Christmas Solos for Violin
Here are some recommendations of Christmas solos for violin. All of the Christmas titles listed below come with a printed piano accompaniment. Some of them have downloadable piano tracks to practice or play along. Enjoy some old favorites in new ways this Christmas season. March Level 1B The Nutcracker signals Christmas for many people. And for many students who also take ballet, this is a great opportunity for them to play a piece they hear as they prepare for their part in the Nutcracker. This arrangement is set in the key of D, and the student will need to review moving 2nd finger from low to high. Bow retakes are…
Primer Level
The Magic of Music Theory Primer level is now available at Amazon.com as well as ingramspark.com! This Primer level is perfect for the student who is age 6-10 who has started reading notes or is ready to begin reading. Incorporating the concepts taught in the pre-reading series. Students review pitch placement for the basic finger pattern for all 4 strings. New for this level is learning A and E string notes on the staff. Basic note values of quarter, half, dotted half and whole notes are reviewed. New for this level, 2 beamed eighth notes are introduced for students to recognize and draw. New in Primer level students will draw…
La Folia – Variation 7 Rhythm
I have a student working on La Folia. We got to variation 7. She worked through it and her counting the next week wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t exactly accurate. Rather than having her write the counting into her book and clutter up the page with information I wanted her to have in her head I created this worksheet. I took out the pitches and took out the bowing. This allowed her to focus on the counting alone. Working in 2 measure groups I had her write in the counting and then play it counting out loud on open D. The first run through of the 2 measure phrase we…
New Christmas Violin Solo
Here is a new Christmas violin solo that is hot off the press. I have a couple students that are going to start working on it for fun. It’s not hard. The arrangement can be played in first and third position with one big shift at the end going into 5th and 7th position. We have been working really hard on 3 octave major and minor scales this semester so step wise pattern in 5th and 7th, shouldn’t be out of reach for them. (No pun intended.) I wanted the arrangement to be majestic. In thinking about this wonderful text by Charles Wesley, I had in my mind the description…
Wedding Music for Violin
It’s wedding season. Our social media feeds are filled with pictures of celebrations. We live at the beach and at this time of year we see multiple weddings taking place every weekend. No piece says “wedding” quite like Pachelbel’s Canon. I was thinking about how many times I’ve played Canon in D for weddings and my love hate relationship with it. I remember learning this as a kid to play with my cousins for my aunt and uncle’s wedding, and I thought I was “hot stuff” because I could play it. Now, I’ve played it more times than I can count, and in more ways and renditions than I can…
Easter Music for Violin
Buy Here At The Cross Level: 2 Music: Ralph E. Hudson Arranger: Ruth Coleman Publisher: Lorenz Corporation This arrangement is perfect for a Suzuki Book 2 student, or late beginner. It begins in the key of A and modulates to the key of D. There are low 2 – G naturals. There are natural harmonics used as echos similar to their use in the Boccherini – Minuet. Fingering and bowing are marked in the score. Demo recording is included with purchase of the book along with piano accompaniment track. Buy Here Beneath the Cross of Jesus Level: 4 Words and Music: Keith and Kristyn Getty Arranger: Kristin Campbell Publisher: Heart…
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9 Free Easy Christmas Songs
Here are 9 free easy Christmas songs for beginning violinists. All of these songs are in first position. They begin with the easiest finger pattern. You will find one note change in Deck the Halls. This change avoids a using a high 3rd finger on the D string. Then the songs progress to using low 2nd fingers. The final song Carol of the Bells include using a low first finger on the E string and a high 3rd finger on the D string. G Major and D Major Christmas Songs In mid-Suzuki book 1 I usually teach Jingle Bells, Deck the Halls, Angels We Have Heard on High, and Joy…
Wobble Gobble November Vibrato Challenge
I’m doing a November vibrato challenge for my students. Once a student has a basic working vibrato sometimes it falls by the wayside. Once the newness and excitement of learning vibrato has worn off they stop using it. I have to remind them to add it into their pieces. And keep giving a weekly assignment to use it. An assignment could be play tonalization and vibrate on every note. Or, play Chorus this week and vibrate on all the 3rd fingers. Another assignment could be, this week vibrate on all the notes that are eighth notes or longer in Humoresque. I’ve also said, “This is the vibrato section in Seitz.…
The Happy Farmer Fill in the Blank
When a student starts learning The Happy Farmer in Suzuki Book 1, I assign them The Happy Farmer Fill in the Blank exercise. This exercise helps them learn the form of the piece and the endings for the A theme. We discuss how there are 2 sections or themes in Happy Farmer, the A theme and the B theme. The B theme is always the same, and rather short. But the first two times we play the A theme we step down from F# on the D string – “F#, E, D” or “three blind mice.” Then when the A theme comes back after we play the B theme, the 3…
