Improvising Violin (Homespun Tapes) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book includes a lot of history on contemporary violin styles from jazz to rock. Readers are guided to pioneers of each genre and prominent musicians are highlighted. There is also a section on amplifying your violin, where traditional/classical violinist who are new to "loud" gigs will find very useful. Amplifiers, pickups, solid violins and radical violin styles, effects are all mentioned and discussed. The third part of the book introduces a lot of solid practices for nearly all the styles that are mentioned in the book, and 'licks' and music scores are provided.It is a book with lots of worthwhile information and very clear instructions, but the limited amount of music score material on each style kind of leave you hanging for more after you are all hyped up. The author have put out new, more focused books on specific styles in 2001, and I can't wait to get my hands on those. Definitely a very enlightening and helpful book. Good for beginning fiddlers and classically trained violinists. Performing violinist might find the music material too basic, but in my opinion worth owning anyway.

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These CDs include improvisation techniques in folk, blues, swing, jazz and New Age music. Filled with invaluable information on technique, musicianship, theory, and new mental and physical approaches to playing. Guitar and piano rhythm tracks are provided for practice. 7 songs.

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Alternative Strings - The New Curriculum Book/CD (Softcover) (Amadeus) Review

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(More customer reviews)Written by expert music teacher Julie Lyonn Lieberman, whose programs have aired on National Public Radio, Alternative Strings: The New Curriculum is a resource book especially for stringed instrument music teachers that emphasizes learning to play popular contemporary music as well as the great classics. Chapters address the nuances of fiddle, blues, jazz, pop, and world styles for strings, and an accompanying audio CD demonstrates the work of a wide variety of string players and clinicians. An excellent supplement to the music instruction or even self-instruction of any string player.

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Let's keep our string programs vital, contemporary, and thriving! Alternative Strings: The New Curriculum is the first resource book in the world to offer a comprehensive guide to string educators wishing to step into twenty-first-century inclusive string pedagogy. The "Dear Abby" for string players, Julie Lyonn Lieberman offers detailed descriptions of over two dozen fiddle, blues, jazz, pop, and world styles; bountiful support materials; a massive discography; musical examples; photographs; and audio from master players and clinicians, far exceeding the scope of other books in the field.
About the Audio CDSome of todayÂ's top alternative string players and clinicians demonstrate rock, jazz, and fiddle styles, present innovative ideas for teaching new generations of string players, and more:
1. Howard Armstrong: My first fiddle2. Geoffrey Fitzhugh Perry: Zydeco Rock3. Daryl Silberman: Through Contemporary to Classical and Back4. Ed Caner: Rock Basics5. Anthony Barnett: Stuff Smith plays "Body and Soul"6. Mark Wood: Evolution, Rock, and Musicianship7. Jesus Florido: Latin and Beyond8. Randy Sabien: Jazz Strings: A Life Inspiration9. Leanne Darling: Arabic Strings10. Bob Phillips: Fiddling in the Schools11. Julianna Waller: Developing Diversity12. Martin Norgaard: Jazz String Pedagogy13. Richard Greene: Moving Forward14. Martha Mooke: Breaking the Sound Barrier15. Claude Williams: Reminiscences 16. Julie Lyonn Lieberman: "Fiddle, Sing," excerpt from Mixing America

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Thistle and Minuet: 16 Easy Pieces from Scottish Baroque (Hal Leonard Corp.) Review

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(More customer reviews)Scottish musicologist David Johnson has selected and edited a lovely play-along collection of 18th-century Scottish music.Few of the tunes have previously been available in modern editions.

The book is described as "16 Easy Pieces from the Scottish Baroque for Violin (Flute or Oboe) and Keyboard, and optional Cello (or Bassoon)." In fact, the lead lines of most of the tunes can be played by any instrument with a 2-octave range (D next to middle C, and up), including recorders in C, mandolin, and clarinet.

The accompanying CD includes complete performances of the entire set, played by harpsichordist Jeremy Barlow,I Scottish fiddler Bonnie Rideout, flutist Jadwiga Kotnowska, and cellist Kevin McCrae.A second set of tracks on the CD offer just the harpsichord and cello accompaniments.The performances are clear, accurate, and stylish.

