1 comments about Suzuki: Duets for Violins.

1. This book adds a very lovely touch to students studying violin. The harmony parts are not difficult but true to the original sound of the music. The music goes with some of the songs in Book 1 and 2 violin solos. While the parts are not difficult, it probably would be better for a little more advanced student who actually reads music to play. I would think it would be more difficult for a student to learn it from memory as most students do in book 1 and 2. It was played by children in book 3 and 4 to accompany children in book 1 and 2 as they played for the teacher's recital and was a beautiful touch.

1 comments about Essential Technique for Strings - Violin: Intermediate Technique Studies.

1. She said it was just what she needed. Not sure how effective it is but her playing has improved :)

2 comments about Franz Wohlfahrt - 60 Studies, Op. 45 Complete: Books 1 and 2 for Violin.

1. My guitar teacher recently suggested I buy Wohlfahrt's Violin studies to help improve my facility and velocity with scales and arpeggios. Wow! This little book has helped TREMENDOUSLY, with improving my scales and arpeggios. Check it out!



2. Every violinist should know these studies, or something just like them. The first 30 studies are in first position.
   
   Wohlfahrt's Violin studies work on almost every aspect of violin technique. If you are having a issue with your technique, find a lesson that works that same issue. Even the lessons that look simple have a lesson to be learned. The first lesson is a good example. Easy enough if you read music, but look at the many bowing variations.
   
   These exercises are excellent, but you should have an instructor patiently helping you work though them. Take you time. Get it right. Don't rush. There is no audio CD recording available, but if you are having trouble with one of these studies, email me your concern. I'll try to help. No cost. I enjoy working on these.
   
   [...]

5 comments about Strictly Strings: A Comprehensive String Method Book 1 : Violin.

1. This is a very good music book for children beginning to learn to play the violin. It starts with explaining how to hold you bow and violin with nice illustrations. The lessons in this book go from basic to moderate playing levels. Everything that you will do in this book is explained in detail at the top of every page. There is an illustration also. There are some very nice pieces of music in this book also. I reccomend this book to any beginners.



2. I'm a cello student and I really like this book a lot. I tried to read ahead though, and it doesn't really explain things well enough for a novice. With my instructor and the lessons, the book is perfect. I recommed the CD's that go along with it... they are sold separately.



3. I'm a cello student and I really like this book a lot. I tried to read ahead though, and it doesn't really explain things well enough for a novice. With my instructor and the lessons, the book is perfect. I recommed the CD's that go along with it... they are sold separately.



4. My daughter uses the book to learn to play the cello, it's a great intro!



5. this book is in terrific condition and was shipped very fast. would by from again

2 comments about How Muscles Learn: Teaching Violin With The Body In Mind.

1. The author approaches the subject with unique knowledge of how muscles learn. She applies this to the WHY and HOW of playing a violin in ways that make great sense. I've read the book twice and heard her speak twice. I'd like to know more! It is a great resource to me in teaching beginning string players in public school.



2. Teh book is a little lightweight. I finished it in less than 2 hrs. Basically, it is scientifiaclly explained, all the stuff your child's violin teacher told you about. Now that you know the reasons, you would probably be a little more vigilent when guiding your child. I recommend this book to all parents of young children learning the violin.

4 comments about Mel Bay Daily Scale Exercises for Violin.

1. Great book. You need to be beyond the beginner level, but the information is very usefull and there are lots of good exercises to do. If you want to be a violinist, I would highly recommend it. Still takes the time and effort to practice though.



2. This is a good book but definitely not for a beginner. Especially if you can't read music. Would work well along with lessons.
   
   It's a great book for more advanced pupils. Like other instruments, playing scales gives you more practice and skills to handle more difficult pieces.
   
   I would order this product again.



3. This is a wonderful resource for any violinist! Scales and arpeggios are logically presented as well as numerous bowings for the beginner as well as the more advanced player.



4. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to keep there fingers in practice. For me, having sheet music in front of me helps to focus my exercises.

