Music Sign-Out Sheets and Music Collection

It took me a few years to streamline my system of signing out and collecting the many, many pieces of music that we go through every year.  My first few years of teaching, I didn’t even even bother signing out … Read More

Seating Plan Template for String Orchestra

  Time to get organized! It’s the beginning of the school year and it’s time to make up some new seating plans.  I thought I’d tweak my seating plan and share it with those of you who don’t have one, … Read More

String Orchestra Seating Plan Lesson

The set-up of a string orchestra can be a bit bewildering to beginners. One of the first things I do in September is use this handout with my beginning students to illustrate how a string orchestra is seated.  Through this … Read More

What Music Students Learn in Just Four Months

When people, as they often do, ask music teachers about how learning music benefits students, it is sometimes difficult to articulate. I often find myself tongue-tied because of the sheer magnitude of the subject. There are so many aspects to … Read More

Why Should String Players Practice Scales?

Why do we practice scales? Have you ever given more than a moment’s thought to this? Sure, we practice scales to learn fingering, some rhythms, and to practice shifting. But there must be more to it, or the most elite … Read More

Establishing a Routine for the String Classroom

As I posted at the beginning of the year, one of my New Year’s Resolutions was to work on honing my classroom management skills. String students are generally great students and tend to do whatever you ask them to, but … Read More

A New Year in the String Classroom

It’s a fresh new year and I am so excited to be back at school! The holidays actually dragged on for me this year, not only because it was an unusual -20C out almost every day so we were stuck … Read More

Are You Using SmartMusicTeacher YouTube Videos?

  In case you haven’t noticed yet, SmartMusicTeacher has a YouTube Channel with (at this moment) over 50 videos that are free for you to use with your violin, viola, cello and bass students.  And boy, did the videos come … Read More