OrchEstraCada

The cadences are a custom-designed series of orchestral exercises. Designed as they are for our community, they make several assumptions:

1. The orchestra has some experienced players and some new beginners
2. New beginners need parts tailored to their instruments.
3. Brass, woodwind, percussion and piano players will have some band or private lesson experience prior to or in addition to orchestra.
4. Even experienced players should have relatively easy parts for warm-ups, so they can focus on proper technique and drill new skills one at a time.
5. Beginners should practice at least 2 hours per week outside of class.
6. An experienced player should be available to each beginner for a few minutes of each rehearsal to check on his or her understanding and technique.

Beginning with Cadence One, each cadence gradually introduces new skills in bowing, music-reading, fingering, etc. in the Violin II part. By the time a beginner has worked through a year's worth of cadences, he or she will be able to play the violin I, cello, viola, or double bass parts of those same Cadences, which continue to reinforce new skills. Percussion, woodwind and brass parts are similarly designed to prepare students for more advanced pieces played by the intermediate orchestra.

TAP stands for Theory, Application and Practice (or Posture). Each TAP sheet introduces and reinforces the theory needed by orchestra members, gives an opportunity to demonstrate the new learning through written or played response, and teaches important concepts about practicing and posture. Pages are tailored to specific instruments but designed so that the entire orchestra can work on the same sheet at the same time (played responses are played together). Sheets can be turned in to the director as a means of checking comprehension, or sent home as a tool for communication with parents. Find TAP sheets to download here.