Fiddle

(Violin Instruction). Fiddling: The Basics & Beyond covers the essentials needed to be a successful fiddler. No matter if you are an experienced player, or a complete beginner, the four versions of each tune will keep you challenged. Each tune has etudes that are specifically written to cater to the techniques that will be needed to play every version of that tune. There is also information that is specific to each version that will help you learn faster and understand more. All of this information is specifically geared to building proper playing technique so violinists are welcome! And if that's not enough, there are customized checklists to help you narrow down what's really important to remember while practicing each tune. The best part is that all four versions can be played together so teachers with students at various ability levels can still play together. The online audio available for download or streaming contains more than two hours of music. It includes recordings of many of the songs in the book at both a slow and normal tempo.

Transcribed and edited by one of Herman Johnson's former students, this book offers 39 solos in the inimitable smooth, precise, and innovative Johnson style. Inspired in his youth by Bob Wills of the Texas Playboys, Johnson learned tunes by listening to records and the radio. At 16, he successfully auditioned to play in Willis' band, but was then too young to join the musicians union. Johnson went on to a distinguished career as a performer and contest fiddler, winning the National Fiddling Championship in Weiser, Idaho five times, the only player to reign undefeated each year he entered the contest. He also won the Oklahoma State Championship in Nashville. Many of the intermediate to advanced-level selections in this collection were drawn from Johnson's 1993 recording, Simply Perfect.

Written as a companion to the wildly popular fiddle book, this method opens up the world of fiddling to the beginning/intermediate cellist. Finally fiddlers, violists and cellists can jam together! Unlike many books for violas and cellos which simply transpose the tunes, the authors went to considerable effort arranging the tunes to be both playable and true to the original melody and key. Variations to the tunes are included illustrating how they can serve as a basis for improvisation. Ensemble skills are taught with chords and lyrics, basic music theory, and demonstrations of such skills as backup and lead playing in this playfully- illustrated book. A high quality, multi-instrumental CD for listening and play-along captures the excitement of the music. Like its fiddle counterpart, this method is destined to be a classic.