String Orchestra Music - 2025-2026
String Orchestra Music - 2025-2026
Welcome Orchestra Directors
COMPOSERS OF NEW STRING ORCHESTRA MUSIC
Tyler Arcari
Matt Arnett
Peter Blair
Jay Coles
Susan H. Day
Aaron Fryklund
Emily Golan
David Hinds
Deborah Baker Monday
Dión Morales
Caryn Wiegand Neidhold
Steve Parsons
John M. Pasternak
Steven L. Rosenhaus
Peter Sciaino
Doug Spata
Grade Level Guide: Make a Musical Match
Ranging in difficulty from beginning to advanced, our String Orchestra music is meticulously edited and follows a strict six-part grading system, reflected in our color-coded series.
Grade ½
- Playable by first year students with limited study
- Uses only the first six notes of the D Major Scale
- Moderate tempo and 4/4 time signatures
- All sections have an opportunity to play the melody
Grade 1
- Playable by 1st year groups
- Keys of D and G; first position (Bass 3rd position); careful writing of low 2 for Violins and Violas while avoiding high 3
- Introducing 2/4 and 3/4 time signatures with whole, half, quarter and eighth note patterns with no syncopation
- Detache, pizzicato, staccato, legato and marcato bowings to expand your students' technique with the right hand
Grade 1½
- Playable by 2nd year musicians
- Incorporates dotted quarter-notes and simple syncopated rhythms
- Expanded right hand technique of 2-note slurs, hooked bows and adjacent string crossings
- Open string double stops
Grades 2 to 2½
- Playable by 2nd and 3rd year groups
- Introducing 6/8 time signatures
- New key signatures including C, A, F and Bb
- New positions for Violin, Cello and Bass
- More complex rhythms and fingered double stops
Grades 3 to 3½
- Playable by advanced middle school and high school musicians
- Exploring higher positions for all strings
- Expanded literature for advancing programs
Grades 4 & Up
- Playable by high school musicians
- First Violins explore 5th position while second Violins and Violas move through 3rd position
- Cellos expand to 4th position while the Bass section works through 5th position