Class Details

Open to all PACO students

Do you have a favorite song or piece you’ve always wanted to play with your PACO pals but never been able to find sheet music for? Fret no longer! After taking this class, you’ll be able to turn any song or piece into a spicy (caliente) string quartet, trio, duet, or other ensemble to pull out at any occasion!

In this course, we’ll go over how to transcribe the melody of a song or piece and distribute it through different parts, write countermelodies and engaging supporting lines, add your own spin to well-known songs, and replicate percussive sounds and other instrumental effects in a string arrangement. Experience with MuseScore, a free music writing software program, will be helpful but is not required—we will go over everything you need to know at the beginning of the course. Get excited to dive into your favorite pop songs, movie scores, or orchestral works! The course will cover arranging for all string ensembles, but will focus on string quartets.

Tuesdays @ 7

Class Meetings:

3/9, 3/16, 3/23, 3/30, 4/13, 4/20, 4/27, 5/4, 5/11, 5/18

Class ZOOM Link

Instructor Emails:

[email protected]
[email protected]

Instructor Bios:

Violinist, violist, and pianist Peyton Lee is a freshman at Stanford University studying piano performance. As a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer, he engages with music in a myriad of mediums. Some of his recent work includes composing a piano concerto, revamping the PACO gig book, a collection of thirty instrumental pop covers, and playing in the Stanford Symphony Orchestra. Peyton graduated from PACO in 2020.

Violinist Waverly Long  is currently studying violin performance and journalism at Northwestern University. Previously, she was concertmaster of Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and co-founder and co-president of Paly Chamber Musicians. She won the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition in 2017, and in 2016, her string quartet was awarded first place in American Protege International Competition and Santa Cruz Baroque Festival Youth Chamber Music Competition, and performed in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Waverly also has experience coaching young chamber ensembles and teaching violin and viola. In her free time, she loves busking downtown, performing in senior centers, and arranging string quartets.