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Tangerine Blue and Strawberry Ice: Blues Rock Originals for Beginning String Orchestra
Tangerine Blue and Strawberry Ice: Blues Rock Originals for Beginning String Orchestra
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Roll over, Robert Johnson. The blues has come to a new kind of crossroads. Specially arranged for new students of violin, viola, and cello, "Tangerine Blue" is an ideal introduction to the pentatonic scales ans sycopated rhythms of the blues. Rock out with the 16-bar minor blues tune "Strawberry Ice," featuring the driving rhythms and syncopation found in rock classics from the '50s and '60s.
By Renata Bratt.
Published by String Letter Publishing
$36.95
Sheet Music
ABOUT THE MUSIC (Excerpted from the Performance Notes)
Of the two pieces in this folio, “Tangerine Blue” is the easier piece for beginning strings. “I used the A minor pentatonic scale, a bluesy scale used in rock, gospel, and jazz. This music features riffs—short rhythmic melody patterns often heard in popular music styles,” says Renata Bratt.
The first four measures introduce the basic one-measure riff. All players will eventually play some version of this riff. In rock, rhythm is paramount. I have arranged this piece so that everyone will have that rhythmic riff in their ear as well as in their fingers.
For the A minor pentatonic scale, make sure that the violinists and violists are using a low second finger on the A string. Cellists use their second finger too. Before playing “Tangerine Blue,” warm up with an A pentatonic scale: A C D E G A and back again. Try one measure per note, use different rhythms each time. I use various rock rhythms from the piece.
Click here to listen to a sample of "Tangerine Blue."
"Strawberry Ice” is a 16-bar minor blues tune. The 16-bar blues is a very common harmonic pattern used in songs from George Gershwin’s classic jazz tune “Summertime” to “Black Magic Woman,” made famous by Carlos Santana. The melody in “Strawberry Ice” is rock oriented, using the driving rhythms and syncopation found in rock classics from the ’50s and ’60s. “Strawberry Ice” helps teach minor scales, different types of bow strokes (marcato, legato, and sul ponticello), and good ensemble skills.
Each instrument has a chance to play the melody, or part of the melody. There are always at least two instrument groups playing the tune. It is important to notice when you are playing the tune and when you are accompanying. Play softer when accompanying (can you hear the melody?) and louder when playing the tune.
Click here to listen to a sample of "Strawberry Ice."
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Renata Bratt is a founding member of the ASTA Alternative String Styles Advisory Committee. She teaches cello and beginning string orchestra in Santa Cruz, California. She received her Ph.D. in Music from the University of California at San Diego and is a former president of the Suzuki Music Association of California. She has taught classical styles, jazz improvisation, and fiddling at national string workshops for children and adults including the Mark O’Connor String Conference, Alasdair Fraser’s camps, New Directions Cello Festival, the National Cello Institute, ASTA, MENC, and Suzuki institutes.
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