My Electric Violin Journey

It has been a little while since my last post. Wrapping up the school year and trying to finish up what has been a trying year of hybrid teaching at NCSSM has been my priority for the past several weeks. Finally, today I am finished with most of my teaching and administrative work at the school and have some time to sit down and write a bit. 

I have wanted for some time, to give a little bit of my history with electric violins. For most of my readers, electric violins are simply part of everyday life as a teacher and performer. But for me, there has been an interesting journey which really starts back in the 1970s.

High school/college

Many folks know that my early training was in a modified Suzuki environment. I began playing violin at age 6 and was consistently enrolled in private lessons and youth orchestras throughout my elementary, middle, and high school experience. In junior high I became interested in the electric bass guitar and began playing in various rock bands from the age of 12 or so. I was a standard Rock kid of the mid-1970s, listening to Boston, Foreigner, Queen, Donnie Iris, and my favorite, Styx. WDVE, the rock station in Pittsburgh, was my radio station of choice and I could pick it up all the way out in Indiana, PA. At some point, I became very interested in the music of the rock band, Kansas. I loved their musicianship, intense lyrics, progressive rhythms, and of course the electric violin.  I was thrilled to see them in 1978 or 1979 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Of course,  Robby Steinhardt playing electric violin captivated me. My parents also had bought me several Jean-Luc Ponty albums over the years and I was very familiar with his electric violin work through those recordings. By the early 1980s, I was in high school and playing bass guitar in a very good high school cover band which consistently performed around the Indiana, PA region. As part of that band, I really wanted to occasionally pull out a violin to play novelty tunes like the Bunny Hop, the Chicken Dance, and other similar songs which were expected as part of a party band's set list in those days. My parents purchased an old Sherl and Roth violin and we had a Barcus Berry pickup installed. I, like everyone who did that sort of thing, struggled with feedback and poor tone quality. It never sounded great and it really didn't feel right or fit my needs. At some point, that band ended and I went off to college to study music education.  Throughout my undergraduate years, I focused much more on classical repertoire as a violinist. I played bass guitar in the college jazz band, but otherwise I really was strictly a classical violinist.

Palmyra Bluegrass and Believer

My first teaching position was in Palmyra, PA, as the district-wide string teacher. I taught string students from grades 3 to 12 and was there from 1987 to 1992. While in Palmyra, I was fortunate to host several residencies of great musicians through the innovative Authors and Artists Series which was run by faculty member,  Jim Woland. (That is a story for another day.) One of those was with the Modern Mandolin Quartet.  One of the huge impacts on me from those events was an introduction to bluegrass music.  One of my significant accomplishments and strongest areas of impact in those years was the founding of the Palmyra Bluegrass String Camp. I didn't really know how to play bluegrass music, but I was very interested in learning and thought that my classically trained students would like to learn as well. Through that time, I began to lay some foundational groundwork for improvisation and also rubbed elbows with some wonderful bluegrass musicians. I still really didn't need any strong amplification in those years, but the experience played a part in my electric violin journey.  

Another significant relationship in those years was my friendship that developed with Kurt Bachman. Kurt was a junior in high school when I arrived at Palmyra in 1987. He approached me and asked me if I wanted him to play guitar in the orchestra for his senior year. I wasn't sure how that would work, so I invited him to learn to play the cello instead. Kurt came to school in the summer to take cello lessons and joined the orchestra for his senior year. In the midst of that year, his metal band, Believer was signed to REX Records, and they invited me to play violin on their first record. Kurt and I wrote a cool introduction to the title track of Extraction From Mortality and I performed all of the parts to that intro on my acoustic violin in my first recording studio experience. Again, no electric violin yet. But this all laid the groundwork for what was to come. That album and song gained some national exposure and the band asked me to write and play on something for their second record. 

In 1989, Believer released their second full-length album, Sanity Obscure, which featured a orchestral, operatic, epic take on the Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) movement of the requiem mass. My sister, Julianne Laird, sang on that track and we again, garnered some national attention for the innovative work we were doing. You must remember that this was all before the S&M (Symphony and Metallica) projects and other similar metal /orchestral projects of the late 1990s.

By the time Believer set out to write and record our third album, my writing and playing was an important component of the Believer sound and reputation. We decided to write a extended metal/opera epic which we called Trilogy of Knowledge. Back in my Palmyra bluegrass days, through the Palmyra Authors and Artist Residencies, I had become good friends with Mike Marshall, the principal (and virtuoso) mandolinist in the Modern Mandolin Quartet. Mike and I had stayed in close contact and at one point I was telling him about my work with Believer. Mike mentioned that he had a Zeta solid body electric violin in a closet at home that wasn't being used. One day I came home from work to find a box with the electric violin in it. I called Mike to thank him and tell him I would return it as soon as I was done with it. He let me know it was a gift from him to me. This gift changed my life. I ended up using that Zeta Stratos on pretty much all of Trilogy of Knowledge which was released in 1993. That album, Dimensions, was nominated for a Dove Award and garnered a great deal of critical acclaim. It is still considered to be a groundbreaking album in the thrash metal genre. I'm very proud of the work that I did on that record, although I must admit, I was really just learning about solid body electric violins during that recording process. All of the effects processing and tone shaping on that record we're done after the initial tracking. I seem to recall that I recorded everything dry for accuracy and the sounds were added in during the mix down. 

I have to add that the first time I plugged in my Zeta violin, I felt that I had finally found my voice. This is what I had been preparing for my entire life. I was in my late twenties and I knew that my musical journey had been positively altered forever. 

Following the recording and release of Dimensions, I began experimenting more with the capabilities of electric violins. For a while, I played in an instrumental trio with Joey Daub (Believer's drummer) and Ted Hermanson on bass, who had engineered Dimensions. We were seeking to create a Jean-Luc Ponty type sound and I began developing some sensibilities for what the instruments could do. I bought a DigiTech multi-effects processor, a DigiTech harmonizer (DHP33), and a Lexicon Jamman which allowed me to do some basic looping. These tools for tone shaping became integral to my understanding of what the electric violin could do for me. A highlight of that band was a featured performance at a summer NAMM show in Nashville.  A lowlight of that trip, however, was that my original Zeta violin which was given to me was stolen. That was a really tough pill to swallow!

IN THE CLASSROOM

One consistent thread in my teaching life has been the notion that things that inspire me musically will probably also inspire my students. This had happened with bluegrass music back in Palmyra and now I was living in the Washington DC suburbs, teaching at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, MD, and felt like electric violins might really inspire my students.

I started reaching out to The Zeta corporation about the possibility of some sort of sponsorship with my educational background as the centerpiece. I shared Believer recordings with them and told them that I thought I could be an asset to the company. At the same time, I began thinking about how I could share what I knew about electric violins with other educators. I applied to give a conference session at the Maryland Music Educators State conference sometime around 1995. I had never spoken at a conference before but I felt like I had something unique and valuable to share with my peers. Initially, Zeta was hesitant about me. I am not sure that they fully understood the music of Believer and they probably received lots of inquiries about sponsorships and had some level of caution. (Believer is heavy, fast, rhythmically complex,  and features screaming non-melodic vocals.) When my conference session proposal was accepted for the Maryland Music Educators Association, I let Zeta know. I wanted them to know that I was going to move forward with or without their support, but I would love to show off some of their technology. When I had already set up this session, it peaked the interest of the folks at Zeta. I think this set me apart from the others. After a couple of phone calls and letters back and forth, we came to an agreement and I was now a sponsored artist with Zeta music systems. They sent me a little bit of equipment and I began working to fully master and understand their products. It is important to mention that this required a good deal of investment of my personal funds as well. They had an early MIDI controller in those days. So, I had to run out and buy a MIDI sound bank. I bought amplifiers, cables, effects processing, and other necessary tools of the electric violin trade. 

