No comments about 365 Cello Lessons: 2008 Note-A-Day Calendar for Cello.

No comments about Bach for the Cello: Cello Method.

No comments about Lennon and McCartney Solos: for Cello.

No comments about Muller Rusch String Method for Class or Individual Instruction Violin-viola-cello-bass Book 1 Lessons 1-30.

1 comments about Double Stops For Cello.

1. Not real wordy, lots of practice pieces. Double stops are key for developing your ear and finger positioning. Mr Mooney did a fine job. Well worth having in your repertoire.

2 comments about Mel Bay American Fiddle Method, Volume 1-Cello.

1. From Minneapolis, Brian Wicklund was blown away, as a third grader, when he first heard fiddling. The multi-instrumentalist taught school for awhile but eventually decided to make a career in music instruction, touring, performing, and recording. You may recall that he played with the bluegrass group Stoney Lonesome for seven years from 1987-94 and with The Judith Edelman Band from 1997-2000. In 1999, Wicklund received a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship Grant.
   
   He created "The American Fiddle Method" to develop a quality, organized, and comprehensive instructional music program that now includes books for fiddle, viola, cello, piano and mandolin. All of the respective books have the elementary tunes in the same keys, and the page numbers all coincide with the same ones in the fiddle book. In this enchanting cello book, I was also impressed at their inclusion of a separate table which has the same tunes from the table of contents rearranged into an "order of difficulty" sequence.
   
   The classic tunes include Angelia Baker, Arran Boat Song, Boil 'em Cabbage Down, Bonaparte's Retreat, Buffalo Gals, Camptown Races, Cindy, Crawdad Song, Cripple Creek, Girl I Left Behind Me, Grandfather's Clock, Old Joe Clark, Red Haired Boy, Red Wing, Shortnin' Bread, Soldier's Joy, Turkey in the Straw, and a few more. Various fundamental techniques taught include practice tips, positions, fiddle tune parts, introductions, slurs, bowing, staccato, double stops, slides, and beginning backup. For this book, Brian collaborated with cellist Faith Farr who performs with the Minnesota Sinfonia and teaches at MacPhail Center for Music.
   
   I'm certain that classical music teachers will find the user-friendly "American Fiddle Method" to be a great motivational tool for student orchestras that need some fun diversions for their amusement, pleasure and entertainment. The most effective learning is that which is fun and inspirational, and Wicklund's well-paced method relies on a combination of ear training and sight-reading. Tune variations show how they can serve as a basis for improvisation. Ensemble skills are taught with chords and lyrics, basic music theory, and demonstrations of such skills as backup and lead playing. Nicely illustrated by Gary Meader and Brian Barber, the book also includes a word game, a review chart, and information on how to arrange the tunes. The accompanying CD has a band playing and singing the tunes. The cello is in the stereo's right channel, so a student can adjust the balance far left and play along with the band. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)



2. Quote from American Fiddle Method for Cello:
   
   "Brian Wicklund's American Fiddle Method for Cello has it all -tunes, backup, lyrics, history, theory, technique, and most importantly, fun!!! With the help of this book, cellists will never have to hear the question 'Can you fiddle on a cello?' again!"
   
   -Natalie Haas, fiddling cello virtuoso

1 comments about Cello Making, Step by Step (Book Six of the Strobel Series for Violin Makers).

1. In preparation for building a cello, I have successfully built a violin using Mr. Strobel's "Violin Making Step by Step". I have reasonalble amatuer woodworking skills and simple but adequate tools and space. I also reviewed all of the reasonably obtainable sources on violin constuction and found Mr. Strobel's books to be more helpful than most. The author recommends the first time builder of a cello to first build a viloin in his preface to "Cello Making" and I heartily agree. The price of the wood is much cheaper and techniques can be mastered on a smaller scale. The price of his book is about that of one cello lesson and it will last a lot longer.

4 comments about The ABCs of Cello for the Advanced, Cello, Book 3.

1. For the beginner , this book is a waste of money. For some one who is more than a beginner, it is acollection of musical pices ranging form the beginner to advanced, and there fore may be useful. It is essentially devoid of instruction.



2. I made it to this ABCs of Cello Book 3 and as an adult beginner a year ago and a half ago, I thought it would be impossible for me to make it this far on the cello, but I have. I owe it to the ABCs of Cello books! I started out with book 1, then 2. This book 3 has an intense introduction and coverage of 3rd position. It covers double-stops (playing 2 strings at once), fiddle tunes, forward extensions, shifting exercises, 3 pages of scales and spicatto bowing. Alot of warm-up drills and over 40 tunes!
   
