Philosophy Considerations
String education is evolving through exciting times. It has a new focus soaring beyond established Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and early 20th century classical music. The 1997 American String Teachers Association (ASTA) research studies found that string education is primarily found in metropolitan suburbs. Most notable is the general absence of string education programs in urban and rural America.1 In the 1950s, with the advent of jazz education in public schools, band curriculums expanded considerably beyond marching and concert bands to include jazz ensembles, combos, improvisation-oriented music theory classes, and more. Fortunately, public school string education is now beginning to catch up as well and add exciting jazz options beyond traditional string literature. Jazz string educators can now benefit from hundreds of published charts for full orchestra and contemporary string quartets, with or without a rhythm section. Popular repertoire includes charts from the Turtle Island String Quartet and others in jazz, Latin, and rock styles. And the best news yet is that string students are jumping with excitement at the opportunity to perform this new music and use their own solid improvisation skills.
How To Modernize The Traditional String Curriculum
How can you jump start your traditional string curriculum? One suggestion is to modernize it by using electric instruments, pickups, MIDI synthesizers, and published charts that either "swing" or "rock." In addition, an important answer lies in how popular music is taught. Authentic, idiomatic treatment of correct style is the foundation of jazz education. Listening to live performances and recordings for common performance practices can be very revealing and cannot be stressed enough. Duke Ellington was right, if it doesn't swing, it doesn't mean a thing. Fortunately, there are numerous professional string ensembles, including the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Modern String Quartet, the RESQ String Quartet, and the Up Town String Trio, whose concerts, charts, and recordings are readily available for studying and emulating. Once students have successfully observed proper idiomatic style, their own performance experiences will have more relevancy. Having your students listen to jazz string legends such as Stephane Grappelli, Eddie South, and Joe Venuti as well as contemporary performers such as Darol Anger and Mark O'Connor will provide the most positive teaching environment. For a startup recommended string discography, you can go to: the Kuzmich String Discography.
Initial Step: Published Contemporary Music Charts
I've posted more than 200 published charts on my web site. On the list, David Baker has about 40 charts that are perfect for middle and high school string students in a basic string quintet format (two violins, one viola, cello, and string bass) with a three-piece rhythm section. Latham Music has almost as many charts for various string instrumentations. Professional libraries are readily available from the Turtle Island String Quartet with about 10 charts published by Shar Music. Eleven charts by the RESQ String Quartet from E & R Printers are also very exciting to listen to and perform. I like how RESQ uses the cellist as a bass player. The Modern String Quartet has its charts published by Schott International.
Bert Ligon from the University of South Carolina is without a doubt the "hottest" contemporary string composer around with more than 60 original charts. (The IAJE String Caucus performance of his music at the recent IAJE Conference in New York was second to none.) In fact, the hour-long concert by the 30-piece orchestra and rhythm section was so good, I called my wife on a cellular phone so she could hear the entire concert "live."
Don Palmer of Synthe-Strings offers 27 charts with flexible instrumentation including string quartets plus rhythm sections up to a full string orchestra with 28 parts. MMB Music has four original jazz string orchestra charts with rhythm section by Randy Sabien and John Radd. August Watters of the Berklee College of Music has 15 assorted charts available for string quartets and string orchestras and has more coming. This summer he will have a web site with descriptions of all his charts and sound bites. Julie Lyonn Liebermann offers some nice string charts as well. If you are looking for jazz band charts with strings, you will want to write to Mr. Curtis Bradshaw at the Don Ellis Memorial Library at Eastfield College (3737 Motley Drive, Mesquite, TX 75150 USA).
With such a wide range of material available and in many cases with companion published CD recordings as well, string educators have unparalled opportunities to incorporate popular music in an authentic manner.