I am a professional pianist and a dedicated amateur recorder player.It is a treat to play tenor recorder along with these fine musicians.A few tunes are played faster than I can play, but we can all use a challenge, can't we?

The editing, typesetting, and layout are clear and precise.No fingerings are given, and bowing is shown for only one tune.There are no instructions on interpreting the ornaments. The keyboard parts are given in standard modern layout of treble-and-bass clefs, with no figured bass. The keyboard realizations are generally quite simple and direct -- effective and entirely musical. Part books for lead instrument and cello are included. Four selections include parts for a second instrument, mostly playing lower harmonies. Two selections include notation for the octave shifts required, depending upon whether the lead instrument is violin or flute.

"Thistle & Minuet" is part of a series called "Baroque Around the World," which includes collections of 18th-century music from France, Sweden, Italy, Ireland, and England, as well as a second volume of Scottish music.I have previously reviewed English Airs and Dances: 16 Easy to Intermediate Pieces from 18th-Century England Violin (Flute or Oboe) and Keyboard (Baroque Around the World Series), which I enjoy nearly as much as "Thistle & Minuet."I look forward to the other books in this outstanding series. -- Hoyle Osborne

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Product Description:
A collection of attractive pieces for flexible ensemble with keyboard accompaniment for use in the home, in schools and music centres. Violin, flute or oboe and keyboard with opt. cello or bassoon. Ideal for informal music-making, student and professional performance. CD with listening and play-along tracks, performed by outstanding musicians: Bonnie Rideout (fiddle), Jadwiga Kotnowska (flute), Kevin McCrae (cello) and Jeremy Barlow (harpsichord).

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Commonsense Instrument Care: How to Look After Your Violin, Viola or Cello, and Bow (Strings Guide) Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this book to be a solid work that would be at home on any beginning string player's shelf, or even someone who has been playing for a few years. Though short, I found it to be useful, especially for someone like myself who has never played a string instrument. It explains not just how to care for your instrument, but why the things that you should do are so important. More importantly, it tells you what NOT to do. I think that anyone but the most advanced players can glean a great deal of information from this book.

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This guide is a must-have reference book to help all violin, viola and cello owners care for their instruments and bows. With education and guidance, any player can learn: what is necessary to get a stringed instrument into top condition for optimum sound and tone; routine maintenance practices; how to treat an instrument to ensure that it will provide a lifetime of quality playing and musical enjoyment; and much more. Includes helpful photos throughout. 64 pages, 6 inch. x 9 inch.

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Texas and Swing Fiddle (DVD/Instructional/Folk Instrmt) Review

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(More customer reviews)PROS:
Wow!This book (with its SIX (6) audio CD set) represents years of study for me. Matt Glasser breaks down every phase with patience at a slow tempo. Very well done. THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF.

Old-time Texas fiddling, modern Texas fiddling, Western Swing, jazz andback-up fiddle. Glaser carefully breaks down all the tunes and analyzes the styles of Benny Thomasson, Bob Wills, Vassar Clements, Mark O'Connor, Stephane Grappelli, Joe Venuti and Eddie South.

These lessons will expand your skills and knowledge of the fiddle.

There is not a song here I don't want to learn to play like Glasser:

"Sally Goodin," "Salt River," "Leather Britches," "Billy in the Lowground," "Sally Johnson," "I Don't Love Nobody," "Texas Waltz," "Maiden's Prayer," "Corrina, Corrina," "Lady Be Good," "Sweet Georgia Brown," "Forked Deer," "Dusty Miller," "Cotton Patch Rag," "Beaumont Rag," "Milk Cow Blues," "Panhandle Rag," "Faded Love," ... All great tunes and really well done.

CONS:
These lessons are designed for the serious student.Thank you Matt, good job.

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LEVEL 3 * INCLUDES MUSIC Starting with old-time Texas fiddling, you'll progress through modern Texas, Western swing and jazz soloing. Matt carefully breaks down all the tunes and analyzes the styles of Benny Thomasson, Bob Wills, Vassar Clements, Mark O'Connor and other great swing players. 23 songs.

