Recruitment

SBO Survey: Recruitment & Retention

UPFRONT: THE REWARDS OF COLORED VIOLINS

In the beginning, the excitement of learning to play an instrument is enough to sustain a student's interest in music education. The instrument itself is a new experience - putting the five pieces of the clarinet together to make it whole; tightening and loosening the strings on the violin to tune the instrument; oiling the valves of the trumpet to make it easy to move the "buttons" and create a sound.

The sound - whether a squawk from a reed or a buzz from a brass mouthpiece - propels students to another new level of excitement. Then they can form notes and play a song and eventually perform a concert. They proudly carry their instrument cases onto the bus and home to practice. The children on the bus want to see what could possibly fit in the slim flute case or the oddly shaped French horn case. Their friends marvel at the shiny silver flute and gold horn that the students adeptly assemble.

But what happens when the novelty of the new instrument wears off and the students are bored playing the same beginner's music over and over?

The answer for some string teachers is introducing the colored violin to their repertoire. The Lidl Custom Color Violins - available in red, yellow, blue, green, purple and black from Geneva International Corporation - have been used in many classrooms as recruitment and retention tools.