The Early Violin And Viola

An invaluable guide to the available historical source material on playing the violin and viola.

"The Early Music revival has had far-reaching consequences on how music of the past is performed, both by specialists and non-specialists. This timely book is a practical step-by-step course of lessons for violinists and violists in both these categories, covering the interpretation, technique, culture and historical background of the Baroque violin repertoire. Written by a violinist and teacher specialising in Baroque music over many years, it guides readers from the basics (how to hold the violin) to Bach, via music from a wide variety of styles. Avoiding obscure musicological jargon, it is eminently readable and accessible. Packed with information, detailed observations on the music under discussion and relevant quotations from historical and contemporary sources, it covers everything the Baroque violin student should know and may be considered as equivalent to two to three years of individual lessons. The book contains over 100 Exercises devised for and tested on students over the years. The author's holistic approach is evident through the Exercises aimed at bringing out the individual voice of each student, and his insistence that what happens within, the identification and manipulation of Affects, is a vital part of successful performance. Imitating the voice, both spoken and sung, is a constant theme, beginning with the simple device of playing words. There are 50 Lessons, including five Ornamentation Modules and ones on specific topics: Temperament, Rhetoric, the Affects etc. All the music, transcribed for both violin and viola, is downloadable from the website, where there is also a series of videos"--

The reference manual for both begining and advanced violinists, including tipcodes and a glossary.

Originally published: London: Macdonald and Jane's, 1976.

In the early seventeenth century, enthusiasm for the violin swept across Europe--this was an instrument capable of bewitching virtuosity, with the power to express emotions in a way only before achieved with the human voice. With this new guide to the Baroque violin, and its close cousin, the Baroque viola, distinguished performer and pedagogue Walter Reiter puts this power into the hands of today's players. Through fifty lessons based on the Reiter's own highly-renowned course at The Royal Conservatory of the Hague, The Baroque Violin & Viola, Volume II provides a comprehensive exploration of the period's rich and varied repertoire. The lessons in Volume II cover the early seventeenth-century Italian sonata, music of the French Baroque, the Galant style, and the sonatas of composers like Schmelzer, Biber, and Bach. Practical exercises are integrated into each lesson, and accompanied by rich video demonstrations on the book's companion website. Brought to life by Reiter's deep insight into key repertoire based on a lifetime of playing and teaching, The Baroque Violin & Viola, Volume II: A Fifty-Lesson Course will enhance performances of professional and amateur musicians alike.

A compilation of violin and viola repertory group lesson ideas, planned to reinforce what is learned at individual lessons at home. This 84-page book is organized according to students' ability levels from pre-Twinkle through Volume 4. Each chapter contains an introduction, suggested warm-up activities, and appropriate ideas for working toward these goals: posture, concentration and coordination, right hand techniques, left hand techniques and musicality. Activities for combined violin and viola groups, and suggestions for the end of the group lesson wrap up each section of the book. This is an attractive and useful book with an emphasis on ideas. Photographs help to illustrate concepts.

Originally published: London: E. Benn, 1972, in series: Instruments of the orchestra. With new preface by the author.

A 1999 overview of historical performance, surveying issues and suggesting future developments.

The life, times, and travels of a remarkable instrument and the people who have made, sold, played, and cherished it. A 16-ounce package of polished wood, strings, and air, the violin is perhaps the most affordable, portable, and adaptable instrument ever created. As congenial to reels, ragas, Delta blues, and indie rock as it is to solo Bach and late Beethoven, it has been played standing or sitting, alone or in groups, in bars, churches, concert halls, lumber camps, even concentration camps, by pros and amateurs, adults and children, men and women, at virtually any latitude on any continent. Despite dogged attempts by musicologists worldwide to find its source, the violin’s origins remain maddeningly elusive. The instrument surfaced from nowhere in particular, in a world that Columbus had only recently left behind and Shakespeare had yet to put on paper. By the end of the violin’s first century, people were just discovering its possibilities. But it was already the instrument of choice for some of the greatest music ever composed by the end of its second. By the dawn of its fifth, it was established on five continents as an icon of globalization, modernization, and social mobility, an A-list trophy, and a potential capital gain. In The Violin, David Schoenbaum has combined the stories of its makers, dealers, and players into a global history of the past five centuries. From the earliest days, when violin makers acquired their craft from box makers, to Stradivari and the Golden Age of Cremona; Vuillaume and the Hills, who turned it into a global collectible; and incomparable performers from Paganini and Joachim to Heifetz and Oistrakh, Schoenbaum lays out the business, politics, and art of the world’s most versatile instrument.

