String-on! is GIYO’s fifth-grade outreach program that introduces students to instrumental music through week-long intensives hosted by area elementary schools. The program focuses on learning to play classical music on an orchestra string, typically a violin. Musical science concepts, such as sound velocity, vibration, pitch, wave, frequency, the Doppler Effect, amplitude and sound pressure, are taught as part of this ears-on and hands-on experience. By exposing children to musical concepts and giving them the opportunity to create music themselves, the hope is they will engage in orchestra or band at the middle school level.
GIYO General Manager Suzanne Morrison notes, “Many of our current orchestra students first connected with us through String-on! After the pandemic, it is exciting to be back in the elementary schools and see the students get excited about playing music.”
Veralynn Lee, is an example of the impact String-on! can make. After participating in String-on! in elementary school, she is currently in Symphonette and plays in her middle school orchestra. Later this year she plans to audition for Philharmonia.
As Veralynn says, “String On! taught me many important things. It taught me to practice and to try hard. It was my first time practicing with other people. It taught me to listen carefully, count and play with a group. It was great! I like how it made me think and be more confident when playing. String On! played a very important part in my life, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.”