Improvisational Options
Help is here for teaching improvisation. Among many possible sources, most of the nearly 1,000 jazz instructional materials reviewed since 1975 in the "Survey of New Teaching Materials" column in this journal contain appropriate information that can be used by string players. One valuable aid, play-along recordings, is especially applicable. The Jamey Aebersold collection now includes nearly 100 play-alongs and is easy to incorporate because it includes parts for treble and bass clef instruments. In addition, many annual workshops offer the basics of working with a rhythm section, contemporary string techniques, and improvisation pedagogy. A good URL for string workshops can be found at my web site.
Amplification
If you have the opportunity to borrow equipment, do so. You can borrow amplifiers from students, the band inventory, or from a music store to audition before purchasing. A string quartet setting is preferred for initial amplification experiments. You can double up parts if you have sufficient amplifiers. Normally, the maximum number of instruments plugged into an amplifier would be two. String pickups are the least expensive way to amplify an acoustic string instrument. Among manufacturers, Barcus-Berry offers inexpensive pickups. Alternately, I really like Fishman pickups, especially when used with the Fishman pre-amp which offers maximum clarity in sound quality. Over the years, the Grammy orchestra has used Fishman electric string pickups almost exclusively. Barbera Transducer pickups are yet another good choice for professional level string pickups. When purchasing electronic string pickups, be aware that they don't all fit securely. Moreover, expensive pickups may or may not fit better than inexpensive ones. Fishman pickups have a particular sturdy fit on acoustic string instruments.
The magic of electric string instruments is that they sound awesome, look modern, and bring a high degree of ownership to string players. Electronics today are clear and clean to use. Pricing can be more reasonable than you might imagine. Consider that Yamaha Silent String instruments (which include reverb controls for additional sound enhancements) begin at $825 (violin), $2,575 (cello), and $3,995 (bass). Educational prices are considerably lower.
For a creative electric instrument that is unlike any other on the market, check out Wood Violins. Wood offers three different product lines including the only electronic violins and customized violas with a fretted or non-fretted option. The frets provide several important features. First, with frets, the clarity of pitch and intonation is improved. Second, violinists can explore chordal concepts with ease and broaden their musical vision. Third, frets help visualize the "framework" of the "musical fingerboard" which also supports improvisational techniques. It is also conceivable that talented guitarists can be recruited to play fretted electronic violins, especially if they are already into digital/audio special effects processors and improvisation. A recent issue of Music USA reported that $53 million was spent on bowed string instruments and $812 million was spent on fretted string instruments in the United States in 2000. Imagine the market for potential electric violinists! Wood Violins even has options for four, five, six, and seven strings on a violin. The six and seven-string models allow access to the entire range of bass, cello, viola, and violin--all in one instrument. Guitarists find this exciting as well because the tuning can be altered to standard guitar usage. With enough similarities to their instrument, guitarists are comfortable experimenting with the violin's bow and exploring the beauty of the sound of the violin. 
Other important developments include Wood Violins' breakthrough Viper violin design which features a patented self-supporting system, thereby making a shoulder pad and chin rest obsolete. Wood Violins' entry-level electronic violin pricing begins at $795. You can listen to an audio streaming example of these instruments on the Internet at the Mark Wood website. For a complete listing of electric stringed instruments, you can go to Bowed Electricity where there are direct "hot" links to most manufacturers. MIDI Synthesis for String Instruments
MIDI synthesis with Synthony II MIDI controller/synthesizer for string instruments is an exclusive copyright of Zeta Music. Any and all MIDI string instruments that are manufactured contain Zeta component MIDI parts because of their exclusive proprietary hardware copyright. Zeta Music produces a complete family of MIDI string instruments from violin to upright bass. There are several product lines and numerous models to choose from. Zeta MIDI string synthesis gives you the opportunity to explore more than 480 XG type individual sounds with a rack-mounted Synthony II synthesizer module. This goes far beyond the 128 General MIDI sounds. I love the opportunity to use MIDI string instruments with software applications such as notation, sequencing, ear-training, and written theory in place of a MIDI keyboard. MIDI string instruments now have improved tracking for working accurately with computer software applications. It is amazing to record programs like Sibelius notation software with a MIDI instrument and see how accurately and instantly the performance is notated both in pitch and rhythms. Not everybody has piano "chops" but now every string player armed with a MIDI instrument can accurately input musical data in MIDI software applications. It is amazing to prepare multi-part arrangements quickly, easily, and accurately with MIDI synthesis with Sibelius.