On the day of my conference session, I remember that a famous speaker, Tim Lautzenheiser, was scheduled at the same time as me. Tim's room for his session had easily a thousand chairs set up. Mine had about 30. (By the way, he was so encouraging that day.  He assured me there would be people there to hear what I had to say.)  But, people came. I had a small but enthusiastic audience and my first conference session presentation was a success. I talked about how the electric violins worked, how MIDI worked with violins, and how these could be used in the traditional public school classroom. Again, a significant course had been charted in my life and for the next decade or more, I spent a great deal of time speaking with teachers across the United States about the technology and applications of electric violins in the traditional public school classroom. 

While I was traveling around the country giving seminars on electric violins and their applications to the classroom, I met many wonderful people in the music industry. One significant friendship that grew out of that time was with Rich McKenzie, a sales representative for CodaBow International.  Rich would frequently stop in my sessions and listen to what I had to say. At some point he handed me a CodaBow and asked me to give it a try. He thought it would be a great compliment to the electric violin. Boy was he right! I fell in love with CodaBows immediately. At some point during those years, I met Jeff Van fossen, the founder of the company. We all became great friends and I have played CodaBows exclusively ever since. I have walked with the company through thier development of many different bows and technologies. It has been such a pleasure to be part of their organization and associated with them over the years. They are the perfect compliment for not only my electric violins, but all of my instruments. 

At one point in the late 1990s, I was working at Zeta HQ in Oakland California. Jean-Luc Ponty, another Zeta artist, was in town. I had the opportunity to meet him and talk for a while, and see his show that night. He was so generous with his time and treated me like a peer. Haha! One significant result of those conversations was that he suggested I use a viola bow with my electric violin. I made the switch to a Coda viola bow in those years and it really changed my sound. It gave me that heavy, beefy sound that Ponty is famous for. I used viola Codabows with my electric violin for many years until the Coda Joule  was developed. It is designed for exactly the same thing in much more of a "violin bow" package. (See any of my posts on Intentional Design) I encourage everybody to give the Coda Joule a try if you are an electric violinist.

The following year, around 1996, my school invested in a quintet of Zeta instruments and we began working to create a groundbreaking Electric Zeta String Ensemble at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt Maryland. That group of students performed all over the Washington DC and Maryland area for a variety of events. Some highlights included: a performance of the national anthem for all Prince George's County teachers at the then Cap Center. It was a huge crowd and a huge success, a performance at the Rayburn Congressional Office Building on behalf of NAfME (then MENC), performances at the MMEA State conference, and many many others.  

About this time, I was also experimenting with my own solo projects and particularly with looping technology. My work with the Lexicon Jam man had blossomed into quite a bit of solo material which incorporated guitar, bass, drum machine, and analog and MIDI electric violins. I became quite interested in recording technology as well and through my live performances and with the help of   an ADAT studio in my home, I produced my first solo record, Freeway. Most of the songs on that record were built using my looping technology and could be performed live as well. I spent a great deal of time in the fall of 1998 performing at Borders Books and Music stores all over the greater Mid-Atlantic region. I sold a lot of CDs in those days and it was a great deal of fun. However, I must admit that when I go back and listen to that recording, it sounds dated. 

In 2001 I took a new position at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham North Carolina. In those years, things at Zeta had slowed down a little bit and I could tell that my partnership with the company was probably coming to a close. This was not a bad thing, in my mind, because I felt I was becoming known only as the technology string teacher and it was very important to me that folks knew I was a traditional pedagogue as well. By 2002, Zeta and I parted ways and I focused on my guest conducting work and more traditional pedagogical seminars. 

Durham NC and NC School of Science and Math

When I moved to Durham NC, I had no idea that I was also moving so close to the Electric Violin Shop, the worlds largest retailer of electric violins. They certainly knew me from my time and exposure with Zeta Music Systems and eventually we all became close friends.  I began spending some time at the store playing all the different brands of electric violins. At some point, I told Blaise Kielar, the owner, that the only other company I'd ever consider working with was NSDesign Electric violins. I had met Ned Steinberger several years earlier at Berkeley's String Fling. He and I were both manning booths at the event. I for Zeta and Ned for his new company NSDesign. Traffic was fairly slow at the exhibits and we got to know each other pretty well. We had long conversations about music, ergonomics of electric violins, both of our backgrounds, and many other awesome topics. Ned is absolutely brilliant and I was honored that he was interested in my opinion about his instruments. Ned evidently remembered me and after my hiatus from the electric violin education scene for a few years, he reached out to me in 2005. 

We agreed to spend some time together in coming months and see if this would be a good match. Without going into all of the details, the partnership between Ned Steinberger and myself was a home run! I immediately fell in love with the instruments. I loved the sound, the feel, the look, and everything about the company.  To add to the serendipity of it all, NSDesign had a close relationship with D'Addario who had been long time supporters and sponsors of my work.  Ned and I were a fantastic match in terms of our personality, interests, and mutual respect for each other. I entered into a partnership with NS Design at that time and it still goes on to this day.

In the coming years, I would be featured in NS Design advertisements and their blog, give numerous sessions at national and regional conferences on their behalf, and become a featured educator/artist for the company in many other ways. Ned would often call me for my opinion on new products or other ideas. I would lean on them for technical information and new ideas of how these instruments could be used and how I could articulate the science and engineering behind the technology to teachers.

I continued my live looping performances and released a second solo record in 2005 entitled Simple Gifts. By this time I was using a three phrase looper, the boss RC-50 Loop Station. This allowed me to create a chorus, verse, and bridge on the fly in my performances and toggle between the three as I was soloing with my electric violin. My live performance tool was taking me to the next level in terms of my writing and capabilities. 

Over the next 15 years electric violins have remained a huge part of my teaching and performing life. I have been a featured soloist with a variety of orchestras including the Carolina Cool Jazz Orchestra on two different occasions performing my original music and arrangements. I have maintained a strong YouTube presence highlighting educational applications of electric instruments and my own performances as well. Electric violins have been a wonderful enrichment for my orchestra students at NCSSM. And, I continue to perform around the region with a variety of bands and as a solo artist with my looping capabilities. I now use the boss RC-300 Loop Station. It is an upgraded version of the three phrase looper that I began using back in 2005. I continue to speak at conferences around the country on applications of electric violins in the traditional string classroom. I am always looking for innovative ways to incorporate boat electric string instruments into my teaching and to share those ideas with others.

In the end, it has been an incredible journey with electric violins and it is really fun to look back on the progression.  And, I have to say, I am not close to being done.  Just in the past year, I have been experimenting with extended range strings, doing more multi-track recording, giving a ton of seminars for students,  and giving many live performances.  The possibilities really never end. 

Thanks for taking this little walk down memory lane with me. Until next time...

Peace.

Scott

Asta 2018 Wrap-up

As I reflect on the 2018 the ASTA National Conference through my haze of exhaustion and happiness, I feel like there are a few takeaways that I'd like to share with you today. The Conference has become for me and many others somewhat of a a family reunion. It's a time where like-minded professionals and friends get together to share ideas, encourage each other, and enjoy each other's company. There are so many wonderful informative sessions at the conference that cover topics including traditional pedagogy, K-12 strategies,  eclectic style performance,  advocacy and many other current topics and issues to mention just a few. In addition to the conference sessions, there is an amazing exhibit hall where manufacturers of instruments, accessories, publishers, and others can share their products and receive feedback from the people who actually use their product on a daily basis. There are meetings of minds throughout the course of the four day event and many new ideas are germinated at this time.

For me, this year's conference was particularly moving in a variety of ways. First, I have been struck by the opportunities that we have at the conference to look at our past and honor the folks that laid the groundwork for this organization and the profession of string teaching. Some were at the conference this year and others weren't able to make it. But, throughout the conference there were conversations about the ideas that started with the pillars of generations before us. We heard many references to folks like Paul Rolland,George Bornoff, Marvin Rabin, Dorothy Straub,Shinichi Suzuki, and so many more throughout the week.

