syllabi from ASTA, RCM and the Suzuki book series, I built a ladder of 11 progressive levels for technique and repertoire. As I discovered more resources, I wove in selections from Kurt Sassmannshaus, Mimi Zweig and Dorothy Delay, until now I have more repertoire options for each level than any student could possibly learn before moving forward. 

I’ve always been underwhelmed with the “Contemporary” selections in the widely-used syllabi, most of which don’t appear until the advanced levels. They include some music I don’t personally enjoy playing myself, which makes it hard to teach them with enthusiasm to students. And most of these lists stop at music composed in the 1930s. 90 years on, isn’t it time we opened the category to a few new classics?

When I hear appealing new music at recitals, on YouTube, on my local classical music station or even at the movies, I try to check it out for pedagogical suitability. (You can peek at lots of modern sheet music from online retailers, even if you aren’t ready to purchase it.) Since the intermediate technical levels are especially devoid of appropriate 20th and 21st-century music, I really like finding selections that are playable by these students. Here are a few student-tested-and-approved pieces you may want to try out too! Continue reading “Contemporary Classical Pieces for Intermediate Violin Players” →