Kerry Milan - 42 Moments of Music Making 1982 revised 1987

42 Moments of Music Making 1982 revised 1987

Instrumentation

Violin tutor

Score, download - 9.14MB

Other Information

The 42 'workshop' studies for technique owe much to the influence of the great American teacher Paul Rolland, and seek first and foremost to encourage a relaxed and uninhibited posture with both left and right arms moving freely and easily around the violin.  Intonation is stressed, both through the early use of harmonics, and by the regular part-playing wich is a built-in feature of the scheme since the studies combine with a similar number of progressive 'melody-time' tunes.   They first appeared in print in June 1982 as an appendix to my 1980-81 Associateship Report for London University's Institute of Education: "Aims and Methods in Group Instrumental Teaching with particular Reference to Strings, and its place within the General School Curriculum."

To these '42 Moments' were later added a range of complementary and at times highly original worksheets, (see also Images and Imagination) which include, interspersed thoughout the book:

* Creative Writing Sheets (3)    * Rhythm-Swap Sheets (3)      * Treble/Alto Switch Sheets (3)       *Pentatonic, Position and Chord Work,

together with a supplementary series of 'Tail-Piece' melodies and scalework to complete each page-long block of work.  Depending upon the circumstances these should take between two and four weeks to complete and as a guide to progress the date of introducing each new topic should be faithfully recorded on the back cover practice chart.

Some of these topics are also covered in the Images and Imagination pack; but in addition that also has pages headed, Spiccato-Tap (1), Slurs - the buoyant elbow (2) and Feeling the Harmony (2)
The Position Pack has four pages for violin and another four for viola.

The scheme is conceived as a three to four-year course for children being taught in groups, starting at second year junior.  It assumes that the various points of the lesson will always be introduced by the teacher, and includes a 'talking-point' section to reinforce what has been said in the class, and also to stress the need for revision of earlier material (sometimes with a new objective in mind) - another important aspect of the book.

Children who elect to proceed further with their instrumental studies should find they have acquired secure foundations for that invaluable combination of sound technique and musical awareness; but it is at least as great a concern that those children for whom this course will represent the limit of their instrumental involvement will equally have gained a worthwhile and enriching experience, both musically and educationally. (This introduction dated June 1987)