At the same time, I was struck by the incredible number of young people at the conference. I feel like the collegiate chapters of the American String Teachers Association are stepping up in huge ways. The youthful energy in the sessions, the jam sessions, and the social events, was energizing for me in many ways. I was thrilled to meet up with many students that I have conducted in various honors orchestras, camps, and other events over the years who are now string teachers in the profession. It was wonderful to hear about their ideas, their passions, and their aspirations for their students and their professional lives.  I am honored to play a role in their lives and truly desire to encourage and inspire them moving forward.

I am also really excited to begin a new role as Chair of the National Committee on Content Development for ASTA.  I had many conversations throughout the week with individuals and groups about the power of web content and the various modes that can include.  It seems that we all are thinking about web content and how it can be most useful  to those  in the profession.  I am honored to play a role in the next phase of these decisions and initiatives for ASTA.

Another important facet of the conference for me is spending time with my friends and deepening those relationships.   I was honored to present a session with my dear friends Jim Palmer and Dr. Rebecca McLeod from UNC Greensboro. It was wonderful to prepare our session together and share our ideas with the enthusiastic audience on Friday.  I also loved getting to know Jim's students who served as our demo orchestra.  I had so many other meals and conversations with some of my best friends from across the country. In many ways , these connections are the real value of this organization . I find and inspiration in these relationships and genuinely appreciate my colleagues in the most profound of ways. 

(Side bar: Congratulations to Jim Palmer for being named the recipient of the 2018 Elizabeth A. H. Green Award for Exceptional Accomplishments in the K-12 String and Orchestra Education.  This is certainly well earned and well deserved!)

I love gaining new ideas from the sessions I attend.  This year was no exception.  I picked up several nuggets this year and will implement them immediately at NCSSM and in my conducting appearances.  Similarly, I gain so much from presenting at the conference. This is important professional development for me and I truly appreciate all of you that attended my sessions and encourage me to be better each year.  I particularly appreciate all of you who attended my 7:00 AM STEM Concepts in the String and Orchestra Classroom session.  You are troopers!

Each year, after the conference, I come home with a renewed appreciation for my colleagues and my profession. We are so privileged to be string teachers and orchestra directors in the United States today.  We need each other.  ASTA is the glue that brings so many of us together and continues to make us better in so many ways.  If you have never been to the conference, try to get to Albuquerque next year.  You will be transformed. Until next year...

Peace.

Scott

Functional String Improvisation

Several months ago, my friend Chris Selby, at the Charleston County School for the Arts in Charleston South Carolina, invited me to come to his school to give a weekend seminar on string improvisation. I was hesitant to accept his invitation at first because, as many of you know , I am not really a jazz educator in any way. I am an improvising violinist and a string educator. But, I really haven't taught a great deal of improvisation over the years. Nor, am I an expert in jazz or even formally trained in improv.  My improvising skill and style is much more self-taught and from the school of hard knocks.  So, I really wasn't sure if I wanted to tackle the daunting task of a weekend seminar explaining and teaching my approach to improvisation.

With that in mind, I thought for a while about my values in teaching and decided that if I could come up with a systematic, sequential system that outlined my journey as an improviser, I may be able to give the students something that would be useful and practical. I began putting my thoughts together and as a result of some discussions with Chris and with my wife I came up with the title, "Functional String Improvisation" for the weekend. This notion of being functional is very important to me. I am so aware that I am not a jazz performer nor an expert improviser. But, I am a functional violinist. I am able to go into almost any performing situation and provide something that is interesting, stylistically appropriate, musical, and enjoyable. I am as comfortable playing over chord changes in a recording studio as I am playing in the middle of a violin section of an orchestra.

So, here is the system that I articulated that weekend.  It is my approach.  It is an articulation of my journey and experience.  I don't hold it up as the gold standard, but I know that it has worked for me.  Working on and developing these concepts and skills has helped me to become the improviser that I am today.  This is all built on time, practice and experience.  The system is effective, but practice and repetition is the key.

I am providing my outline and annotations here.  My hope is that other string teachers may find something here that resonates with them and begin the journey for themselves.  Or, if already on that journey, find a different twist or approach.

FUNCTIONAL STRING IMPROVISATION
with
SCOTT LAIRD

Basics of Functional Musicianship

• There is no substitute for core technique and tone
• Functional String improvisation is a combination of the following:
• Functional/Applied Music Theory
• Internalized concepts of harmony, chord tones, and voice leading
• Listening
• Understanding the function or role you are playing at any given moment in the tune
• Imagination
• Practice!

Skills to Develop:

Free Improv and musical conversation

• Listen and respond/react
• “Yes, and…”

This skill encourages the musician to play without fear of wrong notes. There ARE no wrong notes in free improv.  This is an opportunity to take chances, listen and respond at any level. Players can be rhythmic or a-rhythmic, tonal or atonal, the same or different, and the list goes on. This is the time to get comfortable without the notes in front of you.  I also like to discuss that idea of "Yes, and.." from the improv world of theater.  The idea is that you never deny an idea. Rather the only response is, "Yes, and..."

Imitation (learning by ear) and playing with radio (15 minutes)

• Listen to the tune. Identify and imitate the various voices
• How do you imitate guitar, snare, bass, vocals, lead guitar

This, too, is an opportunity to get away from the written page.  I loved listening to my son spend hours in my studio with Pandora on and just playing along on his bass guitar.  That is how it is done.  You just have to be willing to spend the time.   This is a great way to learn keys, hand positions, cool licks, and ideas in songs.  The player can imitate all of the instruments (drums included).  When I was a kid, my parents would get mad at me when I was in my room "practicing" and playing with the radio.  I was supposed to be playing my classical rep.  Little did they know that this was a really good use of my time!!  Oh how times have changed!

Major and Minor scales in first position,

• scale patterns 3rds, 4ths, etc
• Alternate ideas on scales, jumps
• Pentatonic scale
• Shapes (finger patterns) - thinking like a guitar player

I really believe in making etudes out of scales.  Put on a drum beat and make them fun.  I also strongly believe in playing all of the major and minor scales in first position - all the way from the lowest possible not in the key to the highest possible note without changing positions.  This really establishes all of the possible scale "patterns" that are necessary for quickly and functionally performing in all keys.

Diatonic Harmony

• Triads - know your 3rds and 5ths (7ths too!)
• Patterns
• Key
• Playing pads (whole notes)
• (Extreme ranges)
• 3rds and 7ths

This is  where the hard work begins.  It is where your functional understanding of music theory and harmony intersects with your playing.  The player must develop the skill of thinking on their toes.  Can they name and play the triads?  Can they find the 3rd and 7th for any chord?  I think this where many would-be improvisers get hung up.  It is easier to think melodically as a string player.  We do THAT all the time.  Be persistent and don't give up.

Bass lines -

• Roots
• Riffs

I played bass in bands as a kid.  I feel like this skill has served me well over the years.  Playing bass lines is a whole different feel and idea than focusing on melody.  Listen to bass lines on the radio.  Imitate them. Practice playing them on violin, viola or cello.  It is really fun.  And, it takes you another step in the journey to becoming a functional improviser.

Melody vs Off melody

• Does the range blend with or cut through ensemble appropriately?

This is really important in my opinion.  Where is there space for notes in the tune?  Are you the primary melodic voice?  Or are you a secondary voice?  Listen to songs you like. Listen for the melody and for other voices that are responding to the melody.  Then, play over songs where you are the melody, then respond to the melody instead.  I use this skill all the time when accompanying in church and creating parts for singer/songwriters.

Rhythm

• Importance of 2 and 4
• Chops
• Chords
• Strum bowing

This is where classically trained players can be a little square.  Listen to popular music.  Listen to the snare drum.  Where is the weight of the pulse?  Usually on 2 and 4.  We need to get aware of this and try to imitate it.  There are numerous times that the string player provides a rhythmic role in a band.  What should you do?  

Blues patterns

• Check out Blues back-tracks in various on Youtube.
• Listen to blues artists and imitate them.  Play along a ton!

Every kid that learns the guitar in the garage starts here.  We need to spend some time on it. Listen. Imitate. Repeat.

