Five pieces for beginner violin or string group, with extra parts for their teacher to play as an inspiring extra part which enhances enjoyment of playing together in harmony.

What You Get With This Download
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PDF scores:
* Score for violin trio
* Full score which includes basic violin, easy violin, advanced violin, basic viola, easy viola, basic cello, easy cello, basic double bass and easy double bass
* Individual instrument parts

Recordings:
* The demo recordings as heard above. In these I play the pieces through three times each (except 'Golden Crowned Sparrows' which is slightly different) – once with the basic violin and easy violin parts, then once with the advanced violin joining in, and one more time with all the viola, cello and bass parts.
* Practise recordings – these are to help with listening and learning, and have each of the harmony parts turned up loud in the mix.

MIDI files:
* A full midi file for each piece.

Kachemak Preludes
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These pieces were written for a beginner violin group (called 'Preludes') at Paul Banks Elementary School, Homer, Alaska. The titles – and the music they inspired – were chosen to reflect the local area and nature, and one piece is even named after the school mascot – the peanut.

The students at the school all start on violin, and then after some time learning this instrument, they may also start playing other stringed instruments. These pieces are flexible and extendible – they are written for violin trio, but also have extra parts for viola, cello and double bass that can be added too.

Each piece has a basic violin melody, as well as a very easy absolute beginner part (open strings only, or in the case of one piece, open strings and first finger), and also a more advanced violin part that fits over the top, for a teacher or more advanced players to play.

The extra parts for viola, cello and bass also come in two levels of difficulty that correspond to the violin parts (one just uses open strings, the other is around the same level as the basic violin melodies.)

The basic melodies all have some form of limitation to make them easier to learn and remember – e.g. some pieces only use open strings and 2nd and 3rd fingers, some only open strings, 1st and 3rd fingers.

They are composed so that even the newest players can join in with a piece of music – using the open strings part. I think that it is a good experience for very new players to join in with better players in a harmony piece. Playing together in harmony means that they can be contributing to the sound, and adding an extra part, thus feeling part of something, while hopefully also being inspired by those who have been playing for longer.

It is my hope that in this situation, even playing a basic open strings part feels like joining in with real music – not just a mechanical exercise – and that this experience can happen very early on in a player's musical education. The extra “advanced violin” parts over the top should extend this idea further, and give those playing the basic melody a bit of inspiration too.

It also introduces the idea that playing music is usually a collaborative experience, and should get new players used to playing one part while others might be playing something else – more listening skills.

There is also a companion set of string quartet pieces based on extensions of these simple melodies:
georgianettleton.bandcamp.com/album/kachemak-quartets


Notes on Individual Pieces – Violin Melodies
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Moose in the Garden
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This piece uses only fingers 1, 2 and open strings, and the bottom three strings of the violin.

Peanut Dance
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This piece uses only fingers 1, 3 and open strings, and the top three strings of the violin.

A Mountain Sunset
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This piece only uses fingers 1, 3 and open strings. It uses all four strings of the violin.

Where the Salmon Swims
This piece uses only fingers 2, 3 and open strings. It uses all four strings of the violin.

Golden Crowned Sparrows
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This piece is slightly different to the others. It's based on a bird call – the golden crowned sparrow – and the “teacher” part is integral to the piece. It uses a call and response form, with the teacher or advanced player playing the bird call theme in the high octave, which is then echoed by students playing it in the lower octave. This is followed by an extension of the bird call, to form the rest of the piece. The basic melody includes some grace notes, which can be played by students if they find they can do it, but it also works fine without these.

This piece uses fingers 1,2 and 3 and open strings, with the second finger in the 'flat' position on C natural. It uses only the A and D strings of the violin.

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I have a range of harmony arrangements for more advanced players available - see my collection at www.georgianettleton.com/sheet-music.php

You can read more about the Paul Banks Elementary School Preludes group - who commissioned this music - here: www.gofundme.com/2j9uvfr3

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DOWNLOAD INFO
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Bandcamp is primarily a platform for selling recorded music, but allows the inclusion of "extras", so I sell my sheet music this way: the sheet music is an extra file (a pdf) that comes included in the package, and you also get the audio recordings.

How the Download Process Works
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Once you've paid through the Bandcamp checkout, the download arrives immediately via a link in your email, which takes you to a webpage from which you download a .zip file containing recordings and digital sheet music.

You'll need to select the audio format, because the sheet music package also contains audio -- but you will automatically get your pdf files too, so you can pick whichever audio format you like and it won't affect your sheet music files.

You won't be able to view the sheet music files in your browser or within the Bandcamp app -- the zip file needs to be downloaded and opened in order to see and print them.

It's usually a straightforward process, but feel free to contact me if you run into any trouble! There is more information on downloads at www.georgianettleton.com/download-faq.php


PDF-ONLY VERSION
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If you only want the PDF files and the above download process sounds too complex, you can get a pdf-only version which uses a simpler download system at: payhip.com/b/AsGc