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Music expresses ideas that, many times, cannot be expressed with words.
Class Goals: Learning to play and perform on an instrument by progressively building on knowledge gained from each
successive quarter. This course of study requires a commitment for the entire year so the student can make significant
progress, acquiring significant proficiency on the instrument, while learning to play in a performing group.
Ask your child to play for you the music that he or she is preparing for our next concert. Ask what needs to be improved before it is ready to be performed. Help your child be specific in telling you about what needs to be improved and what is sounding good at this point. Personal practice time is an essential part of learning to play an instrument. Please make a friendly environment at home that encourages personal practice time on orchestra home work.
Help them keep their instrument in good repair, use humidifiers, electronic tuners, and/or the A = 440 cycles per second tuning
fork. These are tools that are essential to an instrumentalist. If one cannot tune his or her own instrument, how can one play in
tune? It is an essential skill that takes years to master, but it is an ongoing process of refinement. Instruments, such as violin,
viola cello and contrabass, do not have valves keys or frets, so they are tuned every time one's finger is pressed down onto the
fingerboard, which is another reason why these instruments can be so expressive, yet, with such flexibility in changing the tuning,
it requires intense concentration on the detail of tuning every note played. This is a challenging task that requires much personal
practice. I therefore cannot over emphasize the importance of parents and guardians providing an encouraging environment for
their children to practice regularly. Cello and bass players need to have opportunity to take their instruments home and back to
school via the automobiles of parents and guardians. Call me if you have questions or comments about this, or leave a message
at the school for me to call you. I will give my phone number to your child. I am also in the telephone directory.
Thankyou for all that you do for your children, my students.
Working for you and your children,
Robert Tornfelt
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