Elementary Strings Instructor Inspires a Passion for Music in Budding Musicians

Elementary music education teachers are some of the busiest people around! Teaching over 100 strings students each day and traveling to various campuses several times each week, Mrs. Angel Barnes is an influential strings teacher to many blossoming musicians throughout the Livermore school district. Although music has come and gone in her life, Mrs. Barnes has always returned to her love of music, which has led her career in a direction she may have not anticipated! Read on to learn how music has been an influential part of Mrs. Barnes' life, what a day in her life as a busy elementary music educator is like, and what advice she has for young students starting their journey in music!

What instrument(s) do you play?

Violin. I am a beginner in piano. Other instruments I would love to play in my lifetime are cello and harp. How did you first become involved in music?

I started in 5th grade like many kids. My mom wanted me to play the saxophone, but that didn't work out. I switched to the clarinet, and that also did not work out. Finally, I tried the violin and I loved it! I remember meeting for violin class in the MPR and that is the very first time I had a music stand in front of me. I started taking private violin lessons in 6th grade at a local music shop in San Diego. I had two more amazing violin teachers after that. I played in the school orchestra and also in the Youth Orchestra on the weekend. We traveled to Vienna, Austria with my Youth Orchestra and played there. I stopped playing violin right after I played part of the Bruch violin concerto for my senior recital. My next song was supposed to be Lalo, but that is where my life went in a different direction.

Why were you specifically drawn to be an elementary school educator?

I knew I wanted to be a teacher ever since the 2nd grade. I would come home and play teacher, line up my stuffed animals and take attendance. One of my early jobs in high school was an ESS instructor. I've been working with kids ever since. Fast forward to when I was 18 years old... my mom urged me to keep studying violin, but my heart was set on teaching primary grades. So that is what I did. I went to school, got my teaching credential and ended up teaching first and second grade. I loved it, but it was hard. My favorite part was teaching kids how to read. Eventually I started a family, stopped teaching, and moved across the country. This is around the time my music came tugging back at my heart. I had stopped playing the violin for years, and suddenly it was all I could think about.

"This is around the time my music came tugging back at my heart. I had stopped playing the violin for years, and suddenly it was all I could think about."

Eventually I moved back to California - here in Livermore. I started looking for opportunities to teach again, specifically in music. If I am being honest, maybe I should have listened to my mom and gone to school for music. However, having a teaching credential has allowed for the opportunity that I have right now. I did take extra college classes in order to have an authorization to teach music. I have no regrets because it all worked out! I also just took 1 1/2 year of violin lessons with a member of The Quartet San Francisco. It was really nice to get back into scales, and have practice assignments again. As a full time working mom I am a little busy, and rusty on the violin, but I have hope that I can freshen up my skills again.

Could you give a description of a day in the life of an elementary music educator? What goes on behind the scenes in order to teach young students music?

For this job, I teach at every elementary school in the district. I travel quite a bit. Every day of the week is different. I interact with hundreds of children each week, and several classroom teachers. Music classes take place inside the teacher's classroom. We do not have music rooms or music stands at the elementary level. I project music onto the front of the classroom on a giant screen. A normal day consists of teaching both 4th grade music class (general music/recorder instruction) and 5th grade music class (violin). I work alongside two other music teachers who do the same thing I do, except one teaches band and one teaches choir. If I have to go to another school, I have 20 minutes to pack my supplies (violin cart) and drive to the next school. I teach up to 6 classes in one day. I also have to tune hundreds of violins for my beginning students. Part of my job is to make mini repairs as well: broken strings, chin rests falling off, etc. I absolutely need a cart!

My days are busy, but a student only sees me once a week. This year, we have an amazing platform called Schoology. All of my violin students are enrolled into my Schoology course and I can put up music, videos, audio tracks, assignments, etc. I also put up resources for them, such as your Bow Buddies website :)

Do you follow a certain method such as Suzuki, Orff-Schulwerk, or Kodaly?

Right now, I teach violin with a mix of traditional and Suzuki. I kept my violin music from my own 5th grade experience and I am teaching some of that. It's sentimental for me. I also teach from traditional method books that come with audio tracks. The kids love the audio tracks. Then there is Suzuki. I have a lot to say about Suzuki, actually. I learned how to play Suzuki songs when I was a kid, but never with The Suzuki Method. My teacher took me through Book 4 and then switched me to concertos.

My daughter is 11 years old and she has been in two different Suzuki programs. She is currently studying, and I am studying right along with her. We went to the San Diego Suzuki Institute a couple of years ago. She was enrolled in her classes 5 days a week, and I took the Every Child Can class. We are hoping to attend again this summer. The Suzuki Method is amazing and I've watched my daughter bloom the whole way. She is now studying Lully Gavotte from Book 2. I am excited for her to audition for the Youth Orchestra in 6th grade. I hope she gets to experience that, the same way I did. For my students at school, we are currently learning Suzuki Twinkle. They are having a lot of fun with it!

What was your experience like playing in the symphony orchestra at Palomar College, as well as preparing to be a music educator at CSU San Marcos?

Most of my experience with orchestra was in Youth Orchestra. I loved it. It was part of a special team. I always did really well in orchestra, usually 1st or 2nd stand. Vienna was beautiful. I miss playing on stage, and doing holiday concerts. I only played about a year after I graduated high school, because I was quite busy preparing to be a classroom teacher. At CSU, I took any class related to music that I could, even though I was not actively playing the violin at the time. Do you do other things with music outside of teaching?

As I mentioned earlier, I just wrapped up violin lessons for 1 1/2 years. I also took additional music classes such as choir and music theory. I even took piano lessons for a summer. My youngest daughter plays piano, so I am slowly learning piano through practicing with her. We finally got our "family piano" a few Christmases ago. I always knew I wanted to have one in the home. Ultimately, I enjoy learning alongside my children, going over everything they do in their music lessons. One of my goals is to become Suzuki certified. Another goal is to join the adult orchestra. I think orchestra is what I truly miss the most!

What advice would you give to a middle school or young student interested in a career in music?

Music really is a journey, so stick with it! As a teacher of beginner students (on a very complicated instrument), I know it's tempting to give up within a year if you don't sound the way you envisioned. Through The Suzuki Method, I have learned that "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" takes a full year to learn correctly. Learning any instrument takes time, so enjoy small successes when they happen. Allow yourself to grow musically for several years, and just enjoy your sound! For me, I know I am not "the best" violinist around but I love what I can play! Somehow there was a little nook in the world for someone like me. I can't believe I get to wake up every morning and teach my favorite instrument to 100 kids every day! If you want music to be the center of your life, then keep going after it. Opportunities will blossom.

"I can't believe I get to wake up every morning and teach my favorite instrument to 100 kids every day! If you want music to be the center of your life, then keep going after it. Opportunities will blossom."