SDSU selected as site for National String Project

Organizing the SDSU String Project, which will make instruction on stringed instruments available to second- and third-graders, are, from the left, Brooke Carroll, String Project master teacher; John Brawand, String Project director; and Brookings Public Schools Orchestra Director Kathy Winghart. Courtesy photo

• Grant to support music lessons for second- and third-grade school children

BROOKINGS – South Dakota State University will join nearly 25 other colleges and universities in the United States as a member of the National String Project Consortium.

The consortium is dedicated to increasing the number of children playing stringed instruments and addressing the critical shortage of stringed instrument teachers in the United States. It is affiliated with businesses, foundations, professional music organizations and individuals from across the United States that support these goals. 

The project is funded through a grant from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation and the National String Project Consortium in the amount of $10,000 for the year. NAMM is the not-for-profit association that unifies, leads and strengthens the music products industry.

When fully implemented, the SDSU String Project will supplement area strings programs by offering training for second- and third-graders. Students going into the fourth grade will then transition to the public school orchestra program.

Under the guidance of Brooke Carroll, master teacher and seasoned professional, and SDSU String Project Director John Brawand, undergraduate students will teach children in the community. For a nominal fee, the 24-week program will consist of two lessons per week: a 30-minute individual lesson and a 45-minute group lesson.  The master teacher, director and SDSU students will teach second- and third-graders how to read music and play their choice of violin, viola or cello. This fall’s enrollment will be limited to 30 select second- and third-graders.  

Research shows that earlier is better for a student to participate in learning a stringed instrument.  For students of this age, optimal benefits occur in mental and brain development, spatial reasoning and from the combination of hand/eye coordination with music creativity. Reading a notational system such as music is comparable to learning a foreign language, Brawand said.

“I look forward to my position as master teacher on the new string project,” said Carroll, who, in preparation of the program, participated in a recent Suzuki String Institute program in Ypsilanti, Mich. Brawand also has Suzuki-style experience, having developed the Suzuki program at Greenhill School of Dallas. 

Application forms for the program are available from the SDSU Department of Music website at www.sdstate.edu/mus.  To learn more about the SDSU String Project, contact Brawand at 605-688-5188 or email  john.brawand@sdstate.edu.