SKU: AP.6-450414
ISBN 9780486450414. UPC: 9780486450414. 9x12 inches. English.
How long should I practice? Which pieces should I study? How can I develop a singing tone? All violinists ponder these questions, striving to make the most of their practice and performances. This enlightening and encouraging book holds the answers, offering a series of interviews with the most celebrated violin teachers and performers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Twenty-four famous violinists reveal the secrets of their success, sharing the lessons of their artistry and experience. In addition to aesthetic and technical aspects of playing, they discuss their personal conceptions of violin mastery. Eugene Ysaye reminisces about his studies with Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski, and Leopold Auer emphasizes the importance of fostering students' individual talents. Maud Powell describes her pioneering role as a female orchestral musician, and Jascha Heifetz voices his views on technical mastery and temperament. Hints and advice from other masters include tips on efficient practice, immproving bow technique, and refining intonation. A rare find in musical literature, this book is essential reading for every serious violinist.Dover (2006) unabridged republication of the work originally published by Frederick A. Stokes, New York, 1919.
SKU: AP.6-834077
ISBN 9780486834078. UPC: 800759834075. English.
A student of the world-renowned violinist Leopold Auer, Maia Bang acted as the maestro's teaching assistant and preserved his acclaimed methods of instruction in a series of manuals. The seven-volume collection covers every aspect of teaching and learning the instrument, from the beginning to the highest level. This first volume focuses on elementary aspects: the basics of holding the violin, tuning, reading music, scales, and bowing.
SKU: CF.BF131
ISBN 9781491153765. UPC: 680160911264. 9 x 12 inches.
Inspired by Clarence Cameron White’s book The Violinist’s Daily Dozen, The Violinist’s Daily Sixteen is a collection of daily exercises compiled by Roland Vamos. Intended for student and professional violinists, the collection provides the performer with a variety of exercises for daily warm-ups. Mr. Vamos also focuses on developing dexterity and flexibility in the fingers and joints, the first and fourth fingers in particular. Each of the sixteen exercises is notated for each of the four strings, and Vamos recommends that the exercises be practiced as warm-ups, choosing a different string for each day of practice.Also included with the Daily Sixteen is a comprehensive set of studies for developing fluency with scales and arpeggios. Mr. Vamos’ unique methodology is to begin with major scales and arpeggios, followed by minor scales and arpeggios, all of which are notated in two, three and four octaves. Alternate fingers are provided, as well as a variety of slurred and mixed bowings using the three parts of the bow whenever feasible. It is a remarkably systematic approach to performing scales and arpeggios on the violin and will surely benefit students and professionals alike.ForewordThis short hand-setting set of exercises was inspired by a book entitled The Violinist’s Daily Dozen, conceived by Clarence Cameron White, a prominent African-American violinist, composer and arranger who enjoyed the bulk of his career in the first half of the twentieth century.I have practiced this set of exercises since I was twelve years old. It has served me as a superb warm-up and hand setting tool. Over the years, I have found that there are some aspects of this warm-up routine that were not given sufficient attention or not addressed at all. Consequently, I have expanded the Daily Dozen to create a new work entitled The Violinist’s Daily Sixteen.I have also paid particular attention in this work as to how these exercises are to be practiced. In exercises one and two, I have indicated some notes to be played before the actual written exercises. This is to ensure that the fourth finger will be over the string in a position ready to strike even though it is not being used. Before playing exercises three, four, nine, ten, eleven and twelve, I have indicated silent fingers to be placed on the notes they would be playing if they were being used.I have replaced Mr. White’s grace notes with notes of specific value and have slowed down the exercises so that the first joint (the joint nearest the string) of each finger can move with flexibility and strength. At no time should the first joint buckle.In Mr. White’s version, the last exercise gave the first finger some very valuable backward extensions. In this exercise (number 14 in this book), I caution the student not to move the hand along with the first finger. The hand should remain in position while the first finger independently moves back and forth.It became obvious to me that if the first finger were given the opportunity to develop the dexterity that Mr. White’s twelfth exercise emphasizes, the fourth finger could benefit from an exercise that gives it a forward extension. Consequently, I added another exercise to create a Baker’s Dozen (thirteen).Several years later, I felt that the second and third fingers should also have an exercise to further develop their dexterity…hence exercise fourteen was added to create a “Vamos Dozen.â€Because the first finger did not have sufficient practice in the development of the first joint in the original version, I have added two exercises to precede White’s fifth exercise. After re-working and re-numbering these exercises, I have come up with a total of sixteen exercises. It is my suggestion that these be practiced as a warm-up, choosing a different string each day.—Roland VamosEvanston, Illinois 2017 PrefaceScales are a means of teaching a person the fingerboard on his or her instrument. The fingers move across the strings and are required to make shifts, all in highly organized patterns. Scales and arpeggios are the foundation upon which our repertoire is built. Many scale books have been written; each one being organized in its own specific way. The Flesch Scale System has been a standard for many decades. It is very comprehensive and systematic. From the point of view of establishing similar patterns, it has one drawback: it is organized by starting with a major key, followed by its relative minor, going through the circle of fifths. I believe that it is more profitable to do only major scales with their arpeggios first, going up chromatically, and then follow them in a similar way with the minor scales. In using this approach, the similarities in fingerings between the various scales are more apparent. It is also profitable to have alternate fingerings whenever possible. My approach to scales and arpeggios includes a variety of slurred and mixed bowings using the three parts of the bow whenever feasible. These bowings are not all-inclusive. Whenever a particularly awkward bowing pattern is encountered in the repertoire, it can be practiced as an additional bowing variation in the scales and arpeggios.   I have chosen to introduce the three and four octave scales by teaching two octave scales across the strings in one position going up chromatically through seven positions; starting on the first, second, third, and finally fourth fingers in major and melodic minor.—Roland VamosEvanston, Illinois 2017.
SKU: CF.BF118
ISBN 9781491149812. UPC: 680160907311. 9 x 12 inches.
Continuing on the success of the popular Compatible series,Compatible Duets for Strings, Volume II contains 29 duets in avariety of styles (classical, folk music, new original pieces) thatcan be played with any combination of two string instruments.Students can develop their chamber ensemble skills whileplaying with their friends, no matter what string instrumentthey play. Ranging from grade levels 2–3, Compatible Duetsfor Strings, Volume II is perfect for orchestra directors to buyfor use in the classroom, and its flexibility makes it a musthavefor any string player.Having students play in small chamber music groups is a very beneficial exercise to improvethe student’s overall musicianship. The simplest form of chamber music is the duet. It is anopportunity for the student to play with a teacher or to play with another student of similarabilities. Aspects of playing such as tone quality, intonation, technique and ensemble skillscan be developed during the process of studying duets.These duets are different in that they have many different performance options since all ofthe books in this series are compatible. As former long time music educators we alwayshad student that wanted to come to the music room during lunch or after school and theyjust wanted to play with their friends. That was not possible since there is very little duetmaterial available that is compatible with all of the string instruments. This book and thefirst volume in the series takes care of that. A student can now grab their friend no matterwhat instrument they play and have hours of fun playing duets together. Most importantthey will learn something in the process.The duets have been generally placed in the book in order of difficulty and cover a rangeof keys that are appropriate for this ability level. Special care was given to making surethat both of the duet parts were on a similar ability level and that each line was givenan opportunity to play a lead role at some point during the arrangement. Also, most ofthe musical markings are attached to both systems and the point size of the music wasconsidered for ease of reading.It is our hope that this collection will help to stimulate and enhance the musicianship of theperformers. It was a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to put together this collection.We hope it is a useful tool for you for years to come.
