From left: Bailee Rominger, Leticia Francisco-Pascual, Brianna Keys, and Johanna Hill Ortez.
Four students at Ottumwa High School have something in common - their love of music and desire to learn to play an instrument.
Four girls are taking “String Class for the Novice Player,” offered for a semester. In its first year, the class was created by the urging of long-time orchestra instructor, Patty Babb, who retired last year. After a semester, students should be proficient enough to enroll in Symphony Orchestra, Early Bird String, and/or Chamber Music. Students in this class must have less than two years of playing experience.
The girls have various music backgrounds. One has never played an instrument before. One played for half a year as a fifth grader and started again in eighth grade. One is a Spanish-speaker who moved to Ottumwa in May. A senior, she wants to learn the cello. One played trumpet for four years and wanted to try a different instrument. Two are learning cello, one the viola and one the violin.
All four agreed the class was fun but challenging. For Leticia Francisco-Pascual, four years of playing trumpet did not mean an easy transition to playing the viola. She had to learn to read the alto clef. Bailee Rominger had to relearn some things after developing some bad habits early on. Brianna Keys has a love of classical music but had to learn to manage her time between school, her job, and practicing the cello at least three times a week.
What does the future hold for these students? All four plan to continue playing their string instruments beyond high school. Johanna Hill Ortez plans to return to her native Paraguay after graduation to continue her music education in hopes of becoming a music teacher. The others are impacting younger siblings to be involved in school music programs.
The small group setting makes learning a new instrument easier and less intimidating. Orchestra instructor, Kayla Scholl, said the rapid improvement they make is due to having class every day for 45 minutes. The students are already finishing lesson book one and will complete book two by semester. In comparison, fifth graders have only one lesson every six cycle days and orchestra practice once a week--80 minutes compared to 225 minutes. And these students practice at least three times a week outside of school for at least 20 minutes. “More practice makes you better and better,” said Rominger.
Beginning students are not required to take this course. Students can join orchestra and learn to play. But according to Scholl, most drop out because they are so far behind and it becomes frustrating. “This class is teaching the basics,” she said. “Orchestra will still be hard but it will be doable.”
“It’s hard but if you commit to do it, it will make you want to get better,” said Keys.
