2 comments about Solos for Young Violinists (Violin & Piano Parts).

1. These solos start with a few quite easy songs, but very quickly the solos become much more difficult. There doesn't seem to be much for the "just a little better than rank beginner" player. That said, the music is much more satisfying than most available in books for beginning players.



2. Amazon shipped this order twice without including the violin part. Finally I gave up and ordered it from another source. Return was a minor hassle as Amazon told me to preprint a return label which they they wanted to charge me for via deduction from refund. After a protest they came around and refunded entire price.

No comments about Artistry in Strings-Violin.

1 comments about Big Fun Easy Fiddle Book (Book and CD).

1. The making of music is a benefit for both the musician and the audience. But before that can happen, aspiring musicians must learn the fundamentals of their instruments and gain a degree of expertise in their use. The fiddle has been a popular instrument through American frontier history and has the additional benefit of players being able to learn its use without formal training if they have a modicum of basic instruction. In "Big Fun Easy Fiddle Book", author and veteran music educator Larry McCabe draws upon his more than 30 years of experience and expertise to create a thoroughly 'user friendly' beginner's instruction manual that will enable anyone to learn how to paly traditional fiddle styles. Enhanced with an accompany CD and fully illustrated, the "Big Fun Easy Fiddle Book" includes notes and tablature. Beginners would also be able to 'play by ear' using the tablature (a number system) with each tune also being scored in standard notation for note readers. Also included is a helpful guide to fundamental, a varied selection of popular tunes, as well as chord symbols for accompaniment. The CD features all of the tunes in the book, played at a moderate speed with guitar accompaniment, and are a perfect way to hone and practice newly acquired skills. "Big Fun Easy Fiddle Book" is an ideal do-it-yourself at home instructional guide, and would make a welcome addition to school and community library Music Instruction reference collections.

2 comments about String Explorer: Violin Book 1.

1. This book is excellent for any age and is a great resource, I would recommend it to any age for use.



2. This book and CD set teach sight reading in a way that appeals to children. The fact that my daughter enjoys using this book means that it's easier to get her to practice playing every day.

5 comments about The Art of Bowing Practice/3.3398: The Expressive Bow Technique.

1. After reading and following some exercises, I have improved a lot in my right hand. Now the sound generated from the bow is much better and I'm going to explore more in this book.



2. Bowing, bowing, bowing, sound cleanliness, no scratching, no accidentally touching neihboring strings, soft and loud, etc, etc. The way you handle the bow distinguishes you between making beautiful violin music and 'just making sounds'. Robert Gerle's approach to bowing is well written and has excellent tips for improving your bowing technique. Concise and clear, Mr. Gerle has made a good effort to 'try' to bring a rather semi-scientific approach to 'how the bowing should feel'. The 'marriage' between the semi-scientific' approach and the more artistic angle to bowing, makes this book a must have to both the beginner and more advanced violinist. Trust me, it is not easy to write about something you must 'feel' in order to have good control over it. Bowing is just such a 'thing'. Good job Mr. Gerle.



3. A nice book that is divided into two parts. The first part is about basic bowing
   physics and skills. The second part is about articulation and performance
   based on different bowing techniques. The description is clear, though more
   pictures can be inserted between the lines. It's often hard to visualize the
   positions without a clear understanding of the terms and visualization
   capability. The analysis in the second part of the book is fundamental and
   thorough. This book serves as a nice companion to violin players. Of course,
   the great play comes not after reading a good book, but from extensive practice.



4. ECS in Boston distributes it. A little research will track it down, Amazon's price isn't bad all things considered.
   
   Don't let used-book vendors fool you on this one.



5. Dear Officer of Amazon.com,
   
   Thank you very much for your given book "The Art of Bowing Practice/3.3398: The Expressive Bow Technique".
   
   This book is now to help me to solve my bowing problem.
   I am so happy to buy books from your company and I will
   continue to search any of the valuable book from your
   web and buy my best likes in the future!
   
   Gang Jiang
   22 May 2008

4 comments about Mel Bay Easy Solos for Beginning Violin (Building Excellence Series).

1. As a begining violinist I purchased this book with little knowledge of the music or skills necessary. This book fit the skill level advetised and was appropriate for teaching the basic skills. I do however prefer the kawasaki series as it is superior for teaching the self correcting method.



2. The songs included in the book are challenging but easy enough for the beginner to learn.



3. I expected there to be some basic fingering, but that's because I didn't read the description should have. So I blame no one but myself for that. The sad thing is I work for an online company, so I should know better. LOL.
   
   It's mostly "Ode to Joy" and similar songs that most people start off when they learn an instrument. I have also bought a more basic "how to" book, so I look forward to using them together and learning off both books.



4. We thought the book was going to be for beginning violin but that portion was only a flimsy insert and the book if for piano accompanyment. Not what we really wanted.

5 comments about Works for Violin: The Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin and the Six Sonatas for Violin and Clavier.

