Klarinet Archive - Posting 000905.txt from 2001/09

From: Virginia Anderson <assembly1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] A question
Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 04:27:29 -0400

on 28/9/01 9:15 pm, "Courtney Dodson" <everythingiskoolaid@-----.com>
wrote:

> It's a child. He's my 12-year-old cousin, and he just started playing
> violin last year. We're looking to play something for the family at
> Thanksgiving, he's really excited about it.

Best and easiest is to follow Sue's suggestion and get the Suzuki methods
(if you've got a pretty fast uni. library you could get them through
interlibrary loan or ask a local Suzuki teacher if it's a question of
finances).

If you want something a bit more home-made, you might take the only tune I
know which is associated with Thanksgiving: Lydia Maria Child's "Over the
River and Through the Woods" (1844). If your cousin has a diatonic range of
about an octave, it's easy - just take the 6/8 tune and make it 3/4 (so that
it's all in half and quarter notes) in the keys which Sue suggests. Give it
to him now so he can practice.

You can make an arpeggiated, clarinety accompaniment to suggest the horse's
hooves. Just take the chords and break them up. If you're still in early
stages and don't feel confident to do this ask someone in your department to
help. You might also look for sheet music: the nursery tunes site I
consulted doesn't have this yet, but it should appear in most elementary
school songbooks. Write them in quarter notes as well, so you have no
problem with rehearsal, but play them as if they were slow triplets - as
slowly as your cousin needs. You can elaborate them a bit at the cadence or
leave out one for a longer breath, whatever.

Start with four bars of arpeggios in the tonic in root position as a kind of
introduction, then nod him in to reduce rehearsal time.

If you have any questions, contact me privately. But if you do it by
yourself, let people know that you've arranged this holiday favourite. It
doesn't matter how it turns out on the night. The "olds" will be thrilled
with the trouble you've taken and your cousin will be a hero (because he's
got the featured melody), so you'll both get passed all the cranberry sauce
you'll ever need.

Cheers,

Virginia

--
Virginia Anderson
Leicester, UK
<vanderson@-----.uk>
Experimental Music Catalogue: <http://www.experimentalmusic.co.uk>
...experimental music since 1969....

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