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  • Home
  • The Magic of Music Theory
    • Pre-Reading Series
      • PreReading A
      • PreReading B
    • Primer
    • Book 1
    • Retail Stores
  • Music by Level
    • Level 1A
    • Level 1B
    • Level 2
    • Level 3
    • Level 4
    • Level 5
    • Level 6
    • Level 7
  • Music by Style Period
    • Baroque Era
    • Classical Era
    • Romantic Era
    • Modern Era
    • Pop Violin Titles
  • About
  • Shop
    • The Magic of Music Theory
    • String Solos
    • String Duets
    • String Trios
    • String Quartets
    • String Orchestra
      • Flex Orchestra Series
    • Piano
    • Retail Stores
    • Account
      • Cart
      • Orders
      • Downloads

New Series

the flex orchestra - violin book

New hymn arrangement series for beginning string players. Create your own combination of string ensemble with piano accompaniment or play them as a solo with piano.

  • Christmas greenery; Christmas music
    holiday,  hymn arrangements,  publications

    Christmas Solos for Violin

    November 15, 2024 / No Comments

    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…

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    Christmas Violin Play-Along Books – Part 2

    October 3, 2022
    learning the staff

    Learning the Staff

    July 2, 2019
    Prep for Twinkle Variation B

    Prep for Twinkle Variation B

    March 18, 2020
  • New Christmas violin solo hark the herald angels sing
    holiday,  hymn arrangements,  publications,  worship

    New Christmas Violin Solo

    December 8, 2023 / No Comments

    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…

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    Beginning a Practice Journal

    January 30, 2023
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    Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Paradis

    April 19, 2020
    Composing with April Showers

    Composing with April Showers

    April 1, 2020
  • Violin featured image for free east violin Christmas Songs
    holiday,  Level 1A,  Level 1B,  violin pedagogy

    9 Free Easy Christmas Songs

    November 11, 2022 / No Comments

    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…

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    Great composer note reading Bach

    Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Bach

    August 22, 2019
    How Far Is It To Bethlehem

    How Far Is It To Bethlehem?

    December 7, 2016
    Composing with April Showers

    Composing with April Showers

    April 1, 2020
  • wobble gobble November vibrato challenge
    education,  holiday

    Wobble Gobble November Vibrato Challenge

    November 9, 2022 / No Comments

    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.…

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    Intermediate Violin Christmas Solo

    October 3, 2019
    bird singing music drawing

    Listen to the Bird Tweet

    December 4, 2019
    great composers note reading worksheet paganini

    Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Paganini

    January 15, 2020
  • holiday,  Level 3,  Level 6,  violin pedagogy

    Christmas Violin Play-Along Books – Part 3

    October 5, 2022 /

    Here are 2 more reviews of books in the series Christmas Violin Play-Along Books. These collections are from Hal Leonard. The Play-Along Books are for different levels. You can also read about other Play-Along Books here: Part 1 and Part 2.   Hal Leonard Violin Play-Along: Favorite Christmas Hymns Vol. 77 Arrangers: Peter DeneffPublisher: Hal Leonard CorporationLevel: 5 or 6 (because of position work) Pros:  These arrangements are not just the melody part. Often the player plays through tune 2 or 3 times. But there is variety and variation that gives interest on each stanza. This would be a good collection for an intermediate player who is comfortable in 3rd position. It does…

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    Treble Clef Flashcards for Violin

    June 29, 2022
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    Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Paganini

    January 15, 2020
    learning intervals on the fingerboard

    Learn Intervals on the Fingerboard

    October 7, 2020
  • holiday,  hymn arrangements,  violin pedagogy

    Christmas Violin Play-Along Books – Part 2

    October 3, 2022 / 1 Comment

    This is a continuation of the violin Christmas Play-Along Book Reviews. See the titles and in each book. I have given a general level to each book. Each collection will have easier and harder pieces. The leveling is very broad in these Christmas violin play-along books. I have listed the key each piece is in and some of the techniques that are found in that piece. I would recommend all 3 of these books. They are for different levels of playing, but they all work well for their level. Lindsey Stirling Christmas Collection: Violin Play-Along Volume 81 Arrangers: Lindsey StirlingPublisher: Hal LeonardLevel: 6 Pros:  Arrangements are taken from Lindsey Stirling’s album Warmer in the…

