Birds and Beasts is an attractive pre-grades album of 13 simple pieces and four duets for the learner who has mastered the first elements of notation and time. Suggested grade 0-1

SKU: FH.VLR00

ISBN 9781554409013.

Carefully selected and curated to support teachers and students in their artistic and technical development, the Violin Series, 2021 Edition includes pieces from a diverse range of eras and styles that represent stepping stones to major violin repertoire. Each level is constructed to link repertoire selections to necessary techniques and corresponding etudes, while illustrating step-by-step connections for developing core skills. Each Repertoire book includes access to quality video and audio recordings by some of North America's finest violinists and accompanists; both performance and accompaniment-only tracks for each Repertoire selection offer students a model for performance practice and the convenience of accompanied rehearsal at home.

Violin Preparatory Repertoire features student and teacher duets to promote listening skills and to provide an entry point into ensemble playing. This repertoire book for elementary-level students, distinguished by slow and fast tempos, is based on the foundational finger patterns of D major and A major, postural development, and bow division with legato and staccato strokes. Special effects, such as tapping on the side of the violin and open-string pizzicato, promote freedom of movement and encourage navigation of the fingerboard. Elementary rhythms are explored alongside supportive piano accompaniments within familiar time signatures. Featured composers include Violet Archer, Ludwig van Beethoven, Harold Birston, Frank Blachford, Jean Couthard, David Gordon Duke, Jean Ethridge, Joanne Martin, and Mary Alice Rich.