Orchestra is AWESOME!

What a busy summer!  I taught a bunch of private lessons, started my Master's degree, and my husband and I took a trip to Europe.  It's almost slower now that we're back to school!

The beginning of the year is kind of a big deal for us in our district.  We do fall recruiting, so now is the time to get kids excited about (and signed up for) orchestra.  I'm really thankful to have good numbers in all my schools and also really thankful that I went from having 4 schools last year to 3 this year.  Everything seems a lot less crazy!

Recruiting 4th graders (beginners in my district) is one of my favorite things.  I love to play the instruments for them and see their excitement when they get to play the instruments themselves for the first time.  This year, my theme is movie music.  I've actually used it for a couple of years now and it seems to work well.  Here's what I'm playing on each instrument:

Violin-theme from Star Wars
Viola-Let it Go from Frozen
Cello-Everything is Awesome from the Lego Movie (Keep reading for more on Everything is Awesome!)
Bass-Theme from Jaws (naturally)

I'll admit that I try to stack the deck a little bit so I don't end up with a violin-only orchestra.  Picking popular tunes to play on the viola and cello seems to get kids a little more excited about playing those instruments.  For some reason, I never have a shortage of bass players. (Until they get to 5th grade, at least... if you have the secret for keeping bass players, please share!)

After they hear the demonstration, the kids get to play the instruments!  I know some people get worried about letting the kids play without proper form, but there is nothing in the world like getting to hold and play an instrument.  These kids get so excited to saw away and I love to see their enthusiasm.

Now back to "Everything is Awesome."  I never saw the Lego Movie, but one of my colleagues is really fired up about the song.  I Youtubed it yesterday and it is such a catch tune!  It's been stuck in my head for a day and a half!  In case you haven't seen it, here's the clip.  Watch at your own risk!

This particular colleague used the tune in her recruiting, changing the words to "Orchestra is Awesome," and I really liked that.  Maybe that can be our theme for the year!

 A Lego orchestra!  How awesome is that!?

How do you recruit?  What could I try to make my recruiting even better?  And, most importantly, what do I do to keep my bass players between 4th and 5th grade?

And if you're a public school strings teacher, (or I guess anybody, for that matter) have a great year!