With the help of a practice CD you will be guided through dozens of left and right hand exercises and tunes designed to help you develop the feel of each style and how it can be used for improvisation.

Written by a composer and a musician, The Contemporary Violin offers a unique menu of avant-garde musical possibilities that both performers and composers will enjoy exploring. Allen and Patricia Strange's comprehensive study critically examines extended performance techniques found in the violin literature of the latter half of the twentieth century. Drawing from both published and private manuscripts, the authors present extended performance options for the acoustic, modified, electric, and MIDI violin, with signal processing and computer-related techniques, and include more than 400 notated examples. The authors begin with bowing techniques and proceed systematically through other aspects of string playing, including MIDI technologies. Their correspondence and research with many performers and composers, the book's extensive score and text bibliography, and the discography of more than 130 recordings make The Contemporary Violin a valuable contemporary music reference and guide. An additional benefit is its listing of Internet resources that will keep the reader up to date with recent developments in contemporary performance and composition. First published by UC Press, 2001.

In his book on left-hand violin technique, Maestro Ruggiero Ricci addresses common problems in shifting by advocating the study of the glissando technique. He asserts that re-incorporating this technique will not only aid violinists in developing a better-trained ear, but also provide them with "shortcuts" to playing some of Paganini's most difficult passages. Ricci introduces and compares old and new systems of playing to provide a context for the glissando system. He outlines a series of glissando scales that provides the student with a blueprint for developing additional glissando scales in other keys. He offers exercises designed to increase flexibility, ear training, coordination, and crawling technique and has included a DVD in which he demonstrates various bowing techniques.

Reminiscences, insights into great music and musicians, innumerable tips for practicing violinists. Includes 385 musical passages.

Never before available in English, this classic work is a major contribution to the art and technique of violin playing and an important document in the history of performance practice. A contemporary of Kreutzer and Rode, Pierre Marie Francois de Sales Baillot provides in his treatise many insights into the style of nineteenth-century fingering, bowing, ornamentation, and expressiveness that are not apparent from the directions and markings found in scores of that time. Such information will be invaluable for performers interested in understanding the intentions of composers such as Viotti, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. This complete, unabridged translation, which includes an extensive introduction by the translator, Louise Goldberg, and a foreword by Zvi Zeitlin, will be indispensable for musicologists, performers, and lovers of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century classical music.

Like most 18th century Venetians, Adriana d'Amato adores music—except her strict merchant father has forbidden her to cultivate her gift for the violin. But she refuses to let that stop her from living her dreams and begins sneaking out of her family's palazzo under the cover of night to take violin lessons from virtuoso violinist and composer Antonio Vivaldi. However, what begins as secret lessons swiftly evolves into a passionate, consuming love affair. Adriana's father is intent on seeing her married to a wealthy, prominent member of Venice's patrician class—and a handsome, charming suitor, whom she knows she could love, only complicates matters—but Vivaldi is a priest, making their relationship forbidden in the eyes of the Church and of society. They both know their affair will end upon Adriana's marriage, but she cannot anticipate the events that will force Vivaldi to choose between her and his music. The repercussions of his choice—and of Adriana's own choices—will haunt both of their lives in ways they never imagined. Spanning more than 30 years of Adriana's life, Alyssa Palombo's The Violinist of Venice is a story of passion, music, ambition, and finding the strength to both fall in love and to carry on when it ends.

Drawing on the principles of Francesco Geminiani and four decades of experience as a baroque and classical violinist, Stanley Ritchie offers a valuable resource for anyone wishing to learn about 17th-18th-and early 19th-century violin technique and style. While much of the work focuses on the technical aspects of playing the pre-chinrest violin, these approaches are also applicable to the viola, and in many ways to the modern violin. Before the Chinrest includes illustrated sections on right- and left-hand technique, aspects of interpretation during the Baroque, Classical, and early-Romantic eras, and a section on developing proper intonation.

For fans of Nicola Yoon and Nina LaCour comes a striking novel about difficult choices from acclaimed author Brandy Colbert. Since she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school. Full of doubt about her future, and increasingly frustrated by her strained relationship with her successful but emotionally closed-off father, Yvonne meets a street musician and fellow violinist who understands her struggle. He's mysterious, charming, and different from Warren, the familiar and reliable boy who has her heart. But when Yvonne becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she has to make the most difficult decision yet about her future. From the author of Pointe and Little & Lion, comes another heartfelt novel about the twists and turns that can show up on a path meant only for you.

The full eBook version of Violin Technique in Practice in fixed-layout format, with downloadable audio. Violin Technique in Practice is an innovative approach to violin technique by Mary Cohen, developed from her unique 'weightless balance' methodology. Concise exercises are structured into sets that cover all aspects of technique alongside the author's expert advice guiding you through like a personal trainer. This book will develop a relaxed, secure technique and increase confidence in every part of the instrument - without the need to spend hours practising. It has been written with the needs of advanced students, teachers and professional players in mind, although the early sets are also ideal for use with students at late-intermediate level.

(Berklee Guide). Learn to use strings in your compositions and arrangements! From romantic chord pads to powerful grooves to gut-wrenching passionate melodies, strings do it all. This book presents time-tested techniques and contemporary developments in writing and arranging for strings. You'll learn strategies for authentic writing in many different styles and find ideas to take your personal sound forward. Discover voicings that work best for each project and explore the intricacies of bowing. Hear articulation approaches from pads to chopping in the online audio examples. See how other composers have used strings to heighten the impact of their music in the written examples. Make your work stand out with the drama and depth that well informed string writing can bring. You will learn: * The tunings, range, and timbres for the violin, viola, cello, and bass, including standard instruments and common variations, including acoustic, electric, and synthesized string instruments and sections * Bowing techniques and possibilities * Characteristic articulations and sounds, such as vibrato, pizzicato, sul tasto, trills, tremolos, and harmonics * Timbral and rhythm effects, such as chop technique, ponticello/feedback, portamento, and falls * String-section arranging techniques, such as melody/countermelody, fills, pads, and comping * Stylistic nuances of genres such as American roots, Celtic, jazz, rock, klezmer, eastern European, Gypsy jazz, and swing * Mic, recording, and live sound techniques for capturing the best string sounds for both acoustic and electric instruments