Practicing is an essential part of preparing for NYSSMA and you want to
make sure you are practicing effectively. When you first sit down with
your instrument you should play a scale. For NYSSMA levels one and two
you will need to know 3 scales. First, play the three scales you are
going to play at NYSSMA. After you have played through your
scales, you will move onto your piece(s). You should play through your
piece(s) entirely and then find the spot(s) you find the hardest.
It is a good idea to mark your music (lightly with a pencil!)
indicating the measure(s) that you find difficult. You should
play through those spots carefully. Once you have played that spot
correctly, play through the line(s) that spot was on. After that play
through the piece entirely.
Tips For Solos
May Song – It is important to watch the
rhythm. Be sure that you understand the dotted rhythm. A dotted quarter
note is counted as “1 +2” and the eighth as “+”. You need to play
everything on the page, including the dynamics and the repeat. Be sure
that you start loud and strong and start line two at mf and go down to p.
Line 3 is back to f.
Allegro – It starts staccato so play the
notes marked with the dots over them short and separated. The commas mean
to bring the bow back to the frog. Dolce means sweet so connect
the notes and make it sound sweetly. Think of it as a story. At the beginning, the kids are
playing happily, jumping around. Then they go to bed and rest (dolce)
and then they wake up and go back out to play.
Perpetual Motion – The important thing is to
stay steady throughout the piece. Practice a D scale because Perpetual
Motion is based off of a D scale. Use the middle to frog section of your
bow. When you are first learning this piece, don’t worry about going too
fast. Stay slow and build up to a comfortable speed.
Long, Long Ago – This piece teaches bow
technique. There are eighth notes followed by half notes. You want
to make sure that when you are playing the eighth notes that you pull out
enough, so that you have room to play the half note. Since this piece is
so repetitive, make sure that you play and exaggerate all of the
dynamics. In this piece you play on the C string. It is important
to pull your bow slowly, and make sure your place your fingers down solidly.
Allegretto – This piece is about
articulation. When there is a dot above or below a note, you play it
short and sticky. When there is a line above or below a note, you play it
smoothly and with more bow. When there is a dot and a line that means that it is longer
than the dot alone but not as long and smooth as a note with just a line.
Those notes are ‘heavier’ than the others. The railroad tracks, the two
slanted lines on top of the staff, indicate a separation. Take a breath
and go on but make sure you don’t add a rest.
Andantino – This piece is very similar to
Allegretto but a touch slower. Don’t play too fast. When you see
the crescendo and diminuendo signs (the greater than and less
than signs) grow and fade in volume. “Rit” is to ritard, slow down
for that and a tempo is your sign to go back to the original speed.
Rigadoon – Make sure that you play the dotted
half notes as three beats and the half notes as two beats. There are C
naturals, second finger on the A string in this piece. Be careful, and take
note that some measures start on an up bow. The first two lines are the same as
the last two lines.
The Happy Farmer – This is the most complicated
one. There are slurs, dotted rhythms, rests, and different articulations. It is
important to count in terms of eighth notes, ‘1+2+3+4+’ this piece is popular
in several movies, so it might sound familiar. This piece is short, so a
mistake will be memorable. Make sure you remain steady. This one is very peppy,
so don’t apply a lot of pressure with the bow, and use a lot of it.
Minuet in C – This piece has two repeats in it. This piece is also in 3/4. What a player might want to do, is apply a little bit of stress on the first note of the measure. This is traditional in dance pieces that are in 3/4, like this one is. When there is a slur with two bowing signs above it, this means you play the note stop the bow than play the next note on the same bow.