Sherman, the Great Sequoia

This grade 1.5 piece features some exciting teaching elements for emerging string students, including aleatoric improvisation and hooked bowing. This piece is based on the tree named General Sherman, found in the Sequoia National Park in California. General Sherman is a Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) tree and is the largest living tree on Earth by volume, more than 90,000 ft3, and is one of the oldest trees in the world, estimated to be between 2,200 to 2,700 years old. I find the stories of these massive and ancient trees fascinating, as it is incredible to think of the events in human history that these trees have lived through. This tree was alive when Plato was alive, when the Roman Empire rose and fell, and when Napoleon was alive. This tree survived through every major natural disaster it was part of in the last 2,000 years and it survived through both World Wars. As we live through some difficult times now, I like to think, "If this tree can live through all these difficult times, then so can we."