CORE CURRICULUM

The CORE CURRICULUM covers the years required to master the basics of the instrument, which in the case of a string instrument is reading musical notation, fundamental bowing skills, and playing in the first three positions. Normally, it takes a string student 2-3 years to master the First Position, then another year to learn Third Position.

Admission: Although KMI accepts piano students as young as age 4, we normally DO NOT accept string students until age 7, especially for primary instrument study. A student who has had 2 years of prior private musical instruction (usually piano) will be admitted to the string program as young as age 5. Because of the difficulty of handling a string instrument (fine motor coordination) and the student's inherent reading ability, all string students are strongly encouraged to study piano (2 years) in addition to the string instrument. Studying piano gives the student a far more solid theoretical background and preparation for further musical study.

Primer Level: All string students under age 9 are REQUIRED to study piano prior to or concurrently with the study of the string instrument. Students under age 7 are REQUIRED to study piano at least 2 years before beginning a string instrument. For those beginning string students who have never studied piano or another instrument before, Mr. Kikuchi has developed a special primer book to teach strings students how to read music, rhythm and playing the open strings.

(See TUTORIAL: Timelines, for more information on the student's progress through the Core Curriculum).

(See CORE CURRICULUM for more information on GENERAL requirements applying to all students.)