A reference book to help all violin, viola, and cello owners care for their instruments and bows includes routine maintenance practices and tips on what is necessary to get a stringed instrument into top condition for optimum sound and tone.

Are you ready for a new collection of energetic, catchy fiddle tunes? The Blackberry Blossom Fiddle Book for Cello is here! This book has tunes and harmonies you will hum through the rest of the day and can give you a new reason to get excited about playing the cello! Perfect for in-person and remote private (or group) lessons, string ensembles of any combination, or impromptu chamber music parties, this book (along with the violin, viola, bass, and optional piano books) gives you eleven "mix-and-match" fiddle arrangements to play, along with short preparatory warm-up exercises. Each tune has four options so musicians at different levels can play together: an Advanced Melody, a Stress-Free Melody, a Basic Harmony, and a Teacher Harmony. You can warm up with the exercises, try the Stress-Free Melody, and then work towards the Advanced Melody. The Blackberry Blossom Fiddle Book for Cello can be played in a group or group class with the violin, viola, bass, and piano books; all of the tunes can be learned and played together as duets, trios, or in groups of any size. This cello fiddle book is entirely in first position, in the keys of D and G and will get your toes tapping and your fingers fiddling!

A great first violin book for the very young student featuring extra large notation, letters inside the note heads, fingerings, plus coloring and activity pages. For multiple school orders, please contact us for a discount code good for up to 40% off the cover price at www.violinfunbook.com

This book provides the first scholarly history of the viola d’amore, a popular bowed string instrument of the Baroque era, with a unique tone produced by a set of metal sympathetic strings. Composers like Bach made use of the viola d’amore for its particular sound, but the instrument subsequently fell out of fashion amid orchestral standardisation, only to see a revival as interest in early music and historical performance grew. Drawing on literary accounts, iconography, and surviving instruments, this study examines the origins and development of this eye-catching string instrument in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It explores the rich variation of designs displayed in extant viola d’amore specimens, both as originally constructed and as a result of conversion and repair. The viola d’amore is then set into the wider context of Elizabethan England’s development of instruments with wire strings, and its legacy in the form of the baryton which emerged in the early seventeenth century, followed by a look at the viola d’amore’s own nomenclatorial and organological influence. The book closes with a discussion of the viola d’amore’s revival, and its use and manufacture today. Offering insights for organological research and historical performance practice, this study enhances our knowledge of both the viola d’amore and its wider family of instruments.

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! • Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather’s heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world. “I loved The Violin Conspiracy for exactly the same reasons I loved The Queen’s Gambit: a surprising, beautifully rendered underdog hero I cared about deeply and a fascinating, cutthroat world I knew nothing about—in this case, classical music.” —Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music. When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he's lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.

"The Early Music revival has had far-reaching consequences on how music of the past is performed, both by specialists and non-specialists. This timely book is a practical step-by-step course of lessons for violinists and violists in both these categories, covering the interpretation, technique, culture and historical background of the Baroque violin repertoire. Written by a violinist and teacher specialising in Baroque music over many years, it guides readers from the basics (how to hold the violin) to Bach, via music from a wide variety of styles. Avoiding obscure musicological jargon, it is eminently readable and accessible. Packed with information, detailed observations on the music under discussion and relevant quotations from historical and contemporary sources, it covers everything the Baroque violin student should know and may be considered as equivalent to two to three years of individual lessons. The book contains over 100 Exercises devised for and tested on students over the years. The author's holistic approach is evident through the Exercises aimed at bringing out the individual voice of each student, and his insistence that what happens within, the identification and manipulation of Affects, is a vital part of successful performance. Imitating the voice, both spoken and sung, is a constant theme, beginning with the simple device of playing words. There are 50 Lessons, including five Ornamentation Modules and ones on specific topics: Temperament, Rhetoric, the Affects etc. All the music, transcribed for both violin and viola, is downloadable from the website, where there is also a series of videos"--

Sound Innovations for String Orchestra is a revolutionary new method that combines time-tested educational concepts, input from thousands of teachers, and advances in modern technology. Using solid pedagogy that follows state and national music education standards, the methods can be customized by teachers to use their own experiences in creating the best approach for their unique classroom. Sound Innovations is available in two versions: Standard Edition and the custom Director's Choice Edition. Visit www.alfred.com/soundinnovations for more information. This title is available in SmartMusic.

The first volume of a two-volume translation of Heinrich Schenker's 'Der Tonwille' (1921-24). This book includes Schenker's original, major essays on Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and piano sonatas by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, shorter analyses of Bach preludes and writings that provide an extensive account of the philosophical and cultural background from which Schenker's theories emerged