Interpreting a lead sheet (the thought process)

• Slightly modify the melody 
• Think “Theme and Variations”
• Build the piece dynamically

This is a skill that must be developed. It takes time. But all of the above skills will get you into the right ballpark.

The Art of Listening

There is no substitute for listening with purpose.  Think about the things you are hearing.  Think about the function of every voice that you hear in the tune.  

So, there you have it.  Let me know what you think.  And, good luck with your journey to improvisation.  It is so much fun to be able to express yourself without notes in front of you.  But, remember, it takes time.  So, get to work!

Peace.
Scott

By the way, if you are really ready to dive into the world of creative strings and improvisation and want some individualized training, I highly recommend attending Christian Howes' Creative Strings Workshop as part of your summer professional development.  He's the best.  Hands down.  My son will be attending this summer.  I don't give a higher endorsement.

Artist/Educator

Back in May, I had an outdoor gig at local sports bar/restaurant, Devines in Durham. It was a Saturday night and happened to be prom night for my school, the North Carolina School of Science and Math.  Throughout the evening, I was delighted to notice lots of my students coming out of other area restaurants, on their way to the prom following dinner.  Many of them stopped in order to hear me play a bit and take photos of me and my fellow musicians.  The crowd that was at the bar to hear me play could see the joy and fun in the students eyes of seeing their music teacher in a performing setting, outside of school.  What a fun experience for all!

Today I am thinking about the importance of maintaining a life as a performing artist while pursuing a career as a music educator. In the weeks around that performance, I was involved in a series of interviews, seeking a new visual arts instructor at NCSSM. One of our stated priorities for the candidate was that they, in addition to being an exceptional experienced teacher, had a vibrant life as a working artist. We believe that there is true value for students in having a role model that is a working artist. (By the way, we certainly found that person and are thrilled to have her on Faculty today at NCSSM!!)

I have worked hard over the past 30 years to maintain an active performing life. Many of you know that I still perform as a violinist both in the classical and in a variety of improvisatory arenas. I perform regularly in churches, as part of a string quartet, as a solo artist, as a recording artist, and as part of numerous pop and rock bands around Durham & the Triangle region of North Carolina. I also frequently pick up my violin and perform as part of conducting appearances.

I believe strongly that modeling a performing life is a vital part of the educational process. Students want and need to see their teacher actively engaged in the art that they themselves are working so hard to master.

That Friday night was a really cool experience along these lines. I couldn't help but think that this was actually another important part of the educational process for my students. It is not often the students get to see me as my alter ego, improvising violinist. They're used to seeing me in rehearsal, conducting the orchestra, and running the various programs at NCSSM.  In the end, we all have a responsibility to maintain our life as an artist and practitioner in our chosen field. That's how students really learn. They see their mentors doing the thing they love. Students learn by example. And, they find an interest and passion in that same area as their mentors. For those of you that are young music teachers or perhaps even pre-service teachers, I encourage you to set concrete goals for both your teaching life and you're performing life. 

Don't ever let your chops deteriorate to the point that  you won't play for the public. Find time to practice. Find time to perform. And find ways to model your passion and expertise in performance for your students. Build advancing your performing skills into your professional development plans and time.  Use some of your summer time and other breaks for practice, lessons, or other performing opportunities.  You owe it to yourself and you owe it to your students!

Peace.

Scott

ICO 2016 Interlochen Final Concert

Before I close the door on my 2016 Interlochen experience, I want to make sure that I say a few words about the repertoire that I selected for our final concert of the season. That concert actually took place several weeks ago.  I am sorry I didn't post about it prior to the performance. I do, however I encourage you to check out the audio recordings of the concert at the Interlochen Public Radio website. I will attach the link here as soon as it is available.

For this concert we did 5 selections.

We began the program with Mandolina by Gabrielle Faure, arranged by Tom Sharp. Those of you that know me, know that I frequently perform alt styles works arranged and composed by Tom Sharpe. This, however, is a wonderful piece by Faure, originally scored for piano and soprano solo. Tom Sharpe has brilliantly arranged it for string orchestra. Let me Begin by saying that this is a pretty difficult work. We actually had to modify some of the viola and cello parts to accommodate some of the less experienced players in the Intermediate Concert Orchestra. That said, it was quite easy to transcribe the bass line for these areas of the piece. This work includes beautiful melodies for each section of the string orchestra. It begins with a lovely soaring cello line and then hands the melody off to the violins. The B section is led by the violas. The melody then returns to the cellos  featured on the A' section to the end. I must say that this addition does require a good deal of editing. The bowings also must be modified for young orchestra in order to make the phrasing really speak. Also, it takes some time to really figure out who has the melody at any given moment and how the accompaniment parts fit in underneath the melody. That said, when all assembled, this is an absolutely beautiful work. I would rate this as about a grade 5 piece. It is absolutely stunning when performed.

For our second piece, I continued with the French theme. We performed the Minuet from Le Tombeau de Couperin, by Maurice Ravel, arranged by Carrie Lane Gruselle. I became aware of this work 2 years ago at a new music reading session that ASTA presented in North Carolina. It is a little outside the box of what I would normally Program for young orchestra. Each voice in the string orchestra is very independent and it requires attention to dynamic detail, as well as attention to details in phrasing, bow technique, hooked bowing, and other techniques associated with the impressionistic period. This piece features lovely melodies in each section and requires students to be very cognizant of conductors' nuances in the stick. The B section of this work features a muted string section performing a haunting minor melody.

Third, the orchestra presented the world premiere of Peter Terry's Blindsighted. You can see my notes on this piece in my previous post.

Following that, we performed the world premiere of another String orchestra work. This piece, the Colosseum, by Macenna Hanson held a place very near and dear to my heart. Miss Hanson, you see, was the concertmaster of this very ensemble during the summer of 2015. She approached me at the beginning of the summer of 2016 and informed me that she was now a composition major at the Interlochen Arts Camp. She told me that she had been working on a piece for string orchestra. I offered to read the piece in one of my rehearsals and she enthusiastically accepted the offer. After looking at the score and hearing a midi recording of the work, I offered to spend some time on the piece and see if it might be performable. It became clear very quickly that this piece would be a favorite of the students and myself and we could certainly perform it on the stage of Kresge Auditorium. Of course, Macenna was thrilled and we, in fact, performed the world premiere of that work on our concert. It was such a thrill and pleasure to perform a work by a young composer and see her hard work come to fruition in such a magnificent performance space.

Our fifth and final selection for this concert was Bert Ligon's Bossa Rojo for string orchestra. This is a wonderful, light bossa style piece for string orchestra that features opportunities for teaching articulation, improvisation, and pop style playing for young string orchestras. This piece is a grade 3.5 and is truly a pleasure to perform. The melodies have been stuck in my head for the past several weeks! We decided to feature Interlochen faculty piano instructor, Alejandro Bernard  Papachryssanthou on the electronic keyboard as part of this performance. He added a solo on keyboards that was a true face melter! What a blast! It was a wonderful way to end the 2016 concert season for the Intermediate Concert Orchestra.

Again, I encourage you to check out the recordings of these pieces. I could not have been any happier with our performances. I look forward to continuing to write about repertoire that I select for the various orchestras I am working with in coming weeks and months.

Until next time.

Peace.

Scott

Pedagogy from the podium

This weekend, I have been conducting an Honors String Orchestra Festival at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. My thanks to Emily Crane and all at Austin Peay for inviting me.  It's been a wonderful event and, as a result of my rehearsals here, throughout the weekend I have been giving a great deal of thought to my upcoming educational sessions at a couple of different conferences. A session that all be presenting in coming months, including at the National ASTA Conference in Tampa, is "Pedagogy From the Podium." This is a session that I began giving many years ago while I was still teaching in Palmyra, PA, based on some of the "best" practices that I had discovered in my daily teaching life. But, as you can imagine, over the years the content and the approach have changed a great deal. 