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Tipbook - Violin and Viola Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book last year, when I was still thinking about maybe-possibly taking violin lessons.This book won't teach you how to play per se, but it does provide valuable information about violin history, anatomy, and construction.Brand-new violinists can learn the basics of holding and playing their instrument, while soaking in some of the terminology.For those who are ready to take their practice to the next level, the book provides tips on buying and maintaining a violin, bow, case, and accessories.This section alone is worth the cost of the book, if only because you'll understand the technical jargon that the luthier (builder or repairer of stringed instruments) throws at you.What I personally found the most valuable, though, was their section on finding a teacher.Your first instrument may cost a few hundred dollars, but the price of lessons can quickly eclipse this.Your needs as a student will vary according to your goals, so 'Tipbook Violin and Viola' suggests several questions to ask yourself and your prospective teacher to help you find a good fit.

The "Tipbook" in the title refers to audio and video content available at [...].It isn't crucial to the book, but it's much easier to understand, for instance, how tuning pegs work if you can actually see and hear them in action.

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Product Description:
Here is a totally new and expanded edition of the 2005 original. The new format offers string players at all levels essential information on auditioning and buying a new instrument, bow, and strings. Chapters on maintenance and tuning are included, as well as background information on the family, the history, and the production of the instruments, a glossary and an index, interactive Tipcodes, and a new chapter on practicing.

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Banjo Pickers Fake Book Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is 216 pages of banjo tunes arranged for three-finger and clawhammer players. It includes a cross-reference of alternate titles and a 24 page general discography, as well as a discussion of the types of tunesincluded.There is also a short discussion of technical topics such asmodes (very appropriate for traditional music) and how to readtablature.
This book is a lot like a Grainger's collection of fiddletunes for flatpickers.Unlike Grainger's, which only provides enoughtablature to spell out the melody for the A part and the B part, The BanjoPicker's Fakebook takes you through one whole iteration of each tunecomplete with first and second endings. Also like Grainger's, this is notan instruction book.It leaves both the right and left hand fingeringsentirely up to the reader.For example, if you are a strictly a bluegrassplayer, the clawhammer arrangements will not be useful to you.
Although the discography could be used to collect aural examples of thetunes, a CD or a set of tapes would have been a welcome addition.Music isan aural art, and it is impossible to convey the full musical sense intablature or in standard musical notation alone.
If you are looking for alot of tunes, thoughtfully arranged in a single volume, I highly recommendThe Banjo Picker's Fakebook. If the tune can't be found in this book,chances are no one eles knows it either, so you could go ahead and playanything that fit.

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Product Description:
This ultimate sourcebook for the banjo player contains over 230 jigs, reels, rags, hornpipes, and breakdowns from all major traditional instrumental styles. Includes special introductory materials on regional styles, interpretation, and bluegrass techniques. Discography.

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English, Welsh, Scottish & Irish Fiddle Tunes Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the first fiddle book I bought, some 10 years ago, and I still go back to it for something different on occasion. It has 100 or so tunes, a lot of which are rare these days. This is not a book that will help you to play in celtic music sessions, as the tunes are mostly obscure, and if they are common, Robin always has to throw in some wild variation, or change the tune slightly. His choice of chords is better than anything I've seen in more conventional celtic fiddle books. He teaches the basic ornamentation, and each tune has a paragraph written about it. The record, now a cd, is helpful to learn his stylings and the tunes but only covers a small amount of the tunes printed, 20 maybe. This book has great personality and is much more interesting than the sterile massed produced tune books of today.
My only complaint is that I wish it had more tunes in the book and more tunes on the record.

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Over 100 tunes, this is an outstanding collection of the traditional music of Britain, graded from easy to advanced.

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O'Neill's Music of Ireland: Over 1,000 Fiddle Tunes Review

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(More customer reviews)Author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Fiddle (Complete Idiot's Guide to)

This is the very first book of Irish tunes I purchased when I began playing Irish fiddle back in high school, and I found it very useful. A short primer at the beginning gives you the basic gist of how an Irish fiddler might ornament his/her tunes. In the collection itself, ornaments such as rolls, triplets and grace notes are written directly into the melodies. This allows you to get a sense of where these ornaments might go. While it doesn't contain all the tunes from the original O'Neill collections, the most commonly known tunes are here. So once you've (hopefully) moved on to learning all your tunes by ear, you'll still have a good reference volume on your shelf when you just can't for the life of you remember how "The Woman of the House" starts....

