Observations

First, I would like to say Mr. Owens would be proud of me judging the strings and actually knowing what needed fixed. When I was in high school I always thought that the judges at solo and ensemble were out to get you. I always thought they hated judging solo and ensemble, so you had to work extra hard to impress them. I found just the opposite helping my judge. I found myself rooting for the students to do well, but often they took solos that were too difficult for them or they did not prepare enough. My judge told me before we started that many of the students would take solos that were too hard for them just to say they were in a higher class. I was surprised by some of the parents I saw too. A few of the parents were very involved in motivating their child to do well. I also so very engaged in their students’ performance.
The first student was in class C and she played a Bach piece. I found myself being rather hard on her because I was not sure what qualities went with each class. I would have given her a two because she was having major tuning troubles. She had good transitions from the A to B sections and then back to the A section. The second time that she played through the A section it was much better. The scale that she played was sharp on the way up and then flat going down. The judge gave her a one because she created a good tone and had a good musical understanding. He said overall musicality wins out over everything else.
The second student was in class C and played a Handle piece. They had great technique and a great ear for tuning. There were a few places that the tuning got off, but it they easily got back on. I would have given this student a one and the judge agreed. The scales she played wa...

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...The last student was in class A and they played Concerto by Accolay. I would have given the student a one rating. The student had a good sense of tempo and sense of rhythm. They struggled some with the skipping runs that changed strings. Also, the student had a bow pressure problem when playing the overtones. Overall, it was a great performance.
I learned so much getting to see the other side of solo and ensemble. I really liked that I also got to see the strings because I just finished my strings class last semester. This made me realize that I know more about strings than I thought I did. The major thing that surprised me was the parent’s attitudes towards their student’s performances. Some of the parents were supportive; some were pushy or over bearing but it was interesting to see them in this “stressful” situation. It was a great learning experience.