 Those of you that pay attention to this blog know that last year I was strongly considering the anatomy of any strong pedagogy. I presented a model where there were four components of any pedagogical concept that needed to be addressed. Those components are as follows: 

1. A SYSTEM is developed 

2. The system is SEQUENTIAL

3. There must be strong NOMENCLATURE introduced to clarify the system

4. The instructor provides a HARMONIC UNDERPINNING to any skill that is introduced modified . 

So, my task over the last several months has been to consider the systems that I have developed over the past several years. As this has been in the front of my mind, I've become more and more aware of the myriad of systems that I've developed or utilized over the years. Last year, I spent a good deal of time discussing, creating resources for, and teaching about the system of Finger Patterns that I had acquired from other great pedagogues and modified to suit my particular needs. Continuing on that theme, I have become more and more aware of other systems that have become an integral part of my teaching over the years.  Some of these were developed by others, some I have modified, and others I have developed.

Those of you that attend Pedagogy From the Podium, will get a strong dose of my belief in the model for these systems, and a number of specific systems that you can use in your classroom which utilize the model. I am still weeding out the final content of these sessions, but right now these are the areas that I will potentially be addressing. 

• Ensemble Tuning
• Ensemble Playing Position
• Finger patterns as a vehicle to ensemble intonation
• Rhythmic stability and Inner Rhythm
• Watching the conductor and general ensemble awareness
• Movement and breathing into phrase
• Dynamics and the dynamic nature of ensemble playing
• Spiccato and other intermediate to advanced bow techniques
• Bow speed/placement
• Pizzicato accuracy and technique
• Musical "essence" and the art of self editing difficult passages
• Precepts of bow direction
• Bow weight as it relates to bow placement
• Bow style as it relates to historic era of composition

Obviously, this won't all be addressed in a one-hour session. So, as you can see, some of this will be "weeded out" in coming weeks and months. I hope that you find some of these topics interesting and truly hope to see you at one of the sessions. Please let me know if any of these areas particularly resonate with you, or if there is something missing here that you would like to see.  Here's what I can promise: I will certainly be thinking about these systems and my approach to the ensemble development in the coming weeks and months. I will do my best to offer specific and pertinent content for everybody who attends.

For those of you on the East Coast: stay dry and safe this weekend. To those of you here in Clarksville TN, thanks for an awesome weekend of music making, sharing, and collaborating. You all have been wonderful to work with and I know our concert today is going to be magnificent!

Peace.

Scott 

Side by Side

Hi all -
It is a cold morning in Northern MI today, so I am inside the library at Interlochen, catching up on e-mails and on organizing my thoughts for this next set of concerts.

We have a new initiative here at Interlochen that I thought I would share with you today.

During the summer, we have an amazing faculty of artist/teachers that come to Interlochen to teach for the summer.  Each 3 week session, I have 5 of these folks assigned to my orchestra to lead sectional rehearsals and help with the preparation for upcoming concerts.  During our first 3 weeks of concerts, a decision was made to convert some of these sectional rehearsal meetings to "side-by-side" experiences within the context of the orchestra rehearsals.  During a side-by-side, the instructors came to rehearsal and sat within the section, offering tips on bowing, style, fingerings, technique, etc.

I was pleased to hear of this opportunity for our students.  I know that as an undergrad at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, I had the opportunity to sit beside my violin teacher, Mrs. Delight Malitsky, in almost every orchestra rehearsal for three years.  She sat at the Concertmaster position in the university orchestra and I sat in the Assistant Concertmaster position.  In every rehearsal, she would model all of the best of orchestral practice and give me and the other players tips throughout our time together.  I can't begin to describe how very much I learned from her in that setting.

I was really pleased with the results of the side-by-sides during our first two concerts. During the first and second meeting, the faculty were able to sight-read the repertoire that I had selected for the upcoming concert, discuss the various sight-reading techniques, and offer an aural image to the students for their upcoming work.  For these early rehearsals, they sat at the Principal positions in the section and were able to interact with each other both verbally and musically for the students in the section.  In my opinion, it was magical.  I did my best to make those meetings significantly less "conductor-centric" that my standard rehearsals and simply give them the framework in which to teach and lead.

Later in our concert preparation, the teachers sat in the middle and back of the sections, where they could look over the section for problem spots with bowing, technique, physical interaction, etc. and give thoughtful tips and tricks for cleaner, more expressive and unified performance.  Sectional rehearsals were not completely abandoned and they were able to give more specific advice to their respective sections in those meetings.  I also think that the ensemble meetings gave the faculty members a really good idea of the composers' vision and a better feel for the specific needs that could be addressed in the sectional rehearsals.

Those of you that know me, know that I am all about collaboration.  I loved having the opportunity to collaborate with my colleagues in these "side-by-side" experiences and was thrilled with the results.  I feel like I know them so much better at this point and really value their expertise and musicianship in new ways.  Perhaps they feel the same after working with me in this way.

I do this think this requires balance.  There is definitely a need for the sectional rehearsal in this environment.   But  there is so much that a young musician can learn by watching a true pro in the rehearsal environment. The real key is that the conductor stay out of the way.  (Not one of our strong characteristics - by the way!)

Both concerts that were performed at the end of this experiment were outstanding and I think the students experienced a real benefit from the opportunity.  We will see how it goes for the next two concerts with a new group of kids!

For now, stay warm.

Peace.

Scott

ICO 2014 Concert 2

Hi friends!

Here are some more thoughts on summer repertoire for ICO.  The second concert will be in 3 short days and perhaps many of the parents that read this will be in attendance for the concert.  We had a great rehearsal today and will certainly be ready to give a great performance on Friday.

We will open our performance with the Overture to the Messiah by Handel.  This is the original Messiah Overture and we are using the Schirmer edition.  I like that edition because the Grave section is written with the appropriate double dotted rhythms and it is otherwise very predictable for those of us that have played this work in any variety of settings.  In the Grave section students learn hooked bowing and really have to listen to the ensemble along with subdividing to keep the passage rhythmically clean.  The Allegro is a fugue and each section must count independently and demonstrate a marcato style throughout.  This is a great piece and teaching tool for young orchestras.

Next, we are doing Fantasy on American Sailing Songs, by Clare Grundman, Arr Longfield.  This is a medley of popular sailing songs that is very accessible for young orchestras.  Students play in a variety of keys and time signatures and there are plenty of opportunities for teaching ensemble, rhythm, and interaction between sections.

Our reall challenge piece for this concert is the Minuet from Petite Suite, by Debussy/Arr. Osentowski (Pub FJH).  This is a grade V adaptation of the famous work for 4 hands piano.  This is a real contrast to much of the repertoire that I have programmed over the years for this type of group.  It is very lyrical, requires extremely close listening across the ensemble, and includes of very tricky violin parts.  The key to this one working well is every section having full awareness of their respective roll in the work from measure to measure, phrase to phrase.  (Isn’t that always the case?!) But, really, this one is a challenge and it is a new piece for me as well.  I am looking forward to using this as the centerpiece to our program. 

We will finish our program with a bang with Choreograpy, by Norman Dello Joio, Mvt 3.  This is a classic and oft-used string orchestra piece that was commissioned and written in the 1970’2 by the American String Teachers Association.  This is a fast and furious finale to the work.  I asked the kids what emotions come to mind as they play it and received answers including: angry, determined, important, and anxious, among others.  This will be a fun and exciting way to end our program.

We look forward to performing this program on July 11 at 7:00 in Corson Auditorium on the Interlochen campus!

Peace.

Scott

ICO 2014 Concert 1

Hi friends!

I wanted to take a quick minute today to run through the repertoire that I programmed for my first two concerts with the Intermediate Concert Orchestra here at Interlochen this summer.  My hope is that this post will give parents of ICO students some insight into what their children have done this summer and some of my values as a conductor.  I am also hopeful that perhaps colleagues will find some of this to be helpful as they plan their repertoire for the upcoming year with similar ensembles at their schools or youth orchestras. 