1. I have been a musician for 30+ years. I was a theory and compostion major in college. But I just took up the violin about a year ago. Of course, everything in this collection is way over my head, but I have considered it a joy to plow through a few bars at a time, picking up what I could of the craftsmanship of the guy who virtually invented music as we know it. It's amazing to watch him compose with complete anticipation of the performer. He gives you breaks when you need breaks. He gives you open strings when you need to hear intonation. He gives you a hold just in time to move to another position. Yet, if you listen to the partitas on CD, it sounds totally spontaeous, seamless, and fluid. It is a fulfilling exercise simply to listen to the CD, with violin in hand, as you follow along in the music. I will be learning these pieces for the next 30 years. I will never cease to be challenged by them. And their mastery will always be a very satisfying quest. The more I look into the mind of J.S. Bach through these compositions, the more I appreciate his genious!



2. First, I studied the Bach Partitas from the Carl Fisher Edition, and some day I lost it. I see the portrait of this work, and I liked and buy. Bach is phenomenal; and an important part of the violinist life, and this edition has a good distribution of the work, but the edition is not good, for example the Arpeggios of the Ciaccona are edited in a very old style, and not depured the different legato, sincerely is very difficult to undertand the intention of the editor; for the sonatas the edition could be better if the work includes the violin part separated from the Piano.
   I choose three stars because, this work is very important, and the edition not help so much to explore all the work, because some passages will generate to a new violinist many ambiguities.



3. I bought the book and thought to have both violin and piano parts on separate sheet. Unfortunately, the violin sonatas are printed in form of score containing both violin and piano. I have to copy the score for my piano accompaniment. Other than that the Fugue and Patitas are great. Overall this book is good for personal collection and I can never stop playing them.



4. A few years ago I purchased an inexpensive violin with the intent of learning to play it. Not expecting any kind of virtuosity, I thought I could learn enough to perhaps play in an amateur string quartet or something like that. I knew it would take time and be a lot of work, but I've been playing the piano for a long time and figured a different instrument would be a good change of pace.

   After a few months of cramped fingers, a stiff neck, and a bow arm that was more suited to sawing lumber, I gave up. Not that I'm a quitter by any means, but I am a realist. Besides, the sounds that I produced would cause every feline in the neighborhood to congregate outside my window. Don't know what my 'music' sounded like to them, but do you realize how much noise a herd of howling cats can make? But all was not lost. The violin hangs above the piano, next to a copy of a Renoir painting. It looks very nice there, and there it shall stay.

   But I'll always have a fascination for violin playing. Hence, I bought this book, primarily for the Chaconne for solo violin. I was familiar with the Busoni transcription, and even flirted with the idea of learning the Brahms transcription for left hand only (by the way, I'm a lefty, but that didn't make the Brahms any easier!). But I wanted to see for myself the demands Bach made on the poor fiddle player.

   Bach can be a very demanding composer, but the demands are always in service to the music he wrote. The Chaconne deserves every accolade and legendary status that it has. It is a truly phenomenal piece of absolute music that taxes the interpreter absolutely in every way. It is one of those pieces that exists in the stratosphere, positively unique in its makeup and emotion.

   Dover does it again! There is much music in this volume besides the Chaconne, which would be worth the price itself. If it's true you get what you pay for, then you get a lot of music for not much money with this edition.

   Recommended for music students, performers, and even for people that have a violin hanging on the wall!




5. Bach has to come pretty much at the top of any list of composers. We seem to be in a bit of a Dark Age of classical music these days when, as Giles once remarked to Buffy, "singers are chosen for their ability to dance." So it is rather important that some of us at least keep the candle of musical beauty burning in the dark.
   
   Well, after that bit of effusion, perhaps I should review the book! This is an inexpensive reprint of the Bach Gesellschaft edition and as such is unimpeachable. There is no finer music than this and it's cheap. Also, nice reproduction of the best portrait of Bach on the cover.
   
   Oh, the title of my review is something Beethoven once said about Bach. In German, a 'bach' is a brook.

4 comments about Violin Repair Guide.

1. content mostly for violin, step by step on bow rehairing, and general maintenance, i.e. peg/bridge fitting, etc. not exactly instrument repairing, i.e., i was looking for how to deal with crack, how to open up an old violin if i have to, etc., none of these discussed in the book. looks like author turned his years of work notes into a book with a big title. in terms of illustration, except a photo of the author in his shop, there is not a single photo of the tools or process steps, all sketches and many of them not easily relate to what is saying...good cover design, hmmm



2. This was a little hard to follow in places but I think it is good for the price. The author really tries to guide you step by step through detailed processes. It's true it does not cover the fixing of wood cracks, perhaps because the author may consider it to be major restoration rather than repair. I think it is best on bow rehairing, and on nut, bridge and soundpost repairs. It does touch on seam re-gluing and on fingerboard repair and neck re-set, but very basically. There are some typos and occasionally something is described out of place, such as a rehairing clamp is referred to on p. 9 but not fully described until p. 12.



3. The book has some good information in it. BUT the descriptions of the work must have been translated from some other planet. I have done 4 bows with it and every time it confused me as to his left side or my left side,I have written a lot of notes in the book. At this point I might as well write my own version of what he or she is talking about, because you just can't follow what the heck they are talking about.



4. The book is titled "Violin Repair" it showed how to set up a violin but not how to make repairs.

No comments about The ABCs of Violin for the Advanced- BK.3.

No comments about Mel Bay presetns Finger Positions for the Violin.