5 comments about Art of Practicing the Violin: With Useful Hints for All String Players.

1. In his "The Art of Practicing the Violin" Robert Gerle offers expert and eloquent guidance to violinist, violist, and teacher. His personal attainments as a concert artist and his long experience as master teacher become most apparent as he zeros in on the player's problems and offers the best and exact help in a clear, easily understood, and musical solution. You will be eager to try out his powerful and appealing ideas. The book is a masterpiece!



2. I started studying the violin late in life when compared to 'early' starters. However, as a dedicated amateur musician I find the interesting but demanding task of understanding and practicing the violin much more managable with the help of Robert Gerle's expert practice tips and fingering methods. My understanding of the instrument's intrinsic dynamics has grown, and practicing the violin has become more productive in terms of technique improvement. Thanks Mr. Gerle!



3. ECS in Boston distributes it. A little research will track it down, Amazon's price isn't bad all things considered.
   
   You don't have to pay $200 to $1,100 for it. :-)



4. I bought this on recommendation of a friend and wish I'd had it much sooner. It is good for adults or advanced students who need something to refer to during the week while practicing. It is not really a book for beginners or for people who aren't already motivated to practice. But it can definitely help make practicing more efficient and productive.



5. Excellent book. This is a must read for every violinist. However, as much as I admire his discussion of finger patterns I think that his nomenclature for the patterns is problematic and there are many very useful patterns that he does not describe.

3 comments about String Builder V1 Violin (Belwin Course for Strings).

1. String Builder is great for beginners, especially if you don't know anything about music. It is helpful for understanding musical notation, has charts to show where the fingers go on the strings, and gives plenty of short pieces to practice (which builds sight reading). It also has some fun duets for the teacher to play with the student.
   
   This is a practice book, so you will not find entertaining pieces you can perform for others. As a violin teacher, I use this book to supplement the Suzuki method book, which tends to have nice classical pieces but not much instruction or practice.



2. My daughter is studying Suzuki violin, so we got String builder and ABC's of Violin bk 1 to learn to read music. The ABC's is a lot easier because it starts on the 2 top strings like Suzuki does, but the String builder starts on the 2 middle strings--it's confusing for my daughter. It makes more sense to continue with the ABC's of Violin--it's a lot of fun, plus it fits in with Suzuki ideas. We're very happy with our choice.
   
   I am a piano teacher myself and realize how important it is to learn to read music. Especially for little violinists who eventually play in school orchestra.



3. I knew nothing about playing music and musical notation, let alone playing a string instrument. I wanted to learn and did a bit of research on self-study books. In the end I bought a whole stack from various sources, including Suzuki. I found the String Builder to be the absolutely most logical and user friendly approach. All other books frustrated me, but String Builder is very easy to follow, and takes you through very logical exercises that are never boring or too hard. Step by step I learned about the rhythm, how to recognize and play various keys, even when to bow down or up. With no experience I am able to play basic melodies in but few weeks. And I only practice maybe 30min every other day.. All other books made me want to quit, I stuck only with this one.
   There is a phenomenal gratification in learning how to play such a beautiful instrument..
   If you want to learn you only need this book and maybe Teach Yourself: Music Theory by Margaret Richer. Don't spend money on anything else. Save it for a better violin :)

3 comments about Hrimaly - Scale Studies for Violin: Violin Method (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics, Volume 842).

1. This is a good scale book for serious, intermediate-level students. It features 1 to 3 octave scales and arpegios in a variety of keys, using a variety of bowings. It is logical and well-written. The fact that it has been constantly in print since 1905 is a testament to the quality of this instructional material.



2. Years ago, I studied from this book, and I've come back to it to reinforce my knowledge of the fingerboard. It's a classic and a must-have in any violinist's library. I can appreciate it now much better in that I can see how the Hrimaly studies train rhythm, bowing (staccato, legato included), and scales at the same time, making most efficient use of your practice time.