The ensemble that I conduct is a string orchestra with students ranging from 12 to 15 years old.  The playing level is quite diverse with the top students auditioning on intermediate repertoire such as Mozart Concerti, Accolay Violin Concerto, and other similar appropriate solos and possessing a good deal of range and musical background.  Other students are significantly less experienced and it is always a challenge to bring the group together in a way that challenges and inspires all students, without leaving the less experienced folks in the dust.  This concert cycle, the group is quite evenly matched and that has been less of an issue that some other years. 

For each concert, I always try to select a diverse program that includes something traditional and something more contemporary; something very technically challenging and something that doesn’t take as long to learn the notes and rhythms, something lyrical and something fast and rhythmic; and something that features a guest artist or extended instrumentation.  I think that we achieved all of those goals for this concert cycle.

Concert 1

We began our first concert with Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla, by Glinka, Arr. McCashin (Pub FJH).  This is a wonderful arrangement of the original for string orchestra that really challenges a young orchestra.  We were able to work this up to tempo and do some really great things with ensemble and listening across the orchestra.  The celli and violas get a beautiful lyrical section in the middle and everyone gets the opportunity to play “high, fast, and loud” as part of the fun.  It was a great concert opener and I think it really surprised our audience.  I always like Bob McCashin’s arrangements because he keeps the pieces very true to the original and always challenges the player.  This is listed as a Grade V piece.

Next we did Serenade for Strings, Mvts I, II, IV, by Robert Washburn.  This gem has been around for many years and I hadn’t conducted it for at least 13 years or so.  Dr. Washburn was Professor of Music at The State University of New York in Potsdam for many years and just passed away in November, 2013, at the age of 85.  I had conducted this piece in 1997 with the Maryland Junior All State Orchestra and Dr. Washburn stopped in to hear about two hours of my rehearsal.  He took some time to speak with the students and with me afterwards and it was really the thrill of a lifetime.  His affirmation of my work and encouragement went a long way for me in the early part of my career.  The first movement is in ABA form and is very lyrical, requiring all players to listen carefully to the inner rhythm of the work.  The second movement is in “3” and reminds me of a lullaby.  Again in ABA form, the B section is very warm and “orchestral” in nature.  It is simply gorgeous.  The forth movement is more rhythmic and driving.  To my ear, there is a Native American flavor to it.   Each section gets a feature in this movement and it ends the Serenade with a bang!  This piece is usually listed as a Grade IV work.

We ended our first concert with Cascade, by Bert Ligon.  The piece is in a pop style and calls for a piano and drum set in addition to the string orchestra.  I thought it needed guitar as well, so I called Bert up and asked if he might be able to help us out with a guitar chart.  He graciously agreed and I had guitar charts for the piece within about 48 hours!! (Thanks, Bert!!) This piece is great for teaching a pop style and the importance of syncopation in contrast with non-syncopated figures.  It is also fantastic for teaching and reinforcing dynamics and direction of line.  Every section gets a feature in this piece.  It is listed as a Grade 3.5, but I wouldn’t hesitate to do it with a much more advanced group.  Bert’s music is always so well-written and it feels good to play.  I intend to do with my NCSSM group this fall.

So that was our first concert.  I will write about our 2^nd concert in the next post.  I hope this was helpful!!

Peace.

Scott

Thom Sharp's Nanigo with Solo Electric Violin

Hey all -

For you string teachers out there: How about trying the tune based on West African rhythms called Nanigo, by Thom Sharp (Latham Music) with percussion section and electric violin? I did this piece at Interlochen last week and it was a huge success! This week, I will be doing his “Samba Me This” along with an improvised solo on soprano sax by my friend, David Kaye. Thom’s charts are really well done and can be performed with or without improvised solos. They almost all can can effectively incorporate electric violin. I encourage you all to take a minute and check out Thom’s stuff!

All the best.

Scott

Concert Day!

It is Wednesday, July 27, 2011 and I have my first concert performance today at Interlochen Summer Music Camp with the Intermediate Concert Orchestra. It has been a great 9 days of teaching and rehearsing and I can truly say that my ensemble is ready for their performance. We finally had a rehearsal in the hall yesterday and it really changed the way that the musicians and I heard the ensemble.

 

If I am honest, the rehearsal in the hall didn't start out the way I had hoped. I thought that we would run the program, hit some spots, and run the program again. As it turned out, I think the ensemble was a bit overwhelmed by the room, the anxiety of the first performance, and 5 or 6 of their instructors out in the hall, watching the rehearsal, taking notes for me. All of those factors, put together with the general fatigue that they are starting to feel led to a sup-par start. The kids were missing entrances, phasing tempo, missing bowings, and generally freaking out. I have to admit, I was surprised and a bit upset. As a result, I scrapped the "run-through" and just rehearsed. This proved to be much more productive and we were able to "right the ship" and salvage the rehearsal.

 

For my string educator friends that read this, I want you to know what we are playing and the things that we are focusing on. This is a middle-school group with musicians whose experience and ability ranges from quite high (my concertmaster is working on the Lalo Concerto and many of the students are quite accomplished soloists) to students with very little experience in a serious ensemble with attention to watching, tempo changes, uniform bowing style, etc. I tried to program varied repertoire with lots of opportunities for expression and musicianship. We will start with the Latham Suite for String Orchestra, by Theron Kirk. In the March movement, we focus on "breathing" into beginning of phrases, short sixteenth notes on the hooked bowing, dynamic sustained notes, and energy in general. The Elegy 2^nd movement is an opportunity to really emphasize the importance of watching the conductor and huge changes in style within a movement (ranging from very sustained and sad to "incalzando" or "with fire.") I really stretch and tug the tempo in this one. It takes a huge amount of maturity and patience from each player. The final movement, Finale, is a syncopated dance that requires attention to rhythm and articulation from start to finish. Our second piece is Vivaldi's Concerto in G Major, arranged by my friend, Tom LaJoie. The kids will perform this work without a conductor and the focus has been on terraced dynamics, intonation, and moving with the music, leading from any and every chair. Next, we will do Percy Fletcher's Folk Tune and Fiddle Dance. This old string orchestra standard is one of my favorites. The Folk Tune is an opportunity to teach tempo, key, and meter changes within a movement. We have worked on phrasing, dynamics, watching, and many other ensemble techniques in this one. The Fiddle Dance is reminiscent of Copland's Hoe Down and is simply a blast to perform. Dynamics and drive are paramount in this movement. We will finish with Nanigo, by my friend Tom Sharp. It is cool tune based on West African rhythms. We will be adding a 7-piece authentic African drum section for this one. I will also be joining the group on my 5-string NS Design CR violin, soloing over the last section of the piece. This work starts out "piano" and builds throughout, ending with a huge fortissimo. This is great for teaching a tricky 2 against 3 rhythmic pattern in the context of a really fun work.

 

We have a short rehearsal this afternoon and a warm-up on stage right before the performance. I am rally psyched for the entire day. I know that it will be great fun. I am so proud of this ensemble. I often say that an ensemble has to do the rigor first. But, when that is accomplished, they then can release any stress and simply play from the heart. This group has done the rigor. I hope that they can play today with joy and expression without losing their attention to detail. I believe that is the key for this group of young musicians today. I know that I will enjoy the ride today, with the knowledge that we have prepared well.

 

I'll let you know tomorrow how it went!

 

Peace.

Scott

NS Design CR Series in Hotel

Hey all -

Just a quick note to remind everyone how handy it is to travel with an NS Design CR Series Violin for practice in hotel spaces. I am on the road with my family - heading up to Interlochen, MI to conduct for a few weeks and my 14 year old son will be attending the camp. We spent a night in a hotel in Ann Arbor last night and he wanted to take a few minutes to run over his audition piece for orchestra and seating placement at the camp. We didn't want to disturb the other guests with his acoustic instrument, so I told him to plug his Ipod headphones into my CR violin. He practiced for about 45 minutes without bothering a soul and felt really good about his preparation.

