It is always highly recommended to have a teacher to instruct you when you first started learning violin, a human guidance is very important in correcting your gesture, monitor your progress, answering your questions, etc. But sadly, a professional teacher may not be feasible to everyone, whether because you can not find a teacher in your area or you can not afford a teacher at this moment, so the most traditional learning path may be your best bet —- books! Books are incredibly helpful in that they can provide information at important times and when teachers aren’t available or do not want to be bothered.
This article summarized a list of 9 violin books that can be used for both young novices and adult students, let’s take a look at each.
Essential Elements for Strings
The Essential Elements series is very useful for beginners. It includes engaging, familiar songs and instrument-specific exercises that let you focus on the unique characteristics of the violin. The book also includes specially designed exercises that translate well in the classroom. That means if you’re in an orchestra and the teacher uses this book, practicing with it at home can speed up the learning process.
One of the best features of this violin book is that it also contains a lot of online music materials that students can make use no matter where they find themselves. With so much content and practice exercises curated for both classroom and other learning environments, it is easy to use this violin book to develop true well-grounded musicians. The online materials and the availability in digital version also make it perfect for today’s modern musician and teacher.
Suzuki Violin School: Violin Part
As far as violin books go, this is one of the most comprehensive books that you can get. Not only does it cover everything you need to know about the theoretical aspects of music as a whole, this violin book offers so many tips about how to play the violin that it makes it worthwhile.
The Suzuki method is a very interesting process and this violin book has several pages dedicated to fundamental skills such as bowing and finger positioning. With so many extra exercises and comments for both students and teachers, there is enough for you to learn with. The violin book also features a CD with many recordings that can be used for practice.
The ABCs of Violin for the Absolute Beginner
This best-selling instruction book features many beginner-level melodies, short warm-up exercises, and study pieces designed to help you improve your violin skills. Other features include a glossary, a note-reading worksheet, a practice chart, simple duets, and scales exercises.
The included CD consists of 34 songs with violin and piano accompaniments, piano-only tracks for playing along, and printable PDF files of the piano accompaniments. “The ABCs of Violin” books are a truly valuable resource for students in the early stages of violin exploration.
Violin For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Whether you’re preparing for your first violin lesson or you want to give your studies a little boost, “Violin for Dummies” could be one of the most important violin books in your collection. It begins by introducing music fundamentals, including reading musical notation and understanding harmony. Then it focuses on violin specifics, such as tuning your instrument, holding the bow correctly, and cleaning the strings.
The accompanying CD includes audio and video clips and tutorials to help you get started. It also features mp3 files of every song and exercise in the book.
I Can Read Music, Vol 1: Violin (For Violin)
I can Read Music (Violin edition) is an easy-to-read set of musical exercise that is guaranteed to improve a violin learner’s music reading capabilities from the fundamentals to more advanced things.
These musical exercises make use of repetition to help students learn how to read notes for stringed instruments. The book is particularly important for learners of the Suzuki Method who need to practice their note reading.
Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching
Ivan Galamian was a fantastic violin teacher who developed a system of teaching violin to people that were easy to understand and straightforward. The Principles of violin book is designed in such a way that the talent level of the student doesn’t matter and the techniques can be applied to virtually anybody.
The book contains all of Galamian’s tips and tricks for developing your violin game. This includes finger positioning, how to get around difficult tones and understanding the interactions between the speed of the playing bow, its weight, and sounding points. The book contains more than enough lessons and insight into playing the violin that it is highly recommended for all skill levels.
Franz Wohlfahrt – 60 Studies, Op. 45 Complete
This set of books takes the pain to start the violin lessons from the basics. It is popularly used by a lot of violin instructors and is also highly recommended for new players of the violin. It teaches the simple things that will help to improve playing technique.
The print of the book is quite easy to read, and it is suitable for both beginners who want to start learning how to play the violin and also intermediate players who want to perfect their bowing technique.
Introducing the Positions for Violin
Classrooms and private studios alike use violin books from this series to help students progress beyond the basics into intermediate and advanced violin playing. The most-used positions are introduced in Volume 1 (third and fifth), followed up by the next most important positions in Volume 2 (second, fourth, sixth and seventh). If you’re eager to hone your skills, this is an irreplaceable component in your training. The book does not come with a CD.
Fiddle Primer (Book & audio CD)
The violin is a well-rounded instrument with the ability to showcase everything from classical to bluegrass. If you’re ready to learn fiddling techniques, “Fiddle Primer” is one of those violin books you can’t be without. It begins with introductory information regarding good bowing techniques and playing in tune. Then it progresses to specific fiddling techniques with recognizable songs, including “You are My Sunshine”, “Old Joe Clark”, “Cripple Creek” and more.
