Sahara-Zade

> Leave it to Frank Rodgers to pull in students with a little bit of humor - although you may have to clue them in to the joke! The corny title will give you an opportunity to play a recording of the real Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov so the students can hear the melody that Frank "borrowed" for this programmatic journey across the desert, with its contrasts of tranquility and sandstorms. Your students will get lots of imaginative adventure as well as the opportunity to emphasize syncopated rhythms, the importance of dynamics and bowing techniques such as accents, staccato and portamento. You can count on Frank Rodgers, who was "in the trenches" as an inner city string teacher for 35 years, to sneak in great pedagogy while your students are having fun with other elements of his pieces.