The Bottom Line
This book is a fun and interesting way to ease into bluesy techniques for the violin. Children and adults who've been playing the violin for a couple of years will discover the joys of playing the blues through this book.
Pros
- The music pieces progress from fairly easy to intermediate level.
- Offers exercises first before proceeding to a piece using a different technique.
- The music pieces are fun to play and sound catchy.
- Has an accompanying CD for you to play along to and to check whether you're playing it correctly.
- Reasonably priced.
Cons
- Lack of more in-depth explanations.
- Lack of illustrations.
- This book isn't meant for the beginner violin player.
Description
- Published by Mel Bay Publications.
- Written by Marty Laster, a composer, musician and teacher.
- Offers over 30 music pieces, including exercises, for the student to learn.
- An interesting approach for those who want to learn how to play bluesy tunes for the violin.
- This book is a supplemental material to other violin methods.
Guide Review - Blues Violin for the Young Beginner
The author, Marty Laster, uses the techniques presented in his book to teach his own students how to play bluesy tunes on the violin. The tunes are very appealing to young beginners but the lessons presented in this book would also benefit adults. One of the playing techniques tackled in this book is how to slide your fingers and control it so that you'll hit the right note. This is the technique commonly used when playing the blues. The student will learn how to do this both slowly at first and then quickly as the lesson progresses. The bluesy techniques are adapted to play various music genres such as waltz and swing. This book touches on both fingering and bowing techniques.
What I like about this book are the catchy tunes and the straight-forward way the lessons are presented which will work fine for those who aren't new to the violin. But for absolute beginners, this book may be difficult to follow without detailed explanations and helpful illustrations.
The author clearly states in his introduction that this book is not for the violin beginner per se, but for those who are beginners to the blues technique for the violin. Thus if you've been playing the violin and want to explore other music styles such as the blues, this book is for you. Otherwise, for those who are just beginning, this book will be one to keep in mind for years to come.
