Editorial Review:Product Description:This text presents beginning violin technique and basic music-reading fundamentals, with an emphasis on the use of melodies and classical pieces to teach each new concept. The 28 lessons include basic technique and reading skills, scales in the keys of A, D, G, and C as well as bowing techniques such as dynamic contrast, slurs, accents, and staccato bowing. There are 47 melodies presented including works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Mozart and other classical composers. The companion CD features all of the exercises and pieces recorded with solo violin and piano accompaniment.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Not bad, but not that great
This book is difficult to review, because I was truly a beginner using this. I was not just a beginner to the violin, but also to reading sheet music. I felt that there was very little setup to get to the point that you not only feel comfortable reading music, but also holding the violin. Unlike many other instruments the violin is not inherently natural because you hold it in place with your chin. The actual sheet music has a good progression from simple finger exercises to more advanced pieces. Especially with some of the baroque music, different time is kept. Again this is a case of ignorance of not having previous education in sheet music. The concept is explained, but little weight seems to be given to it. The CD accompanying the book is nice to have, but has little dialogue . I wasn't incredibly impressed with the overall number of scores in the book either. So in all it has all the basic elements of a beginner's book, but little explanation of anything is given and falls short of being very helpful for a "true" beginner.
Rating: -
great adult beginner book
Background: I'd studied suzuki style for all of one month before firing my teacher because I couldn't sing another nursery rhyme. I didn't read music, or understand what a key signature was, and in the 3 years since the Suzuki method, I couldn't remember which was the upstroke sign and which the down, so while I wasn't an ABSOLUTE beginner, I had more bad habits than good. I've also TRIED and failed to learn piano and guitar, so I do have SOME music theory background.
The Bad:
As a beginner I rely on having my neck taped so I know my finger placements. (no frets ;) ) This book does not tell you where or how to do that, so getting finger placement right if you have no one to help you will be difficult. Beyond this, I'm loving the book.
The Good:
1.) This has the simplest and easiest notation I've ever seen for learning to read music. I tried and failed many times before with piano and guitar books both to learn to read real musical notation, and failed every time. A week into the book and I'm already sight reading some simpler pieces. (very simple, as in 2 strings, but reading them none the less)
2.) Some of the music doesn't suck. Now, being a beginners book, you're going to be stuck with twinkle twinkle little star, just like every other beginners book, but finding "Ode to Joy" on the second lesson of actual play made my day. :)
3.) The big graph on the top of all the first lessons makes it easy to remember which strings and finger placements are which notes.
4.) you learn to find key signatures slowly and simply while you learn the scales and notes on each string. Once again, this is something I'd read about alot in other books, but in this book it was shown simply and only one example at a time as you worked your way up the strings and scales played on them, so it finally made sense to me.
In conclusion: While I'm not an absolute newbie to music, I really am to the fiddle, and after throwing away a few books I found absolutely useless and giving up on learning under a teacher who targeted 5 year olds, I've found a book I'm REALLY happy with and which is helping me make progress.
-- James
Rating: -
Not for the absolute beginner
Not for the absolute beginner but a good supplement for lessons with a qualified instructor. I use this when I practice alone and find the pieces challenging but worth the effort.
Rating: -
Violin at 46.
My children had taken violin in school when they were growning up. after they became adults their instrument sat around gathering dust. Now i've had some piano lessons years ago. My husband playes a Yamaha 6 string Bass. At 46 I've decided to learn to play my daughters violin and needed something that was simple enough and easy enough for me to enjoy the beginning process. This book is not only easy for me with the DVD and the CD that comes with the book, it is enjoyable and relaxing to listen to and watch. The only reason i gave it a 4 and not a 5 is i wish the DVD should more clearly the fingering position closer. Overall this is a very excellent way to learn.
Rating: 
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Good for adults!
I'm 32 years old, and decided to learn the violin as my son has been playing a few months now. I've been working through this book for almost three weeks without a teacher and I'm in the middle of lesson 8 right now. As other reviewers have mentioned, there is no instruction on how to read music or how to tune the violin.
I played a string instrument (bass violin) many years ago and did not find this a problem, you simply remember Every Good Boy Does Finely to name the lines and F A C E to name the spaces and work from there. This will not slow you down, the bass plays in a different clef and learning to "read" the music in the treble (G) clef that the violin uses took less than a week. As for tuning, buy a chromatic tuner when you purchase your instrument and ask for tuning instructions then.
This book takes an approach much better suited to adults or musicians who play other instruments in that it emphasises melodies to learn to play. You are done with open strings after lesson one and learn the notes and fingering of the A major scale in lesson two. This is a much more satisfying approach than traditional method books. Slurs are introduced in lesson 11. You'll have learned most of the notes in first position by lesson 13 and the rest by lesson 17. Lesson 22 will introduce the 4th finger.
My only complaints about the books are: 1.) the heavy emphasis on the A and E strings. This was dramatic enough to make me search through the book to find any songs that use the G string (I found a couple at lesson 13), and to make me wonder if I should write out the songs an octave or fifth lower just to practice using the D and G strings as well. (The D string is included a little more often that G)
And 2.) the lack of difficult songs. Always one to run before I can walk, I'd have liked to see a "challenge" piece every couple of lessons or so. The pieces included in the lessons here can be conquered somewhere within 1 to 3 hours of practice and, of course, become easier with repetition.
All in all, an interesting book to work through and the CD is a nice bonus.