First year strings begin with care for instruments, listening and playing by ear. Each song comes with dance steps to incorporate tempo, rhythm and song structure. Toward the end of year, students begin to read music. Continuing strings work with note reading, chord functions, classical and folk music. Students who choose violin, viola or cello as their instrument can perform independent parts such as in a string quartet or a bluegrass jam. They have developed listening and counting skills and know enough to teach themselves their own new songs.
“From the Heart” is the origin of the instrument called the recorder. Using a song and theory book, students progress carefully through increasingly complicated material. At the end of their time at Waldorf, the students who choose to remain with the recorder as their instrument have mastered breath control, basic sight-reading, playing 3-4 independent parts on soprano, alto or tenor recorders. The most important thing of all, they learn how to make music TOGETHER.