A King, a Tsar, a Marquis and a Messiah have one thing in common; they all had violin cases custom made for them. From the mundane to the magnificent, violin cases span the centuries and reflect the cultural values and aspirations of the times and societies that produced and used them. In this pioneering book devoted to violin cases, Dr Wood reveals the diversity of craft skills that have gone into their production and how these have evolved over the last four centuries.

In 1920, Mabel Hitchman's Aunt Iona and cousin Douglas migrate to South Dakota from Germany. Unbeknownst to Mabel, Iona is a world-class forger, and Mabel is sent away for five years to keep her innocent of the family business. In 1938, a changed Mabel carries forged papers in her violin case to Vienna, Austria. Her job is to deliver the documents to three Jews and one political enemy trying to escape the Nazi regime. As she evades a marauding death squad, she learns that one of the men she believed safe remains in the Vienna ghetto, so she forms a plan that could get people killed. Smuggling the documents into Austria was easy; getting back to South Dakota could cost her everything.

Take a (violin) bow and let your inner musician shine! You don’t have to be a genius to start fiddling around! Violin For Dummies helps budding violinists of all ages begin to play. If you’ve never read a note of music, this book will show you how to turn those little black dots into beautiful notes. Start slow as you learn how to hold the instrument, use the bow, finger notes, and play in tune. Watch yourself blossom into a musician with tips on technique and style. When you’re ready to go further, this book will help you find the people and resources that can help you get just a little closer to virtuoso! Your own private lessons are right inside this book, with the included online video and audio instruction, plus recordings that will help you develop your “ear.” This book takes the guesswork out of learning an instrument, so you’ll be ready to join the band when the time comes! Choose a violin and learn the basics of holding the instrument and playing notes Start reading music with this fast-and-easy introduction to musical notation Improve your musicianship and start to play in groups Explore different music styles and legendary violin composers The violin is a beautiful thing—adding melody everywhere from orchestras to folk and pop tunes. With Violin For Dummies, you can make the music your own, even if you’re a total music beginner.

Doomed from the beginning Marly walks alone. A rich boy, a fence, a pimp, an arms dealer, a host of grifters, and a crazed West Coast P.I. are all involved in the theft which threatens to bring war between the strongest crime family in town and another with a price on her head. When a sniper begins cleaning up loose ends, it’s a race against time. he Coldest Case Come to Chicago’s Hottest P.I. Marly Jackson. Tasked by her ex-lover Finn with finding a rare violin, the case explodes. From back-alley deals in the slums to the halls of academia, it seems everyone wants a piece of the violin, and everyone is willing to kill to get it As the mystery stretches back further and further into the past Marly must find not only the violin, but its secrets. But when dead bodies begin piling up and the players go to ground it’s down to the wire. When revenge, passion, greed, and cold-blooded betrayal dance deadly around her, can Marly stay alive long enough to get to the truth and discover what is real and what is smoke and mirrors in The Violin Case?

Bax's aspirations to join a symphony orchestra involve him with a beautiful and old violin which is much desired by seemingly dangerous and elusive strangers.

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.

Tatjana Goldberg reveals the extent to which gender and socially constructed identity influenced female violinists’ ‘separate but unequal’ status in a great male-dominated virtuoso lineage by focussing on the few that stood out: the American Maud Powell (1867–1920), Australian-born Alma Moodie (1898–1943), and the British Marie Hall (1884–1956). Despite breaking down traditional gender-based patriarchal social and cultural norms, becoming celebrated soloists, and greatly contributing towards violin works and the early recording industry (Powell and Hall), they received little historical recognition. Goldberg provides a more complete picture of their artistic achievements and the impact they had on audiences.

(Fast Track Music Instruction). FastTrack is (you guessed it!) a fast way to learn to play violin! Skeptical of method books? (Yeah, we think they're kind of boring, too.) That's why we've tried to make FastTrack different from the rest: user-friendly, plenty of cool songs, and a lot more fun. In addition to teaching you what you need to know about the violin, we've included lots of stuff you want to know the parts of the violin, bowings, fingerings, articulation, and much more. So, open the book, crack your knuckles, get your violin out of the case, and let's learn to play it!