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| Student Handouts: |
| | Practicing and Motivation (Silzel) | A brief essay I give to my own students, with suggestions on practicing and staying motivated to play. |
| | Right Hand Technique: Holding the Bow. (Silzel) | An illustrated guide to holding the violin bow correctly. Applicable to viola playing also. (See videos below.) |
| | Violin Care for Beginning Students (Silzel) | A brief essay for my beginning students on handling, tuning, and maintaining their traditional violins. |
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| | My Teaching Philosophy (Silzel) | Why I teach and my goals for the teaching process. |
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| | Staff Showing First Position Fingerings (Silzel) | Illustrates first position in music staff form, showing when fingers are placed "high" or "low". |
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| | Simple Chart of First Position (Silzel) | A quick review of all notes in first position. |
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| | Flash Cards for First Position(Silzel) | Downloadable "print, cut & fold" flash cards for first position. |
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| | Two-Octave Scales in G, C, and A major. (Silzel) | A handy sheet for study of these scales. |
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| | One Octave D Minor Scale (Silzel) | A handy study sheet for this introduction to minor scales. |
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| | Two Octave Bb Major Scale (Silzel) | A handy study sheet for this scale to exercise the 4th finger. |
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| | Three Octave G Major Scale (Silzel) | A handy study sheet for this scale that begins to extend the range of the intermediate student. |
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| | Remolding Rosin(Silzel) | For frugal fiddlers, this brief article from "Where the Rosin Meets the Road" describes how to use the hot summer sun to melt, reform and recycle broken rosin. |
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| Books: |
| | The Heart of the Artist (Noland) | A book for the Christian artist, discussing issues of ego, perfectionism, worship styles, and other topics that come up when musicians serve in the church. An excellent study for any Christian musician |
| | You Are Your Instrument (Lieberman) | An excellent book on fitting and playing the violin, as well as performance strategies. Contains some new-age philosophies. |
| Instructional Video Clips: |
| | Right Hand Technique: The Pinky Teeter Totter (Silzel) | A short video clip showing how the right "pinky" finger controls the bow. |
| | Right Hand Technique: Finger flex exercise. (Silzel) | A short video clip showing flexion of the right fingers. This flexing forms the basis of many advanced bowing techniques. |
| Method Books & Etudes: |
| | Belwin String Builder Book 1 (Applebaum) | I started in this beginning violin book and use it with beginning students. |
| | Belwin String Builder Book 2 (Applebaum) | The next Belwin book, goes through to the point of introducing third position, I use this with my intermediate students. |
| | Sixty Studies, Op. 45 (Wohlfahrt) | Builds spiccato, fluid shifting, trills, dexterity, etc. in intermediate and advanced students |
| | Thirty Progressive Exercises (Dont) | Excellent book of etudes, includes an optional second violin part so that we actually make music and build rhytmic accuracy during lessons! |
| | 42 Studies for Violin (Kreutzer) | Famous advanced etudes covering basic technique all the way to very difficult studies. |
| Software Downloads: |
| | Free Windows Metronome Software | In case you have a PC handy but no metronome, this little application is just the thing. |
| Websites: |
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| | Shar Products | A good mail-order and web-order source for strings and all kinds of other violin stuff, including student instruments. They carry a few electrics but little in the way of amps or other electric gear. |
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| | Metropolitan Music Co. | Another good mail-order and web-order source for strings and all kinds of other violin stuff. They carry violin parts and tools. |
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| Recordings: |
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| | Bach D Minor "Double" Concerto, First Movement. | A recording I made for my students' use. I'm playing both parts here, and the tempo is intended to be manageable. Right click the link to download the MP3 file. |
| Sheet Music for my Students: |
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| | Vivaldi Am Concerto, Op. 3, No 6. | A venerable recital and audition piece for intermediate students building facility in first and third positions. |
| | Vivaldi Am Concerto, Op. 3, No 8. | A nice duet for recital and audition, first and third positions, double stopping, and some agility. |
| | Bach Double Concerto in D. | Good advanced intermediate audition and performance piece. Lots of counting and accidentals. |
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| | Meditation from Thais (Massenet) | A nice break from baroque performance pieces, this is a good romantic piece for performance for the budding virtuoso. |
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| | Disney Movie Hits (Hal Leonard) | This book of intermediate level music and the accompanying backup CD are very popular with my students. |
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| | Suzuki Book 4 | A nice compilation of movements from introductory concertos. Editing is not so hot but it's a bargain at $5. |
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| | 6 Airs Varies (Dancla) | Very good teaching pieces for building skills in third positions. |
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| Accessories: |
| | Tourte Violin Mute | Easy and fast to change, stays attached to your violin, and inexpensive, get a couple so you have a spare. |
