This is an exciting introduction to basic double stop playing on the violin. Using only first position and focusing on double stop sixths, the book is laid out in ten short sections. Exercises and short fiddle tunes are used to teach specific violin double stop techniques, such as reading two notes together, crossing strings to double stops, and finger spacing within the key of D major. As the book is studied, the student can learn how to hear the notes blend in double stops and work on a smooth tone from the bow. Double stops are also a great way to build finger strength, preparing the violinist for shifting and vibrato. This book works well alongside Playing in Keys for Violin, Book One, and can be followed by Double Stop Beginnings for the Violin, Book Two.

(String Method). A Complete Course of Study for Double Note and Chord Development Suitable for any student who has finished a first-year violin method book.

This is a basic introduction to double stop playing on the cello. Using only closed first position, the book is laid out in eight short sections. Exercises and short fiddle tunes are used to teach specific double stop techniques, such as switching fingers across strings. As the book is studied, the student can learn how to hear the notes blend in double stops, strengthen their left hand and fingers, and work on a smooth tone from the bow.

Continue your study of double stops on the violin! Double Stop Etudes for the Violin, Book One continues where Double Stop Beginnings for the Violin, Book Two leaves off and helps you play double stops more in tune and with better tone. By giving you a solid knowledge of first position double stops in sixths, thirds, octaves, fourths, and fifths, this book gives you a strong foundation for intermediate and advanced violin playing. Exercises that teach you the scales and scale patterns in each key are followed by short, melodic etudes that use the notes that were just taught. This is a great book for early-intermediate students who want to reach the next level of violin playing!

HOW CHINA'S MOST CELEBRATED VIOLIN PRODIGY BECAME AN ENEMY OF STATE. The King of Violins is the heartbreaking story of China's most celebrated violin prodigy, Ma Sicong, who composed his first concerto at the age of 12. During his career, this gentle, dignified man composed 57 of the world's best-known symphonies and concertos and performed in front of hundreds of sold-out audiences across the globe. Chairman Mao Zedong declared Ma Sicong "a national treasure" and nicknamed him The King of Violins. Soon, Chairman Mao's brutal Cultural Revolution distorted the truth of Ma's life and work. He is forced to wear a dunce cap, and is publicly humiliated and physically abused by cadres of Red Guards as "a vile product of bourgeois thinking." Ma and his family make a breath-taking escape in the darkness to America. After Chairman Mao died in 1976, the real circumstances of Ma's poignant, bittersweet life were buried in the pages of history by an embarrassed Chinese government. Eleven years later, Ma died at the age of 76 in Philadelphia. The King of Violins, written in cooperation with all of Ma's remaining family members, and is the first politically balanced life story about this generous, conflicted musical genius. (Contains 89 rare vintage photographs).

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK! • Ray McMillian is a Black classical musician on the rise—undeterred by the pressure and prejudice of the classical music world—when a shocking theft sends him on a desperate quest to recover his great-great-grandfather’s heirloom violin on the eve of the most prestigious musical competition in the world. “I loved The Violin Conspiracy for exactly the same reasons I loved The Queen’s Gambit: a surprising, beautifully rendered underdog hero I cared about deeply and a fascinating, cutthroat world I knew nothing about—in this case, classical music.” —Chris Bohjalian, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and Hour of the Witch Growing up Black in rural North Carolina, Ray McMillian’s life is already mapped out. But Ray has a gift and a dream—he’s determined to become a world-class professional violinist, and nothing will stand in his way. Not his mother, who wants him to stop making such a racket; not the fact that he can’t afford a violin suitable to his talents; not even the racism inherent in the world of classical music. When he discovers that his beat-up, family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach, and together, Ray and his violin take the world by storm. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition—the Olympics of classical music—the violin is stolen, a ransom note for five million dollars left in its place. Without it, Ray feels like he's lost a piece of himself. As the competition approaches, Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin, but prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him.