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Middle school or beginning high school. This is a fun rhythmic piece with bowed and pizzicato sections. Foot stomps add to the fun and assist in learning to feel rests. Everyone gets a turn at the melody.

Written in G Major, this piece features syncopated rhythms and retakes. Violins and violas are required to use low 2nd fingers. 1st violins use high 3rds, while violas need to play low firsts for D-sharps. As the rhythms are quite repetitive, it is an excellent vehicle for introducing these new finger patterns. It has a bright, happy feel and is in 4/4 time. (2:02)

This piece features pretty melodies, using slurs and dotted rhythms, while teaching bow division between half notes and quarter notes. The music is not difficult, but students should be encouraged to work on developing a beautiful full sound.

Everybody loves a good tango! This very playable piece gives everyone the chance to play a melody or a counter melody. It teaches the importance of feeling a steady beat, especially when playing syncopated rhythms and when the entries come after rests. Dynamics need to be carefully followed to gain the full effect. Lots of fun for players and audience

This piece commences with a slow introduction in triple time. Its rich harmonies lead to a feeling of expectation, before heralding the Allegro, with an alternating 6/8-3/4 time signature. Students are encouraged to feel this driving rhythm, but never stop counting, as the occasional use of 7/8 bars will keep them on their toes

"Vivo" - Hooked bows, piano needed. Most of the festivity is in the first violin part, but the other parts get a bit of the action too. Perfect for young players.

With a nod to the composer’s Irish lineage on her mother’s side, this work encompasses the characteristics of a jig, emphasizing the strong sense of pulse required for this lively dance.The bowing is a mixture of hooked strokes and alternating down and up bows, encouraging sound left and right-h...

Dedicated to my new grandson, this uncomplicated, gentle lullaby requires smooth, legato bows and sustained long notes – ideal for practicing developing vibrato technique.Some extension fingers are used and are mostly accessed by step. Bow speeds and divisions should be carefully considered in all...

Subdivision of the beat is vital, in order to achieve the rhythmic precision required for this work.After the introduction, the opening motif is used throughout the piece, in rhythmic unison at first and then it weaves in and out of the various parts.Short and long articulations should be carefully ...

5/4 time is an irregular time signature which is not often used in educational ensemble music.Students may like to listen to famous pieces written in 5/4, such as Take 5, by Dave Brubeck, Mission Impossible Theme, by Lalo Schifrin or Mars from The Planets, by Gustav Holst.This original piece, by Lor...

An excellent introduction to recognition of syncopated rhythms for young string players. The piece has a good feel and, although it sounds complicated, is quite straightforward to play.

Just add ……strings! This uncomplicated work is designed to teach very elementary concepts of bowing, pizzicato, lifted bows and dynamics. It uses eight basic rhythms in Common Time. The use of rhythmic unison means that all parts can be taught quickly and simultaneously, making this piece ideall...

A Minor Matter by Loreta Fin is ideally suited to introducing half position. It does not complicate the learning with intricate rhythms, but focuses on the harmonies and melodic line, using low first fingers in all parts. Courtesy reminders are used here and there, to ensure that the students are prepared to place the hand correctly. (2:15)

The Poppy is the enduring symbol of remembrance of the First World War. Based on the Last Post (or Taps), this slow, dignified work encompasses the reverence of a hymn or chorale, weaving through it. The first 4 bars can be played by a soloist if desired. Bowing should be smooth and even, building t...

Robert Schumann’s “Scenes from Childhood", is a set of thirteen pieces for piano, written in 1838. The 7th one, Reverie or Träumerai, means Dreaming. Playing soft, slow pieces is never easy, and requires great bow control, focusing on weight and speed. This arrangement is also quite rhythmicall...

This fun piece is written in first position for all parts. It is in D Major, with a short section in b minor. It encourages the use of forearm bowing in the quaver passages and is rhythmically and harmonically straightforward while exploring a wide range of dynamics. Staccato and pizzicato notes are...

Popcorn Party by Loreta Fin is a delightful work that uses pizzicato throughout. Bows can be put down if desired, giving the ensemble the opportunity to talk about where the right-hand finger should be placed along the fingerboard for the best, ringing pizzicato sound. It also allows for discussion ...

Three well-known nursery rhymes are arranged in Loreta Fin's Rhyme Time for Strings, using almost "every trick in the string playing book," such as pizzicato, slurs, staccato, tenuto, glissandi, harmonics, Bartok or snap pizzicato, col legno, trills, left hand pizzicato, playing behind the bridge, k...

Theme and variations is a very common musical structure that students will encounter in all musical eras, from Baroque to Contemporary. Haydn Theme and Variations features a theme that is built upon two simple 12-bar musical ideas in Binary form. Loreta Fin's arrangement is a great introduction to the elegant and graceful style of Classical string playing. (3:00)

Reminiscence by Loreta Fin is a dreamy piece in triple meter that uses simple rhythms and basic finger patterns. Dynamic range is explored, as well as pizzicato, whole bows, and bow divisions. (3:00)

This piece was written to enable students to understand the feel of 6/8 and 3/4 being used in alternate bars. Like all folk music used for dance, the beat is extremely important, and must be "felt in the music" rather than "read off the page." Grade 3.

Ignaz Pleyel was born near Vienna in 1757. He was a favorite pupil of Haydn, and both Haydn and Mozart admired his compositions. He wrote a great quantity of music of every kind, but is now better known for his violin duets. This movement comes from one of those duets. In Loreta Fin's arrangement of...

Calypso Cockatoo by Loreta Fin opens with a repeated, syncopated Calypso rhythm in the celli and bass. The upper parts are all in rhythmic unison, which simplifies the teaching. Accents, syncopation, pizzicato, rests, lifted up-bows, and different note groupings are explored in this straightforward and cheerful composition, which also has an Australian flavor. (2:00)Grade: 2

Lost Puppy is a 2011 composition by Loreta Fin with a melancholy mood. Students have often commented how sad the piece sounds. In this new work, after many years, the lost puppy is finally found. The piece commences in a minor mode, based on E, like the original work. The Lost Puppy theme is heard i...