   It's great! Cello is the best!



3. I used to play cello in highschool and then dropped it completely for 20 years. I am finding these three, beginning, intermediate, & advanced books very useful.
   The beggining book has a nice mixture of melodies and instructions, and I quickly got back up to speed. To get the most out of it, you really need to sit and read it as well, small phrases can be passed over that are very important, such as "try to think about the musical phrase while you play" is easy to overlook while practicing, but important to keep in mind.
   Having played before I am finding myself flipping back and forth between books, but even the begginning book has some lovely pieces that with changes in emphasis or repeats become compelling pieces for performance.
   The emphasis on these books is on finger positions and placement, and by the time you get to the third book you may have outgrown this series. (They say a virtuoso cellist doesn't think about placement, just uses the finger that best fits the flow of the piece and the transitions needed - but it is important to learn these things, then take liberties.) I don't think any book can help you with intonation, phrasing and musicality (listen to YoYo Ma CDs for that), but this is a very good practice series with a good variety of pieces.



4. I purchased the ABC's of cello collection (1,2,3). As a beginner, I have to say that this is an AMAZING series. I was a total beginner when I started using the first volume. I rented my cello and started learning with the first volume. I used the first volume for the first two months before moving on to volume # 2. I have purchased numerous other beginner books, but this one is the best by far....If you are a beginner and want to learn the cello, this is a must !

No comments about I Can Read Music: Cello (Volume II of II).

2 comments about The History of Classical Music (Non Fiction).

1. It seems the most popular budget classical music label, Naxos, not only makes most of the Western musical output available at very reasonable prices (no top stars who demand absurd fees make this possible), but it has also issued three very nice boxed sets of recordings on cassettes and CDs (I have the latter) that together give you a quick, fairly accurate, and quite enjoyable survey of three major topics. Perry Keenlyside's (NA 314412) is on three tapes or CDs and more or less delivers what the title promises in about 3 hours and 40 minutes. The text is considerately divided into sections--"Mozart, the child prodigy," "January 1762, the first journeys," "Paris and London, 1763-4," and so on--with tracking cues for each section. The narration and quotations from letters and journals of the time are accompanied by the appropriate music drawn from the bottomless Naxos catalogue. Nigel Anthony is the narrator, aided by Paul Rhys (Mozart), Edward de Souza (Leopold Mozart), with David Timson and Anna Patrick in "other parts." I have not seen the original books to see how much of an abridgment this is, if at all, but that is immaterial. The voices are personable, the information digestible, the whole project very worth while, especially at the price. Those last two sentences are true for the other setsas well. Richard Fawke's (NA414012) and (417612) are both on 4 tapes or CDs and read solo by Robert Powell. I am afraid that just a little five hours is not enough to handle the first topic with any satisfying degree of completeness; but it does give a 'Monarch Notes" glance at an enormously wide and complicated topic and is just enough for anyone who wants a head start before plunging into longer works. On the other hand, I greatly enjoyed the Opera set, timed at only 5 minutes more than the other recording. Trying to cover less, it does it better; and it even has room for some amusing incidents such as the one about the famous one-act opera that was entered into a contest (which it won) by the composer's wife who had more faith in it than did the composer. [No, you listen to the recording to learn which opera I mean.] My only objection to the Naxos recordings of books in the low recording level that makes it a bit difficult to hear on a walkman set up on (say) a noisy train. But this should offer no problem to home hearing or even in your car. These sets are really perfect listening for long trips.



2. From Gregorian Chant to Henryk Gorecki (the first living composer to get into the pop album charts), Richard Fawkes' The History Of Classical Music presents the fascinating and informative story of more than a thousand years of Western classical music and the composers who have sought to express in music the deepest human feelings and emotions. Welsh also explains polyphony, sonata form, serial music, and other musical expressions with a text that is illustrated by performances from some of the most highly praised recordings of recent years. Fawkes' superb text is ably narrated on in this four compact disc collection by Robert Powell (Running Time: 5 hours, 20 minutes). The History Of Classical Music is also available on audio cassette. Also highly recommended is the unabridged Naxos Audiobook edition of Richard Fawkes' The History Of Opera.