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  Principles
     General
     Teaching in a group

  I.  Holding Positions
     1. Sitting position
     2. Ancient Guitar Position
     3. Left Hand
        a) Placing the hand
        b) Mark and Press
     4. Right Hand
     5. The plectrum

  II.  Playing
       General
    1.Contents of playing
     a) Open string
        b) Open string and 1
        c) Open string + 1 + 2
    2. Music Creativity
       General
        a) Composing
        b) Improvisation
        c) Solo playing
       
  III. Music pieces
      
  IV. Two strings
       General
       The pieces

The New Music Educational Project - My Ancient Guitar • Contents of playing

I. Playing an open string

General: Teaching the fundamentals of playing will last about 3 weeks.
During this time we will try to adhere to the principles of lesson planning, according to which the third part of the lesson is spent playing something together.
This piece will sound good and give the students a certain understanding regarding the potential inherent in playing the instrument.
First take a second look at: “How to teach playing in a group” and learn how to strum an open string.

Suggestions for activities involving playing an open string 1. Dialogue. The teacher or one of the students, tapping the back of the instrument and the other students repeat this, playing an open string [a rhythmic ratio of 1:1] 2. Communication. An improvised piece by the teacher based on a very simple pattern, which the students will play repeatedly, for example:

It is possible to divide the class into two groups and teach each group a different rhythm. The rhythms will interweave as the groups play together. For example, group A can start and play 4 times, then group B plays 4 times, and then both groups will play together 4 times. You can use this example:

A similar structure can be used with the groups playing an open string. Alternatively, group A could tapping the instruments while group B plays an open string. Here we can also combine clapping, finger clicking, etc. The idea is to create a musical pattern that will sound good from the very first try.

More advanced classes can be given a phrase made up of two bars. This will require actually learning the part. We can use such a part more easily if we attach it to the beginning of a song, for example: “A land flowing with milk – milk and honey”.

Note: At this stage we will not write down the rhythm, but only learn it by ear.

3. Question and answer between orchestras (by creating patterns)
We will divide the players into two groups. Group A will perform a pattern of percussion (tapping the backs of their instruments), while group B will play a constant rhythm. Each group may enter at a different point. The teacher should prepare interesting patterns. It is possible to combine playing chords, playback or to simply accompany a matching song.

4. Playing a well-known song on an open string. For example, “ABCD”:

5. Quizzes: It is possible to have musical quizzes where the teacher plays a few sounds from the beginning of a song and the students try to identify the song.
Song categories may include: children’s songs, holiday songs, oriental songs, national songs, etc.
A quiz consists of five songs. The scoring system is as follows: 10 points for an immediate identification and 2 points off for every additional cue – a cue meaning adding an extra sound or two to the melody.
It is possible to form a table for each song category:

6. Playing patterns with Orff instruments
As in section 2, it is possible to add more instruments to the ensemble and give a few students instruments such as a xylophone, a triangle, wooden boxes, castagnetts and different kinds of drums. It is, of course, necessary to prepare each part for playing together. It is recommended to multiply parts so that there will be no more than three voices. A pattern consisting of more than two or three voices may make it difficult for some students to join in.

(Note: Our program does not supply Orff instruments, and it is therefore necessary to ascertain that the school holds them).

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