“Our Cellist”
May 17, 2017
Nancy Stetson is a journalist with Florida Weekly who has been learning how to play the cello along with our MusicWorks Students. You can read an incredible article about her experience, and gain a first person perspective on what it’s like to be a MusicWorks! student below
While MusicWorks! will be expanding to a full orchestra program next year, the students are currently learning about a variety of string instruments. They also learn to sing as a chorus a few times a week, which enhances their musical perception and sightreading skills
The other Thursday, Miss Brenda, the voice teacher, created a game to help teach the students how to take a deep breath before singing, so they can hold out a note for two measures. She handed out balloons, which the kids loved, and then had them come up to the front of the room, two by two, and try to blow up their balloon with just one breath. It was challenging. The long balloons proved to be the most difficult of all. It was a clever way to teach the kids what kind of “deep breath” they needed to take while singing, so they’d be able to hold a note for eight beats.