The Belwin String Builder is a string class method in which the violin, viola, cello, and bass play together throughout. Each book, however, is a complete unit and may be used separately for class or individual instruction. The material in this book is realistically graded so that only a minimum of explanatory material is required. Each melody is interesting and will provide the basis for a fine left hand technic and bow arm. Available in three levels for violin, viola, cello, bass, piano accompaniment, and teacher's manual.

The Belwin String Builder is a string class method in which the violin, viola, cello, and bass play together throughout. Each book, however, is a complete unit and may be used separately for class or individual instruction. The material in this book is realistically graded so that only a minimum of explanatory material is required. Each melody is interesting and will provide the basis for a fine left hand technic and bow arm. Available in three levels for violin, viola, cello, bass, piano accompaniment, and teacher's manual.

Class method books for stringed instruments, three books for each. Parts for stringed instruments may be used together or separately.

The Third and Fifth Position String Builder is to be used after Book 3 of the Belwin String Builder. However, it may also be used as a continuation of any the standard string class methods. In this book, the violin, viola, cello, and bass play together. The book for each instrument, however, is a complete unit and may be used separately for class or individual instruction. In this book, the pupil is carefully taken step by step through the third and fifth positions. The pupil is taught to find each finger, after which simple shifts are introuduced with the same finger, followed by shifts to these positions with different fingers. Each type of shift is presented and developed with interesting melodies. The material in this volume is chosen for its musical interest and its technical value. There are a number of duets which are to be played by either two pupils or with the class divided into two groups. The material in this book is realistically graded so that only a minimum of explanatory material is required. Suggestions for work by rote are presented throughout the book. Published for violin, viola, cello, bass, piano accompaniment, teacher's manual.

The Belwin String Builder is a string class method in which the violin, viola, cello, and bass play together throughout. Each book, however, is a complete unit and may be used separately for class or individual instruction. The material in this book is realistically graded so that only a minimum of explanatory material is required. Each melody is interesting and will provide the basis for a fine left hand technic and bow arm. Available in three levels for violin, viola, cello, bass, piano accompaniment, and teacher's manual.

The Duets for Strings, Book 1 may be started when the pupil has reached page 9 of Book 1 of the String Builder. They may, however, be used in conjunction with Book 1 of any standard string class method. Published in three levels for violin, viola, cello, and bass.

Strategies for Teaching Strings: Building a Successful String and Orchestra Program, Fourth Edition, is an essential guide for prospective, novice, and experienced string teachers alike. This comprehensive text provides all the information necessary to develop and manage a successful school-based program. Based on the national standards for teaching strings and orchestra, the text covers performance objectives, strategies for teaching technical and performance skills, and solutions to common playing problems for elementary, middle, and high school skill levels. It also offers rehearsal strategies to develop large-group ensemble techniques, practical approaches to teaching improvisation, and advice on how to increase student recruitment and retention.

I can't really explain my attraction to the bow and arrow. I can't explain the pull of a camp fire either, or the ocean, or the open hills where you can see forever. It's just there. These things are in all of us I think, some vestige of our primitive past buried so deep in our genome as to be inseparable from what it is to be human. What we think of as civilization is a new experiment in the eyes of Father Time. Experts say that humans have been around for some fifty thousand years. We've been carrying the bow for maybe five thousand (atlatls and spears before that), and pushing the plow for maybe two thousand. We have been hunters forever. We are built to run, to pursue big game on the open savannas, to kill and eat them. With the dwindling of the Pleistocene mega fauna, mammoths and such, the bow became more important and indeed helped to make us who we are today. It still holds that attraction, same as the hearth. When I was a kid I would make crude bows from green plum branches, big at one end and small at the other. A discarded hay string would serve as a bowstring. My arrows were fat and unfletched and would scarcely fly more than a few yards, usually tumbling over in midair. The small creatures around our home were plenty safe. When I was about 12 or so my brother brought me two old Ben Person recurves he'd found at a yard sale. One was a short bow, probably no more than 48 inches and the other was more of a standard size. They both drew about 50 lbs if I recall. That fall happened to be a good year for cottontails around our little farm and I spent countless hours walking the fields and shooting at them as they busted from underfoot. Although I'd get several shots a day I never did hit one on the fly but I remember that fall fondly nonetheless. The pleasure of jumping rabbits and seeing the feathered shaft streaking toward them was a thrill I've never forgotten. I made my first "real" bow when I was in high school, after getting a copy of the Traditional Bowyers Bible in the mail (more on this in a moment). My first bow, a decrowned mulberry flatbow, broke within about 10 shots. The second held together quite well and is probably still around somewhere and capable of shooting an arrow, though it would probably draw about 70lbs. When I first started making bows I used the woods I had close at hand; mulberry, common persimmon, red maple, white cedar, etc. I'd probably made more than a dozen bows of various woods before I ever saw a piece of Osage. People often ask me where they can find a bow stave and, invariably, I tell them to use what they have close by. No matter where you live, you'll have something near that will make a bow. Go cut it down and get started. This book is an attempt to share some of what I've learned over my years of bow making. The Traditional Bowyers Bible series, as mentioned earlier, is still a great source of information. Why write another book on making wood bows you might ask? The simple answer is that there are so many ways of doing and explaining things. There are still unanswered questions and we'll cover many of them here. We will cover all of the most frequently asked questions, and lay out a simple plan that should guide you through the entire process, from finding a stave to stringing your bow and shooting your first arrow. Some of what you'll find here, you'll find nowhere else.