Junior Band & String Orchestra

Junior Band and String Orchestra are the ensembles that children join once they have finished Band On The Run/Strings Attached and have continued to have instrument lessons. The rationale behind them is to give children an opportunity to play their instrument as part of a group before they are ready to join orchestra. When children are only playing their instrument by themselves, they can lose motivation, so this is designed to avoid this happening. Children in Junior Band and String Orchestra are pre-grade 1 but still have the chance to make music as a group which they thoroughly enjoy.

In these ensembles, children focus on listening skills and how to listen to the other players to ensure they are in time with them. They learn the basics of how to be counted in, follow a conductor and wait for other players in rests. We also consider pitch and how to stay in tune as a group. They also begin to understand the different keys that instruments play in and how this alters the music.