It is easy to overlook this important feature of the CR series instruments. They sound fantastic in headphones and don't require any other hardware. All you need is a set of earbuds or headphones with a mini-plug and you are good to go!

I will be posted updates periodically from Interlochen over the next few weeks. So, look for more posts in the near future!

Peace.

Scott

Strings Without Boundaries

Hi All.

On Tuesday, June 28, I was in Pittsburgh, PA, at Duquesne Universihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifty, representing NS Design at the Strings Without Boundaries Workshop. This is a great workshop each summer and I was really pleased to be there. As part of the day, I gave 3 presentations.

First, I had the opportunity to speak with the teacher-track students at the conference. This was essentially a Q and A session and we touched on the topics of recruitment for school programs using bowed electrics, the importance of good monitoring for dynamic performances, setting up electric ensembles, and the differences between active and passive instruments. Next, I gave an elective session for students on the nuts and bolts of amplification. Here, we covered some of the same topics for a totally different set of students. These included monitoring, speaker size, speaker placement, use of DI boxes and preamps and other amplification-related topics. Finally, I finished the day with an electihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifve session of effects-processing. In this session, we really got into the nitty-gritty of reverbs, time-based effects (delays, chorus, and flangers), filter effects (phasers and wah-wahs), harmonizers and pitch shifters, looping, and distortion. We covered a bunch of vocabulary and parameters of all of these great effects as well as practical uses of all of them. If you would like to see some of my sessions on effects, check out thelessonroom.com and search “electric violins”.

All in all, Strings Without Boundaries is a great event and if you are interested in expanding your improvising and alt styles skills, I highly recommend this event. Special thanks to Julie Lyon Lieberman and Stephen Benham for inviting me to be part of the faculty this year!

Peace.

Scott

NS Design’s Instruments Electrify the Classroom

Hi all -
The following article appeared on the NS Design Blog recently. I thought I would share it with you today.

Music educators across the country are discovering that electric stringed instruments offer a new, powerful way to engage young musicians. As the string education community has begun to embrace what it terms “alternative styles”—including jazz, rock, and many kinds of fiddling and world music—electric string instruments are attracting attention for their ability to play amplified without feedback, and their ability to incorporate electronic effects.

Teachers at the forefront of electric string education are quick to point out that the advantages of the instruments extend beyond performance settings. Amplification gives some students a new sense of empowerment, and for many, it clarifies the challenges they face with their playing technique. The process of creating and refining sound electronically requires students to think about aspects of music they would not need to consider with an acoustic instrument—a valuable means of engaging a generation already steeped in technology.

NS Design recently interviewed four different players, including educators who use electric instruments in their classrooms, as well as performers who use electrics to attract new audiences to the possibilities of stringed instruments in general. We are proud to work with these musicians, and we hope that sharing their perspectives will inspire other teachers and students to new musical endeavors.


New possibilities

For Scott Laird, who is Instructor of Music at the North Carolina School for Science and Math in Durham, NC, technology serves both as a pedagogical tool and as a focus of instruction, and NS Design’s instruments are a centerpiece of the classroom. Laird’s performance career has revolved around the electric violin and the technology associated with it. As an educator, he champions a “blended curriculum” of classroom instruction reinforced by online resources, such as D’Addario’s Web site The Lesson Room, to which he has contributed several videos. In his classroom, Laird says, electric instruments serve the dual purpose of facilitating performances that would not be possible with their acoustic counterparts, and engaging students in a more complex understanding of music.

Laird says that overcoming the amplification barrier is the biggest practical advantage to incorporating electric strings in an educational setting. In so doing, educators can remove the restrictions that often keep string students from trying jazz, rock, and other amplified genres.

“From a performance standpoint, it completely opens up what you can do with a bowed instrument because volume is no longer a limiting factor,” Laird said recently in an interview. “The great violinist in your school can play with the jazz ensemble.” In addition, NS instruments’ precise tone and volume controls of offer practical advantages in orchestrating student performances. “We use the NXT Bass to accompany the wind ensemble,” he said. “It lets us get just the right amount of volume and a really warm tone.”

But besides expanding performance options, Laird explains that electric instruments make students think about music in new ways. The precise control NS instruments offer over their output signal—and their ability to use electronic effects—requires students to plan and analyze the sounds they wish to create.

“Electric instruments ask students to think about tone quality as it relates to an adjustment knob, a reverb tail, a delay. These are questions that traditional string students normally don’t have to answer,” Laird said. “One of the main things teachers are called upon to do is encourage students to step out of their comfort zones.”

Scott Laird also sees an improvement in his students’ musicianship as a result of electric instruments’ tonality and interface abilities. “When you’re amplified, your mistakes do not get covered up,” he said. “Your inconsistencies from a technique standpoint are obvious. Kids can plug an electric violin straight into a laptop and record themselves playing a Bach Partita, and hear the subtle inconsistencies in their bow technique and intonation.”

Yvette Devereaux, a Los Angeles-based violinist, conductor, composer and educator, who performs on an NS CR-5, attributes a similar advantage to the electric violin. But she says that, in addition to offering students a clearer technical picture of their playing, electric violins empower students on an emotional level. As a teacher of younger students, Devereaux has a first-hand view of how playing amplified can help students overcome their insecurities.

“When a student tries an electric violin plugged into an amp, you get instant gratification,” she said. “Students hear all these undertones and overtones that they can’t get right away on an acoustic violin. The violin becomes not just a violin anymore.” Playing amplified also allows some students to understand their playing in a wider musical context. “Right away they feel like they’re part of a current situation,” she said. “They say, ‘oh wow, I can play this anywhere!’”


Inspiring from the Stage

Outside the classroom, a number of performers and organizations have used NS instruments to reach out to young audiences in performance settings. One such group, the Los Angeles-based Elevation Orchestra, is an ensemble that includes 17 string players (including several NS players) as well as a rhythm section of bass, drums, and keyboards. Targeting underserved urban audiences, the group strives to expand its listeners’ musical palates by applying classical string instrumentation to contemporary, pop-inspired compositions.

“The elevation orchestra was created to let everybody know that string instruments are not just for classical music, but are actually behind a lot of the big groups in pop music that you hear today,” said Ryan Cross, the group’s founder. “NS instruments help us kick that goal.”

The group has commissioned work from arrangers who have written for Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, Earth Wind and Fire, and Stevie Wonder, among others. Cross and members Chris and Adrienne Woods performed at NS Design’s exhibit at the 2011 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California—one of three annual international trade shows for music products, and the largest of its kind in the U.S.

NS Design has also worked with motivated performers to make instruments available for special events with significant educational impact. In 2010, the company loaned a quartet of instruments to the Colorado Symphony for a performance of George Crumb’s piece “Black Angels” at the Denver School of the Arts. Violinist Erik Peterson organized the performance and, with help from NS endorser Dr. Gregory T. S. Walker, arranged to let students try the instruments hands-on. Peterson said that the experience revealed the value of pursuing approaches to string education that might have seemed radical even in the recent past.

“To have that exposure was very good for them,” he said. “They were excited to hear the piece and excited to try the instruments. We can’t just approach string instruments in the way they were approached a hundred years ago. There are musicians and audiences for all different types of music.”


Catch the WAV

As part of an initiative to encourage the adoption of electric stringed instruments, NS Design has launched a pilot program, called “Catch the WAV”, to make its four-string WAV Series electric violin available through participating retailers at a special pricing to schools and educators. Educators who are interested in taking advantage of this program should contact their local NS Design dealer for assistance in finding a dealer contact. (To find a participating dealer, contact sales@thinkns.com .)

New Interview

Hi all -
The linked interview was posted on the Electric Violin Shop website this week.
I thought that some of you might be interested.
Best Always,
Scott

http://electricviolinshop.com/blog/ais/scott-laird-interview/

Lamar Stringfield Summer String Camp and NS Design Instruments

Hi all! Today, just a quick note about the Lamar Stringfield String Camp and NS Design Instruments.