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    November 25, 2023
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    Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Martini

    March 11, 2020
    Finger number bingo

    Finger Number Bingo

    January 3, 2022
  • book review,  holiday,  Level 3,  Level 4,  violin pedagogy

    Christmas Violin Play-Along Books – Part 1

    September 17, 2022 / 1 Comment

    Do you love violin Christmas Play-Along books? True confession: I used to have a very snotty attitude toward violin play-along books. Through the pandemic I began to see these violin Play-Along book were meeting a need. First, these books come with performance tracks and accompaniment play-along tracks. In a world where students live in earbuds. Sometimes creating your own live music is disappointing. These books give them a soundtrack to play along to. Which is really exciting and can be very fulfilling for the student. Second, many of these books have more popular titles from movies and artists that students like and know. So, while there is a value of…

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    Kreisler’s Preludium and Allegro Preview Spot

    April 7, 2023
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    Quarter Note and Half Note Worksheet

    June 20, 2022
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    How To Draw a Bass Clef

    November 20, 2023
  • Violin duets winters snow
    holiday,  hymn arrangements,  publications,  violin pedagogy

    Winter’s Snow Christmas Violin Duets

    September 7, 2022 /

    Winter’s Snow is a collection of Christmas violin duets that I wrote in 2009. The first two books of arrangements that were published with Soundforth did not have recordings available with them. Some of my students will learn these this fall. I had some extra time this summer and so I decided to record these duets. Since I am a Suzuki teacher and I do a lot of online teaching, having recordings for my students is a high value for me. I saved the recordings in 4 different formats. The first is the violin duet with piano accompaniment. Next there is a recording of each part with the piano accompaniment.…

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    Christmas greenery; Christmas music

    Christmas Solos for Violin

    November 15, 2024
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    Be A Composer Worksheet

    September 18, 2019

    Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Schumann

    October 16, 2019
  • joy to the world with Vivaldi
    holiday,  hymn arrangements,  publications,  worship

    Joy to the World with Vivaldi’s Gloria

    December 6, 2021 / No Comments

    It’s that time of year again when I have to admit that I love Christmas music. There is something in the songs that fires up my creativity. Just look at the publications page and you’ll see…  But one of my students pointed out to me that all my Christmas arrangement tend to be slow and lyrical. She is one that loves fast and loud, and the faster and louder… the better. And I have to admit that I was like this at her age. So, for all my fast-song-loving students, I arranged Joy to the World with Vivaldi’s Gloria just for them this year. Mashing up two of the Baroque greats, Handel and…

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    Great composer note reading Handel

    Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Handel

    September 25, 2019
    Online Violin

    Checklist for an Online Violin Lesson

    March 13, 2020
    great composers note reading worksheet paganini

    Great Composers Note Reading Worksheet – Paganini

    January 15, 2020
  • want to write a christmas song
    creativity,  holiday

    Want to Write A Christmas Song?

    December 23, 2020 / No Comments

    I have found that students often get bogged down an discouraged by the many steps that go into writing a song.  After all, that’s sort of how they imagine the composition process going. In there minds it composing goes something like this…. … You pick up your violin, set the bow on the string, and suddenly you have this great inspiration and you play a completely new piece. Then you walk over to a computer and play it for the computer. The computer of course knows exactly what note you play (because your intonation is perfect). Certainly the computer knows exactly what rhythm you play (because there are no hesitations…

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    December Technique Focus: Shifting

    December 16, 2022
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    We Wish You A Merry Christmas – String Orchestra

    November 6, 2019
    Compose with puzzles

    Compose with Puzzles

    February 19, 2020
12

About


VIOLINIST & BLOGGER

My name is Kristin and I’ve played violin since I was 5 years old. I’ve been teaching for over 20 years. You will find Horsehair Music is all things strings, specifically violin. I also enjoy arranging and composing. The store has some of my pieces for sale as well as links for collections from other publishers.

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It is well with my soul violin cello duet cover
What Love Is This - Violin Solo Cover
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