Sound on a string instrument begins and ends with the bow. The primary goal for string teachers is to get their students to sound their best. Helping students learn detache and stopped bowed strokes is the mission. Principles and strategies for teaching these strokes will be presented. Video clips of middle-school orchestra students learning these bowing skills will be featured. Come enjoy this session by two Midwest Clinic’s Medal of Honor recipients. Leave your left-hand skills at home!
Bob Gillespie
- Biographical Information
Bob Gillespie is Ohio State University Professor Emeritus of string education/string
pedagogy. Dr. Gillespie is a past national President of the American String Teachers
Association (ASTA). He is a frequent guest conductor of All-State, region, and festival
orchestras, having appeared in 49 states, Canada, Asia, and throughout Europe. He is
coauthor of the Hal Leonard string method book series, Essential Elements for Strings, the
leading string instrument teaching series in the U.S., with sales of over thirteen million
copies. He is co-author of the college text Strategies for Teaching Strings: Building
A Successful School Orchestra Program, the String Clinics to Go DVD series, and the Teaching
Music Through Performance in Orchestra texts. In summers, well over 1,600 teachers
have attended the annual summer OSU String Teacher Workshop, the largest
string/orchestra teacher-training workshop in America. In Columbus, he conducts the
Columbus Symphony Chamber Strings Youth Orchestra. In 2020, Dr. Gillespie received
the Paul Rolland Lifetime Achievement Award from the American String Teachers
Association for significant contribution to the field of string teacher education and string
pedagogy. In 2022, he received the University of Michigan School of Music Hall of Fame
Award in recognition of his “distinguished career in music education;” in 2023, Dr.
Gillespie received the Medal of Honor from the Midwest Clinic. He recently
received the 2025 Music Educator Lifetime Achievement Award from the Columbus
Symphony (OH).
Pamela Tellejohn Hayes is nationally recognized for her work in the field of music education. Mrs. Hayes is the recipient of both the Merle J. Isaac Lifetime Achievement Award from NSOA and the Elizabeth A.H. Green School Educator Award from ASTA. She has served as president of the National School Orchestra Association, the South Carolina Music Educators Association, the Orchestra Division of SCMEA and the South Carolina chapter of the American String Teachers Association. Mrs. Hayes is co-author of the comprehensive method book series Essential Elements 2000 for Strings. As a coordinator and teacher in the public schools for 31 years, her award-winning orchestras performed concerts on three separate occasions in Carnegie Hall. She earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Wichita State University, and a Master of Education degree in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina. In 2019, she received the Medal of Honor from the Midwest Clinic.