Second-grade string students at Ranney School (an independent Age 3-Grade 12 school in Tinton Falls, NJ) learn to properly hold and identify the parts of their instruments, execute pizzicato articulation on all strings, read and decode music notation, and perform, with accompaniment, several songs from our method book – this is just after two practices! In third grade, our orchestra students practice playing Arco, on D and A strings, using a “high second finger” pattern for the keys of G and D. Since the beginning of the year, the classes have been working on basics – properly removing their instruments from their cases, learning the parts of the instrument, posture, holding of the instrument, placing fingers on the fingerboards, holding the bow and more. Step by step, they arrived at the stage where now they can actually play!