THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9612310156
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 62 lines
They are pictures of concentration as they move their bows across their violins, squeaking and scratching until a simple song is born.
Give them a couple of months, though, and the tunes will be recognizable.
The students sit in two rows in the John Yeates Middle School band room, eyeing their teacher, Margaret Smith, and the instruments that hug their faces.
``By the end of the school year,'' she said, ``they should be able to play 8 to 12 measures of the theme of a symphony.'' After only a few weeks of practice, they were able to perform ``Jingle Bells'' during Yeates' recent holiday concert.
The 20 budding violinists, third- to eleventh-grade students from Suffolk schools, fiddled and jingled all the way. The class includes only two boys.
``I wanted to start playing an instrument, so I picked the violin,'' said Herman Anderson, a 10-year-old fifth-grader who is a member of Oakland Elementary School's gifted and talented music program. ``Playing the violin is easier than you think.''
Hillary Rapier, a 9-year-old Oakland fourth-grader, offered, ``It's easier than I thought.''
On the other hand, 12-year-old Paula Smith, a Yeates seventh-grader who is of no relation to her teacher, said, ``I play clarinet in the school band. Violin is harder.
Hard? Easy? Kimberly O'Connell, who said she loves ``oldies, Beethoven, Mozart and opera,'' is somewhere in the middle. ``It's hard, but once you know the songs, it's easy.
``Right now, we know ``Jingle Bells,'' ``Mary Had a Little Lamb,'' ``Old McDonald'' and ``Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.''
Hillary said, ``I want to sing and play professionally, and I've always wanted to play a string instrument. Last year, I got a guitar, but I wasn't satisfied with it. When I was 5, I pretended I had an imaginary violin. A stick from a bush was my bow.''
Most of the students rent their instruments.
``I have a lot of different levels,'' Smith said. ``Some hope they can play simple melodies and read music. Some, I think, could eventually play in small ensembles.''
At Yeates, they play from 3:45 to 4:30 every Thursday. At home, they are on their own.
``Practice at home shows motivation,'' Smith said. ``If they pick it up every day, I'm happy. If they practice more than 15 minutes a day, I'm thrilled.''
Kimberly's mother, Linda O'Connell, is thrilled with the program, calling it ``wonderful. Kimberly practices every day on her own. I let her take it from there.''
O'Connell takes quite a school-to-school trip every Thursday.
``I teach at Forest Glen, pick my daughter up at Kilby Shores, then bring her to Yeates,'' she said. ``I usually go to the library and read.''
Many schools in Hampton Roads have similar programs for budding violinists, but the Suffolk class is the only one that is done after regular school hours.
``We'll do it again next school season if the money is forthcoming and if I get support,'' Smith said. ``I need support from school and parents.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by FRANK ROBERTS
Margaret Smith leads a group of 20 budding violinists in an
after-school practice session.