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| | Bon Musica Shoulder Rest | I've just discovered this high-tech looking but very adjustable German shoulder rest. It hooks over your shoulder in a unique way. It tends to force me into a single playing position during long gigs, but is so wonderfully secure that I am getting used to that one drawback. |
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| | Kun Super Shoulder Rest | This is a very nice shoulder rest, I've used one for years with my Fender electric. It's slightly more flexible than the Resonans shoulder rest I grew up using, but it isn't rickety. Very adjustable. |
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| | Resonans Shoulder Rest | I have played on this rest since third grade. Inexpensive but very solid. Adjusts by bending the metal pieces, this is easy to do by hand. Height is not adjustable-- my students should ask me about height before ordering. |
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| Books: |
| | Violin Dreams (Arnold Steinhardt) | I just read this enjoyable chronicle of the career of violinist Arnold Steinhardt and his fascination with the Chaconne from Bach's Partita #2. Recommended for violinists and violin aficionados. |
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| Websites and Shops: |
| | Foster's Violin Shop | Local (if you're in Orange County, CA) Violin Shop and Violinmaker who does very good work. |
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| | Anaheim Band Instruments | Local (if you're in Orange County, CA) shop that specializes in woodwinds but carries some violin accessories. A true family-owned music store! |
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| | Weisshar's Violin Shop | Local (if you're in Orange County, CA) violin shop that does excellent work, and also carries some beautiful violins. Call 949-548-1287 |
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| Books: |
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| | Improvising Violin (Lieberman) | Julie Lyonn addresses what is contemporary violin technique, and what it is not. A great book with advice to help 'control' some of the classical habits most of us are ingrained with. |
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| DVDs: |
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| | Rhythmizing the Bow (Lieberman) | DVD almost entirely devoted to right hand work. See why the bassist in your band has better rhythmic skills than you do! (And then get to practicing...) |
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| Websites: |
| | Julie Lyonn Lieberman | Probably the leading resource for violin-specific contemporary methods and teaching tools. |
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| Electric Violins: |
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| | Electric Violin Shop | Worried that the internet is doing away with customer service? If you want a shining exception to that worrisome trend, look no further than Electric Violin Shop. For a toll free call you'll really, yes, really be talking to the same experts people like Boyd Tinsley (of Dave Matthews Band) rely on to select, fit, test, repair, and ship your electric violin. Biggest inventory anywhere, and real help when you need it. |
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| Amplifiers, effects, etc.: |
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| | Musician's Friend | Extensive mail-order and web-order catalog of music gear, including almost everything you'll want to plug an electric violin into. They don't know e-violins like Electric Violin Shop. |
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| | eBay | You didn't need the link, but hey, if you are an effects experimenter, this is the absolute lowest-cost way to try out vintage analog effects pedals, keep the ones that work for the violin and sell the ones that don't back to the guitarists. |
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| Informational Websites: |
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| | Bowed Electricity | One of few websites devoted entirely to the electric violin. Players, builders, recordings, effects.. Lots of useful information. |
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| | Harmony Central | A very useful site for its user reviews of new and vintage equipment. See what others are saying about that amp or effect BEFORE you buy or bid on eBay!! |
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| | History of the Electric Violin | Did you know that the electric violin was invented before the electric guitar?? This brief history of the e-violin from Where the Rosin Meets the Road may surprise you. |
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| Books: |
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| | Improvising Violin (Lieberman) | Listed elsewhere on this page as a reference for improvisation, it also contains an introductory chapter on electric violins, amps and effects. |
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| Websites: |
| | Jamey Aebersold Jazz | Excellent and very approachable method books for jazz improvisation. Many free downloadable instruction materials. Not violin-specific in many cases, but easily adaptable for use with the violin. |
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| | PG Music | This company sells a program called "Band-in-a-Box". It's great for quickly producing a "backup band" track for practicing any chord progression you are trying to solo over. |
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| Books: |
| | Improvising Violin (Lieberman) | A very good violin-specific book for beginning and intermediate improvisers. |
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| | Patterns for Jazz (Coker) | An etude book of patterns that will train your fingers and give you unconscious access to many new riffs and lines during improvisation. As soon as possible turn away from the notes to run the patterns, though. |
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| Recordings: |
| | Jamey Aebersold Jazz | The best source for recorded backup tracks for the practice of improvisation. |
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