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Over 1,000 Fiddle Tunes! A newly revised and corrected collection of the dance music of Ireland. Jigs, rells, hornpipes, long dances and marches, with an introduction on the history of Irish music and tips on playing with an authentic feeling.

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The Absolutely Complete Klezmer Songbook (Transcontinental Music Folios) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are looking for a great collection of klezmer music, this has got to be the one. Extremely comprehensive, extremely legible, and some really superb tunes. A big and hearty thanks to the author who traveled Europe collecting these tunes, now written down here for posterity. The biggest bonus here is the CD, which has beautifully rendered performances of 36 of the 313(!) pieces, and really fantastic sound. In fact, the package is worth it for the CD alone.

Don't let the price scare you away, this is a vast collection that is more than worth the price. If you can afford only one klezmer book, this is it!

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Product Description:
Renowned ethnomusicologist, documentarian, and klezmer musician Yale Strom teamed up with Transcontinental Music to create an exhaustive compilation of nigunim, horas, bulgars, and more. This songbook features melody lines and chords for 313 songs including many collected from the field by Strom himself in Eastern Europe and published here for the first time, plus a number of exclusive, out-of-print lost treasures not available anywhere else. Strom also provides a thorough, extensive written history and perspective of klezmer, complete with a glossary and archival photos. The CD includes 36 of the songs found in the book recorded by Strom and his band Hot Pstromi.

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The Fiddler's Fakebook Review

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(More customer reviews)Printed in 1983, the Fakebook remains the undisputed champion of music references for fiddlers, and it's aided a fair number of other non-fiddlers as well.
Inside its broad covers you'll find nearly 500 tunes from the various fiddle traditions. Jigs, reels, hornpipes, rags and breakdowns, each clearly labeled for origins (Irish, bluegrass, French-Canadian, old-time, etc.) and including a short list of recordings where the tune can be heard. Just flip it open randomly for a taste of its contents, and imagine the sound of tunes like "Haste to the Wedding," "Leather Britches," "The Munster Buttermilk," "Drowsy Maggie," "The Wind That Shakes the Barley," "Hanged Man's Reel" and "Great Big Taters in Sandy Land."
Eight pages of textbook materials -- music theory, history and culture, style and genre -- give a wonderfully brief overview of the things you'd like to know without loading the book down with endless information which, frankly, can get in the way of the tunes and make it too bulky for carrying. Better still, the book is held together by a sturdy plastic binding which allows you to plop it down on your music stand with ease. There's nothing so frustrating as a music book with tight bindings which make it impossible to play straight from the page.

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Product Description:
Contains nearly 500 jigs, reels, rags, and hornpipes from all the major fiddling traditions. Special introductory materials on regional styles, bowing, and ornamentation. Includes an extensive discography.

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Swing-Jazz Violin with Hot-Club Rhythm Sheet Music (String Letter Publishing) (Strings) Review

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(More customer reviews)CONTENTS

1. Chicago
2. Some of These Days
3. After You've Gone
4. Sheik of Araby
5. Margie
6. Swingin' Like 42
7. My Melancholy Baby
8. Baby Won't You Please Come Home
9. Dark Eyes
10. China Boy
11. Swing in Minor
12. The Japanese Sandman
13. Rose Room
14. The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise
15. Avalon
16. St. Louis Blues
17. Some of These Days (String Quartet)

This instructional book complete with sheet music offers melodies and solos to 16 great jazz standards. Practice and improvise along with a recorded "Hot-Club" style band. Learn playing tips from one of America's finest violinists Jeremy Cohen. Build your strength, stamina, focus, and improvising chops by jamming with the band. You'll begin by learning melodies and solos to some of the greatest and best known jazz standards, by playing along with a wonderful recorded band playing in the "Hot Club" or "Gypsy jazz" style. Each melody and solo is recorded at both slow and regular speeds, and you'll be able to practice them all with extended band rhythm tracks. Just about any violinist at any level of development can play along with one speed or the other.

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Product Description:
Explore the world of jazz violin with one of America's finest jazz and swing violinists, Jeremy Cohen. With this book/CD pack, violinists can: practice soloing and improvising along with a recorded Hot-Club-style band * learn melodies and solos to 16 great jazz standards * build strength, stamina, focus, and improvising skills by jamming with the band. Includes two audio CDs with variable-speed practice tracks and full-band accompaniment.

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