Zeta makes three different series of MIDI string instruments including Educator, Performer, and Signature. Within each series, there are many options of models to choose from including four or five strings. The Performer series is specifically designed to be the premier MIDI string instruments on the market with no less than 10 different models available. For example, their Strados and Jazz models work particularly well with polyphonic MIDI synthesis. The Educator series is inspiring, and surprisingly inexpensive, with monophonic MIDI capabilities at a price that is modest for students. It utilizes the Zeta instruments' MIDI capabilities with computer software. It can be a tool for silent practice and an auxiliary input to play along with pre-recorded tapes or CDs. It also expands artistic creativity by using digital-electronic effects processors. Limited offers in the Attic section of Zeta Music's web page for selected Educator Classic violins start at only $799. All things considered, this is a revolutionary pricing breakthrough for a MIDI capable electric string instrument. No other electric string instrument on the market can match it. Thus, this electric string series is a "best-buy" for school budgets and curriculum use. Zeta's Signature series is designed by prominent professional electric string performers with many customized options. Prestigious artists represented in this series who have designed their own MIDI instruments include Jean Luc Ponty, Daniel Kobialka, Charlie Daniels, Boyd Tinsely, Mark O'Connor, and Scott Joss. Other companies that use Zeta MIDI component parts for MIDI synthesis include Jensen Strings and Tucker-Barrett. For more information visit Zeta Music. Special Effect Processors with Electrified Strings
My favorite tools in the evolution of modernizing strings are the special effect processing units similar to the wide variety of guitar pedals. These nifty devices put at the string players' "toe-tips" such creative options as noise generators, phrase-looping harmonizers, straight EQ, octave down, warp fifths, phase delay, wailing lead, shimmer, phase comp, reverb pool, Quasars, and much more. To watch someone use a multiple track, foot-operated Boomerang Phrase Sampler and compose a sophisticated composition on-the-fly is amazing. A string player can captivate anybody with a quick demonstration of the "Mission Impossible" television show theme by recording the composition sound-on-sound with different instrument sonorities on each track. The Boomerang can record up to two minutes of continuous looping with almost an unlimited number of tracks. At a recent double-violin recital at the University of North Texas, my daughter, Reva, recorded the acoustic guitar track with the Boomerang via an electrical pickup connected to an amplifier, and her friend sang a vocal lead. Then they took turns improvising on violin over the guitar tracks. Imagine all this on a formal college violin recital. Special effect processors can open up new and innovative doors of improvisation and composing. And MIDI string instruments can match what analog special effects processing units can do with even more creative musical applications. For a quick introduction to the rainbow of musical applications special effect processing units can add to string performances and some excellent examples of electric violin sound bites "live" on-line, go to mer-ka-ba.com.
You don't have to buy a lot of equipment, just understand the kinds of equipment that can be used together for great applications. Entry-level equipment would include the Zoom GFX707 and Korg PX3. Intermediate-level equipment would be the Boss GT3, Boss GT5, Digitech RP7, or Digitech RP 14. And advanced includes the Boss VF1, Digitech GSP2120, and Eventide Orville.
In Closing
Today's string programs should always have a classical program at the center of their curriculum. Yet programs ought to include as well ample opportunities for students to perform music in a myriad of contemporary styles and performance settings from Blues to jazz, rock, and Latin. Improvisation instruction and experiences should definitely not be limited to just a few students. In fact all nine of the MENC National Teaching Standards can be very effectively taught through contemporary music experiences. String students and their teachers are getting excited about the possibilities opening up to them. It is now very possible to modernize and energize string education. I hope you'll join the exciting, innovative string revolution.