Viola Repertoire - Bach's Minuet

Bach's Minuet

Meet Helen Dromey! An experienced Violin and Viola teacher, Helen leads the ESTA PG Cert in Teaching, and is Principal Teaching Fellow at the University of Southampton.  In this resource Helen shares some ideas about teaching the Minuet No. 3 from our Grade 2 syllabus.

I would begin by playing the first phrase, checking whether pupils are able to feel the three beats in a bar. You might play the first half of the piece, asking them to clap, conduct or make up a sequence of three movements to show the beat, depending on what pupils feel most comfortable doing. This would lead to scale work, playing C major—three bows for each degree of the scale—then an improvisation activity, using the bow pattern “down-up-up” to create some short phrases based on the same scale degrees. Once the key and three-time feels established and comfortable, I would teach the either first phrase or first section of the ‘Minuet’, guided by pupils’ ability.

Helen shares some of her lesson ideas and activities to help pupils to develop their performance of this piece by Bach. Download her ideas to use in your teaching.

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