This is a one-time class for beginning violin or viola players. Students need to know how to tune their own violin (or have a parent help tune it before class), and how to play all the notes from the D major scale (starting on open D). No reading of written music notation is required in this class.

The main activity of the class will consist of the teacher playing a small pattern and having the students 'echo' it back on their instrument. Patterns will start very simple and easy, and as we build our 'Ear + Brain' power, students will progress to imitating more complicated and surprising patterns. Class will alternate between all students playing (on mute, so our sounds don't mix) and brief individual portions where kids play one by one to check on their progress. We will talk about patterns that appear often in music, like bit of scales or or 'zigzags' between two notes. Towards the end of the class we'll use our skills to figure out and play the song '5 Little Monkeys'.