String Tech Lesson Plan

ve-Marie Boileau

Objective
This lesson is designed to teach the students to play Dragonhunter by
Richard Meyer and making sure that they use the proper technique.

Instructional Procedures

Class 1 : Learning the beginning of the piece

1- Tuning
2- Play Bornoff finger patterns 1 to 5, making sure that they use the whole
bow. I would ask them to make sure that the bow makes a clicking
sound when they come to the frog and the tip so they can really feel
how their arm moves when they use the whole bow.
3- Make the students practice string crossings by doing the elevator
exercise and gradually going faster.
4- Make the students practice going back to the frog by doing a circular
motion with their bow.
5- Teacher plays the theme of the piece
6- Ask the students to find which finger pattern is used in the theme
7- Once they find that finger pattern 2 is used in the piece, make them
practice it and make sure that they know exactly where to put their
fingers and that its in tune.
8- Ask the students to find the theme in their score. Does everybody play
the theme? Does everybody play it at the same time?
9- Make everybody clap the rhythm of the theme
10- Once they are comfortable with the rhythm, make them play the
rhythm on the D open string making sure that they use the right bow
patterns.
11- Make the students play the theme in pizzicato so they can
concentrate on their left hand. Remind them that they are doing finger
pattern 2.
12- Play the theme as written. The teacher walks around the class
and make corrections while the students repeat the theme as many
times as necessary.
13- Teach the cello and bass part of m. 4 to 11 using steps 9 to 13
while the other instruments pluck the melody and practice the bow
patterns.
14- Make the students read the introduction (m.1-3). Repeat steps 9
to 13 for the introduction. Ask each section to play their part while the
other sections are playing silently (bowing in the air)
15- Make the students play from beginning to downbeat of m. 11.
Did you notice when you have to go back to the frog? Who was playing
 the theme? How many times did you play the theme? Repeat until they
can play it correctly.

Class 2 : Learning the pizzicato part

1- Tuning
2- Which finger pattern did we use for our song Dragonhunter? Make
the students practice finger pattern 2 with single bows.
3- Make everybody play the theme
4- Ask the students to play from beginning to m. 11 to make sure that
they remember what we did last class.
5- Teach the students how to hold their bow when they are doing
pizzicatos and make them practice going from arco to pizzicato as
fast as they can.
6- Make them play finger pattern 2 arco and then pizzicato. Play a
game where a student has to decide when to switch from one to the
other.
7- Is there a place in the song where we have to play pizzicato? Does
everybody play pizzicato? Does everybody play pizzicato at the
same time?
8- Make them practice m. 36 because this is where they switch to
pizzicato. Bass+cello start and then violins+viola answer.
9- Make the violins clap their rhythm for the pizzicato part, stopping at
m. 53. Does everybody have the same rhythm? No the rest of the
ensemble have an other rhythm (violin 2, viola, cello and bass have
the same rhythm).
10- Make everybody clap the other rhythm, then ask the violins to
play their part while everybody else is clapping their rhythm. Make
sure the violins know when to use their fourth finger of the left hand
and when to play the open string.
11- Make the other sections play their part while everybody else is
clapping their rhythm
12- Play the pizzicato part as written but stop at downbeat of m. 53.
Does all the sections play the same notes here? Do they play it at
the same time? Does everybody play arco at the same time? Who
starts?
13- Make the students clap m. 53 to 55 and make sure that they
understand the echo between the low instruments and the high
instruments. Then make them play it.
14- Practice m. 54 making sure that the low instruments play arco
first.
15- Make the students play the whole pizzicato part.
String Tech Lesson Plan
ve-Marie Boileau

Class 3 : Learning the rest of the piece

1- Tuning
2- Make students circle in their score everytime they have to go back
to the frog.
3- Make students play sticky slurs on open strings and practice finger
pattern 2 with one bow and two to a bow.
4- Ask the students to play the theme of the piece. Make sure they are
using the right bow pattern. If needed, make them practice only the
bow.
5- Ask the students to look in their score and find a place where they
need to slur. Only violins 1 have slurs. Make the violin 1 play m. 12
to practice the slur.
6- Ask the students to clap their rhythm from m. 12 to 18. Who has the
same rhythm as you? What happens at the end of m. 17 for violins
and violas? Sticky slurs!
7- Ask the students to do the bow patterns on an open string of m. 12
to 18.
8- Make them pluck the notes of m. 12 to 18.
9- Play m. 12 to 18 as written. If needed, make each section play their
part while the other sections are plucking or practicing their bow
patterns.
10- What happens at m. 18? Everybody play half notes except for
cello. Repeat steps 5 to 8 to teach m. 18 to 24.
11- Ask the students to play from m. 12 to 24. Make sure that the
students know when to go back to the frog. Also make sure that the
basses know how to count their 2 bars rest at m. 18.
12- Teacher plays the violin part at m. 24. Is it the theme? What is
different? It is not the same notes and there are slurs. Make violins 1
practice m. 24 to 28 by doing bow patterns and then plucking the
notes while everybody else is clapping their rhythm (they all have
the same rhythm).
13- Make violins play their part while everybody else is doing bow
pattern and plucking their notes.
14- Play m. 24 to 28 as written. If needed, make each section play
their part while the other sections are plucking or practicing their
bow patterns.
15- What happens at m. 28? Everybody is playing the theme! Make
everybody play the theme, making sure that they are doing the right
bow pattern and they are going back to the frog when its written.
16- Everybody play m. 28 to downbeat of m. 36. It is like a canon!
Cello and basses start and violins and violas answers.
17- Play from beginning to m. 55.

Class 4 : Working on details

1- Tuning
2- Explain the form of the piece; we play it once, then we repeat it but
with stop where it says to coda and we play the coda.
3- Make the students play the introduction; the beginning of the coda is
the same as the introduction.
4- Teach them the coda by clapping the rhythm first, then practicing
the bow patterns and plucking the notes and finally playing it as
written. Make sure they are going back to the frog when needed.
5- Play the whole piece!
6- Add dynamics
7- Make them practice playing a quarter notes with a rest and a half
note, make sure they know the difference.