| Summary: | <p> This study examined the use of teaching aids to support or remediate left and right hand setup in beginning string students. 148 teachers of beginning strings students were surveyed to examine what commercial and homemade aids, props or devices they use to help their students establish or correct setup of the left wrist position, left hand fingering, right hand bow hold, and the ability to bow straight. Teachers were also asked to rate the perceived effectiveness of the teaching aids used. A catalog of all teaching aids described in the study is included in the appendix. </p><p> 82.2% of teachers surveyed did not use teaching aids to establish or correct the left wrist position, although the teachers who did use teaching aids for this purpose considered the aids effective. For developing the left hand position and intonation, the surveyed teachers were almost unanimous in their use of teaching aids: 99.4% used teaching aids for this purpose, and 93% of those teachers indicated that the aids were effective. 79.3% of survey respondents used teaching aids to develop or remediate the bow hold, and 98.3% of those teachers indicated that the bow hold teaching aids they used were effective. Only 59.3% of respondents reported that they used teaching aids to help students develop the ability to bow straight, although 97.7% of those teachers considered that the teaching aids were effective for this purpose. More than half of the teachers surveyed were considered “experienced” (eleven or more years of teaching) and were the largest group of users of teaching aids for all four set-up areas. The use of teaching aids did not seem to be contingent upon the number of students taught at a time. </p><p> Experienced and less-experienced teachers used both commercial and homemade teaching aids when teaching any size of group, from individual students to large ensembles. Many creative ideas for homemade aids were shared by the respondents and are included in the comprehensive catalog of teaching aids described in the study.</p><p>
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