Karen North

Session 2.2: “Fun & Games” for String Teachers

Session: Are you looking for new ideas for your Beginner to Grade 3 string students? Or seeking inspiration for fun ways to teach skills such as note reading, fingering and practice methods? Come and enrich your teaching resources with activities and games for string lessons (individual and group). Games are a great way to teach fundamentals – not only are games enjoyable for students and teachers, they have also been shown to lead to improved learning outcomes. This is an interactive workshop in which participants will play games in small groups and/or take part in demonstrations of individual games, including Magic Beans (note recognition), Catch a Bar (reading/aural/memorisation) and Famous Faces (teaching a practice method). Come and join the fun – you’ll leave with a plethora of ideas to expand your teaching strategies!

Karen North has enjoyed bringing music into the lives of children and adults for over 35 years in her work as an educator and performer. With a Master of Music Degree (UNSW), a B.A. Honours Music Degree (USYD) and a Graduate Diploma in Education (Music), Karen’s career has encompassed choral/orchestral conducting, class music teaching and flute teaching. Karen was Director of Music at Sydney Grammar (Edgecliff) School and has also worked in government schools at both primary and secondary level.

Karen is the author of the enduring flute teaching method “The Young Flute Player” and has more recently launched a series of books for violin and other instruments, in consultation with specialists in these instruments. Karen’s book of “Fun & Games for music lessons”, and her music card games have been popular in both the studio and classroom, and she shares her ideas with music teachers around the world via a blog and free newsletter.

Karen has presented workshops for teachers at a number of conferences, including ASME National Conference in Perth, the Australian Piano Pedagogy Conference in Brisbane, the Australian Flute Festival in Sydney and the MENZA National Conference in Christchurch.