For more than a century, violinists have played jazz, swing, blues and similar improvisational styles. With its rich tone, considerable range, and bowed rhythms and phrasing, the violin offers a unique opportunity for a creative and personal statement as a musician. This book presents a broad sampling of the styles of major jazz violinists, from blues to bebop, from jug band to jazzgrass, from big-band swing to Texas swing. Tunes represent the styles of Stéphane Grappelli, Joe Venuti, Stuff Smith, Eddie South, Mark O'Connor, Benny Thomasson, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Darol Anger. Helpful jazz theory sections with exercises alternate with tunes that show how the theory works in practice. This book has two objectives; first, to present a broad, roughly chronological sampling of major jazz violinists and the styles associated with them, and secondly, to introduce the basics of jazz theory as applied to the violin. Whether consciously or intuitively, through critical listening or by practicing jazz patterns and exercises, the more knowledge of jazz you acquire, the better you will be able to think about the content of your playing without being bound by technical and theoretical aspects. This anthology was written to help provide that foundation. Interspersed with pragmatic jazz theory lessons, you’ll find 28 original tunes in the style of various jazz violin luminaries. The book ends with an extensive discography of recommended jazz recordings with a violin focus. Mandolinists as well as other instrumentalists will find a wealth of useful information in this outstanding collection. Delightful broadcast-quality recordings of the repertoire are available online. Includes access to online audio. Wirtten for intermediate to advanced violinists.

A critically acclaimed book covering old-time, bluegrass, Irish, blues, Scandinavian, Cajun, Texas, swing and jazz, and twin fiddling styles. This book also covers bowing, chords, chord progressions, kickoffs and endings, and improvisation. the companion recording features David Reiner's solo performance of all the tunes in the book.

Includes a wealth of fiddling lore and illustrations; a guide to buying a fiddle and bow; tips on learning and playing the fiddle; over 800 listings of books, records, fiddling and bluegrass organizations, fiddling schools and camps, violin making supplies, films, etc.; information about fiddle contests.

Imagine a campfire! Envision sitting around the bright flames with your friends and family singing songs out in the great expanse. Imagine that those melodies you sing stir up joy, hope, and belief in the great wonders of the world. Melodies have connected different kinds of people for many, many years. Music brings us closer, and music makes any occasion more festive and memorable. This book was written to promote the love of old folk melodies, provide processional music for special celebrations, and to include players of all levels. Music educators will find that there are many possibilities and combinations for practice and performance. Includes a 16-page section of twelve selected pieces for an optional cello part. It is my great hope that music students, families, and educators will all enjoy this very special collection of Beautiful Melodies from Around the World.

North American Fiddle Music: A Research and Information Guide is the first large-scale annotated bibliography and research guide on the fiddle traditions of the United States and Canada. These countries, both of which have large immigrant populations as well as Native populations, have maintained fiddle traditions that, while sometimes faithful to old-world or Native styles, often feature blended elements from various traditions. Therefore, researchers of the fiddle traditions in these two countries can not only explore elements of fiddling practices drawn from various regions of the world, but also look at how different fiddle traditions can interact and change. In addition to including short essays and listings of resources about the full range of fiddle traditions in those two countries, it also discusses selected resources about fiddle traditions in other countries that have influenced the traditions in the United States and Canada.

Presents an introduction to the fiddle, explores how musicians incorporate the instrument into different genres, and offers instruction on playing standard songs.

From boogie-woogie to bebop and beyond, the sounds and rhythms of Jazz is mercurial- always creative, seldom static, frequently cultish and often contentious. The latest edition of The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz is the essential companion to making an acquaintance with Jazz. It will inform you and it will not talk down to you. There are over 3,500 entries detailing every artist who has had an impact on the development of jazz since it headed out from New Orleans and spread to New York, London, Paris, Montreux, Munich and way beyond. Here are all the legends whose genius is evoked in a single name - Ella, Duke, Satchimo, Bird, Miles, Trane, the Hawk, Monk and Diz - together with all the younger talent - Brad mehidau, jacky terrasson, Nicholas Payton and the youngest phenomenon of them all, Norah Jones. They line up with modern-day giants of the genre such as John Schofield, Dave Holland, Joe Lovano and Keith Jarrett. All entries have a detailed album chronology, together with a five-star rating system.The text is non-pompous, non-judgemental yet friendly and constructive. All the text has been taken from the gigantic database of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, first published in 1992. the EPM and its spin-off series swiftly and firmly established itself as the undisputed champion of all contemporary-music reference books.