3. I have used this violin scale method all through out my training in the violin. It is really comprehensive and easy to use. It starts from easy (one octave scales) to very hard 3 octave 16th notes scales. So that you won't need to buy countless scale books while you are learning.
   
   The only draw back I see (the reason I rated the book a 4 instead of a 5) is that I don't like the way the book is set up, the order the scales go in.

5 comments about Violin Dreams.

1. Well crafted tale pulling together the romance of violins, violin history, and development of a professional violinist as well as argueably the greatest single work of music ever written.



2. Wonderfully well-written. Most musicians' books are loose collections of stories. Steinhardt has stories, but also architecture that binds everything together: dreams, the individual sound of every violin, the making of the violinist and musician, the Bach Chaconne. His dreams are both hilarious and beautiful. A terrific book, and you get a CD of Steinhardt playing Bach, besides.



3. Charming and engrossing book about playing the violin and trying to come to terms with one of Bach's great masterpieces. In my opinion the book is at its best when it is about music and the violin - which is most of the time. I'm less convinced by the sections designed to give it universal appeal and at times the style gets a little too folksy. However, it is full of wonderful detail and has got me playing the Chaconne (in Steinhardt's impassioned performance on the CD) in the car all the time. And given me an entirely new understanding of what a violin is. And we see the true apostolic succession - that of the artist - the present standing upon the achievements of the past - we see that at work. The idea of dancing the Chaconne suffuses the book with a feeling of what it means to be human and mortal. A lovely work.



4. Violin Dreams, on the surface, is a simple book, recounting Arnold Steinhardt's life as a violinist from his first days of playing, up to his career as first violin of the Guarneri Quartet - the quartet, by the way, from whom I first "learned" the Beethoven quartets. The book also tells of Steinhardt's lifelong quest for the "perfect" violin. But this is only the surface of the book. Intentionally or not, Steinhardt's very simple prose conceals a sub-stratum of deep feeling, musical insight, and a man's search for meaning in his own life.
   
   As a sports professional, I found Steinhardt's confrontation of the possible loss of his ability to play at all deeply moving. What are we, when the thing we have lived for is taken away? If we are nothing without our profession and our tools, then we are nothing with them - as Steinhardt points out.
   
   Arnold Steinhardt, it turns out, is a great deal more than just his violin. He grows increasingly curious about the music behind the music - repeatedly, we return to the Bach Partita for Violin solo No. 2 in D minor, from which the chaconne becomes a touchstone of Steinhardt's "journey towards music", as Victor Gollancz once memorably put it. He travels to wonderful places such as Machu Pichu (on foot, which says something about the man). He pays homage to the luthiers of Cremona. He grows through friendships with some of the world's great musicians, and from friends less musically exalted. And each journey brings Steinhardt, and the reader, closer to music, and to something both basic and ennobling.
   
   At the end the book, I was taken by surprise at how emotionally engaged I had become. John Steen has pointed out that the real purpose of the critic is to make us hear music better and to lead us to deeper engagement with it. Away from his violin, this is exactly what Arnold Steinhardt has done with this book. I loved it, am buying multiple copies to give to musical friends, and recommend it heartily.
   
   Now back to practicing, with no hope of every playing at Mr. Steinhardt's level, but with an increased love of the instrument, and of making music.



5. I read Mr. Steinhardt's book in almost a single sitting. His explication of Bach's D minor partita, and particularly its final movement "chaconne" should be required reading for every serious, classical violinist. Despite my many years of involvement with the instrument, both as a dealer and amateur player, I was fascinated with Mr. Steinhardt's search for a suitable violin. Having heard the Budapest Quartet, it was a revelation to me that he acquired Joseph Roisman's fiddle; so appropriate that it would pass from one great quartet leader to another. A small error in the book was the date given for Jascha Heifetz's memorable Carnegie Hall debut; it was in October of 1917, not 1918. Aside from that
   the book is a page turner, beautifully written and very personal.