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Resources for kind-of beginners
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sunandstars

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May 2, 2017 - 10:53 pm
Member Since: May 2, 2017
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I'm an adult violin beginner, but have a degree in music (woodwind player). So I already read music and have a basic understanding of violin (string names, positions, etc.) BUT I'm a beginner at actually playing the instrument.

After a few days of googling until my eyeballs burn, I think I need the opinion of people who know what they're talking about.

I'm in search of a method book (or books) for people like me who can read music but have zero technique. What are my best options? And if it matters, I'm particularly interested in learning American and Irish folk music, but I'll start wherever I need to.

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Uzi
Georgia

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May 3, 2017 - 12:52 am
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My personal favorite is Ivan Galamian's: Princples of Violin Playing & Teaching

If you can master his method you will be able to play anything you want.  Notice that the sentence starts with if and it's a big difficult IF.  Still, this is my favorite book on technique.  Although he passed away in 1981, he lives on in the YouTubes. 

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright

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sunandstars

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May 21, 2017 - 9:13 pm
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Thanks, that looks like a great resource; I'll add it to my shopping list.  From what I can tell, it looks like a "how to play" type book.  Any suggestions on a "what to play" book?  I'm interested in beginner level exercises that will help me practice changing strings, switching positions, etc.  But that might be more fun than playing scales and arpeggios (I realize I'll have to "eat my veggies" but I'd like to have some dessert too)

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intrepidgirl
Bragg Creek, Alberta
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May 21, 2017 - 9:46 pm
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@sunandstars I am pretty new at this too, so am learning technique while also wanting to learn interesting music. I have a book called Mel Bay's Complete Irish Fiddle Player, by Peter Cooper. You can find it on Amazon. It has easy songs, works you through to a little harder things, and there is a fair bit of history there as well. If you are aiming at Irish folk music you might like it. It also comes with a CD so you can play along, or at least know how it is supposed to sound in theory, both speed and execution!

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mariopela

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July 10, 2017 - 6:40 am
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Hello Sir,

here in our school in Milan,  Italy we found very useful for beginners (adults and children) the new Kristina Mirkovic 's method (www.metodomirkovic.com). Was very different from other online methods, more modern, easy to use, user friendly but serious at the same time. Also some techers use it for making their lessons and for student's homework. Hope help you,

kind regards

Mario

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Jim Dunleavy
United Kingdom
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July 10, 2017 - 11:22 am
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Hi @sunandstars. I was in pretty much the same boat as you 3 years ago, coming to the violin as a reasonably competent flute player and pianist.

I asked for recommendations on a UK music forum and ended up with the 'All For Strings' tutor books. There are 3 books in all, level 1, 2 and 3 and I've worked my way through them all in 3 years (just on the last lesson of the last book now).

I had to accept that I was going to be playing very simple exercises and melodies for quite a while - there's literally nothing else you can do at the start, and it can be frustrating. However, if you like folk fiddle music you can supplement your studies with those - many of them are quite simple to play and the music is freely available all over the internet.

Good luck!

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