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String Pedagogy Handouts and Reflections
Here are some of my handouts, reflections, and strategies on teaching strings. This page is a constant work-in-progress, so check back for later additions.
ASTA 2024 | A Paradigm Shift: Starting Position Work in Fourth Position
presentation (.pdf) | Handout (.pdf) Cellists have long recognized 4th position as an ideal starting point for position work–not so for upper strings. Despite this, 4th position provides a myriad of benefits for the other instruments as well. For example, 4th position provides all students with a physical checkpoint (the bout or block) for navigating the fingerboard and provides numerous indicators for success with the use of open strings and first- and third/fourth-finger harmonics. For the upper strings, 4th position provides students access to pitches in almost every two-octave scale through the use of well-established finger patterns (1-23-4, 12-3-4). For basses, it provides an ideal introduction to the pivot technique. Considering these advantages, could initial shifting instruction for string orchestras begin in 4th position? In this presentation, we offer the theory, pedagogy, and instructional materials to support this proposition. Participants will (1) become conversant on teaching 4th position as an alternative to beginning in 3rd position in a heterogeneous string class, (2) learn about how to connect 4th position instruction to that of 3rd position in a curriculum, and (3) learn how to introduce bass students to the pivot between 4th and 5th position. TODA 2022: Developing a Unified Sound - Williams, Placeres, & Dakon (.pdf)
A guide to practical solutions for real-world tuning challenges in your full orchestra After the Method Book: Sequencing Intermediate Bow-Hand Development (.pdf)
Drawing from the work of Paul Rolland and the ASTA Curriculum, Dr. Dakon explores a sequence of instruction for right-hand bow development that is suitable for string students in their 3rd and 4th year of classroom study. Come learn about portato, spiccato, sautille, and many more. Right-Hand Curricular Sequence-Year 1 & 2 (.pdf)
Adapted from the ASTA's 2011 String Curriculum, my thoughts and experiences regarding the development of right-hand flexibility in a classroom setting. Pre-Bowing Exercises
From Dakon, J. M. (2014). Exploring pre-bowing exercises: The search for a definition and its application. American String Teacher, 64(1),34-37. Finger Patterns
What are finger patterns? Here I also consider why we teach them, how we sequence them, and how we teach them. Forgetting Right-Hand Flexibility? (Presentation at OMEA 2020.pdf)
Discusses strategies for developing right-hand wrist and finger flexibility in 2nd- or 3rd-year string students. |