For the past two weeks, Meredith College in Raleigh, NC has been hosting the Lamar Stringfield String Camp, a day camp for students to focus on string playing, technique, and ensemble playing. Students may attend for 1 or 2 weeks and the camp is open to students ranging in age from early elementary students through high school age students.

As part of the final concert on Friday, Orchestra Conductor, Kirk Moss programmed a really cool funk tune called Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (By Josef Zawinul, arranged by Bert Ligon, and published by Latham Music) that includes several open sections for improvisation. Kirk invited me to play on the tune and opened it up for student solos as well. As part of that performance, my son, Matt (in the photo on the right), and violinist Jacob Henderson (in the photo on the left) jumped in on the fun and performed improvised solos on their NS Design Wav violins. The performances was really well-received and the Wavs were perfect for the guys.

Thanks to NS Design for making such great instruments and making performances like this possible for so many!

Peace.
Scott

Midwest Clinic Thoughts - Tuesday

Hi all.
Today, I am the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. It is one of the largest annual gatherings of music educators and music companies. If you are a music educator and have never been to this event, it is really worth the effort to get here at some point.

The string education sessions began this morning with a nice breakfast gathering that was sponsored by the Kjos Publishing Company. It was a really nice event and I had the opportunity to reconnect with many friends from around the country. I was particularly pleased to reconnect with Marvin Rabin, one of the true pioneers in the string ed field. He paved the way for so many of us that are making our careers in public school string education and at age 93, is really getting around well. I had the chance to thank him for the impact he has had on my career. For those of you that are familiar with some of my web-teaching, he planted the seeds for many of the concepts that I teach using finger patterns. (major scales and upper positions) My students at NCSSM can see these concepts put to use on the NCSSM Orchestra page. Those of you elsewhere in the world can see these soon on the D'Addario site: www.thelessonroom.com. I believe that they will be posted very soon.

I also had the opportunity to see Mark O'Connor present a session on his new O'Connor Violin Method. It is available exclusively through Shar Music. I think that he has hit on something really effective here and applaud his efforts to be innovative in the traditional world of string education. There were several performances by students that have studied with Mark in various capacities over the years and they were all fantastic. I am going to check this method out very closely and try it out with my own sons.

Tomorrow, I will be giving a session with Doris Gazda, Matt Turner, Sean O'Laughlin, and Larry Clark. This session is sponsored by Carl Fischer Music and, as always, D'Addario Strings is supporting me in this session. This session is called "Teaching the Nitty Gritty: Who Has Time for Anything More?" and will cover a variety of topics related to technique, literature and enrichment to traditional skills in the string classroom. I think that this will be a lively panel discussion and look forward to sharing this platform with my friends.

Meanwhile, I have just enjoyed a lunch in my room while jotting down this post. Time to head back over to the conference to get more new ideas! More later...

Peace.
Scott

ASTA in Atlanta

On March 18-22, The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) held their annual National Conference in Atlanta. I was pleased to attend the conference and present several educational sessions to both teachers and students that were involved with the conference and the National Orchestra Festival. I am happy to report that NS Design had a strong presence at the event and folks from all over the country are now aware of the Wav Violin and the buzz around the product is very strong!

First, The Electric Violin Shop (www.electricviolinshop.com) had a booth that was prominently positioned right at the entrance to the exhibit hall for the conference. Every attendee had to walk right by their booth to enter the exhibits. They had the Wav, in all three colors, displayed front and center and everyone from students to teachers could try the instruments on fantastic amps and with cool effects processing. Additionally, all that checked out the instrument in the booth could register for a raffle at the end of the show where one person would receive a free wav. I know that generated a great deal of interest as well.

One of my sessions was entitled "Effective Effects." In this session, I really give a mini science lesson and discuss exactly what various common effects do and how the parameters work. I broke down the function of EQ, reverb, time based effects (chorus, flanger, and delay), filter effects (phase shifting, wah wah), distortion, and pitch shifters. The session was really well attended and I received super-positive feedback from many that attended. Throughout the session, I demonstrated all of the effects with my Wav violin. The instrument sounded fantastic and many remarked about it afterwards. Folks were amazed at the fantastic look as well as the economical price. All feedback was extremely positive. You can see more information on the effects processing seminar at www.electricstringed.com.

All in all, it was a fantastic conference and the Wav received some fantastic publicity. The instrument certainly speaks for itself. I couldn't be happier with the results and the response from the conference.

Peace,

Scott

NS Design Blog

Hi all -
I will be posting, from time to time, on the NS Design Electric Violin page. I will post links here when I do. Note that I have also added the NS Design Blog to my Blog List on this page.
Today's post deals with a performance that I am doing this weekend at the Durham Performing Arts Center using NS Design electric violins.
Peace.
Scott

Lists

I like lists.

They are clean and clear. They give us a plan of action. They are organized. To me, they make sense. I often say that I live my life in outline form. I constantly make "to do" lists, prioritize my day and actions, develop short and long range goals for my day, for my rehearsals, for my classes. Maybe it is a blessing. Maybe it is a curse. I am not sure. Regardless, lists seem to make the world a bit more clear for me.

If you have been reading my blog for any time, you will note that one of my first entries was with regard to a list of suggestions for becoming a "positive deviant" from the book, Better, A Surgeon's Notes on Performance. More recently, I posted a list of the eight norms of the Net Generation from Grown Up Digital. I even posted a list of things for my students to consider when auditioning for an honors orchestra event.

I was traveling over the past weekend and had a chance to finish up reading Grown up Digital and was struck by another list that I would like to share with you. This list, by Don Tapscott is called "The School 2.0 - Seven Tips for Educators. I will give you the list and briefly remark on each of his points. They are strategies that are designed to help teachers to improve their work in this new digital age.

The List:
Don't throw technology into the classroom and hope for good things. How many times have se see this? Thousand of dollars are spent on technology and we give it a try in the traditional classroom, only to be frustrated and compelled to go back to the old way of doing things. We have to be willing to change the pedagogy. I am seeing this in my Audio Recording and Digital Music Production courses this year. We have so many new sources of information and unlimited opportunities for discovery based learning at NCSSM. I need to force myself out of the old mold of teacher-lecturer and into a new era of student-focused, customized environment. It is for that reason exactly that I am moving these courses into a direction of discovery based learning. Class will be more like a lab next year. kids can get the information from textbooks, Youtube, my online content, Powerpoints, etc. They will even take exams online. The real meat of the class will be the discovery that occurs during class time. I am still working out the details, but am excited for the potential results.

Cut back on lecturing
Simple enough. Let's discuss stuff. Let's DO stuff. I plan to set up class in more of a round-table fashion. As stated earlier, class needs to look more like a lab. I have always started my courses with the statement, "I don't have all of the answers." Now, I am going to put my money where my mouth is.

Empower the students to collaborate
Again, class needs to look like lab. Students can work together and bring their individual experiences and talents to the table. It is not that hard to do.

Focus on lifelong learning and not teaching to the test
I think that this has been a strength of mine over the years. I am an inquisitive guy and like to know how things work. I encourage my students to do the same. As a music teacher at the NC School of Science and Math, I know that most of my students aren't looking to become music majors. They want their lives to be enriched. I'll bet your students do, too!

Use technology to get to know your students
Kids are themselves online. It is their environment. By devoloping online opportunities for collaboration, such as Wikis, Ning sites, and other collaborative online opportunities, kids will feel like you are you are part of their world.

Design educational programs according to the Eight Norms
See my previous post on the Eight Norms

Reinvent yourself as a teacher, professor, or educator.
I am in the midst of this process right now. It is an exciting time in education and I look forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead. This afternoon, I will be filming some music theory lessons for my guitar and Piano courses. They will be online and available 24 hours a day. Yes, I am reinventing myself even today!

I hope that this was enlightening in some way for you. I love my lists!! This one, like many others, sheds some light on the task at hand for all educators today. One step at a time. We will all get there and find new and meaningful ways to connect with and inspire the students of the Net Generation.

Peace.
Scott