JAVS Spring 2011

“large print and illustrations make it children friend ly,” “accidentals are explained in the easiest way,” “the method can be used in a group or for single instruc tion,” and “ensemble playing encouraged early on.” What I find particularly interesting are sections that build thirds and triads in the melodies before step wise motion is introduced. It’s interesting how this emphasizes the harmonic building blocks of music from the very beginning. One aspect that was new to me was how to measure one-fifth of the string length to determine the exact placement of a second finger marker or tape in first position. I am also impressed at how early new positions, shifting, and double stops are introduced. Their approach to introducing new concepts through familiar melodies makes perfect sense and helps students build confidence. Volume three introduces ornaments, while volume four intro duces various bow strokes including spiccato, stacca to, and martelé. Note-reading flash cards are also included in volume one. Volume three includes a short section for violinists who would like to use this book for learning to read alto clef.

Their website (www.violinmasterclass.com) contains videos that show how to hold the instrument, set up the left hand, hold the bow, and other important tech nical details. In the books, I could not find any vibrato exercises, when to start vibrato, or the best way to start it, but I did find some very useful instructional videos for vibrato on their website.

Jazz Philharmonic Making Jazz Easy in the String Orchestra (teacher’s manual) by Randy Sabien and Bob Phillips

Copyright Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. 2000 ISBN: 9780739010426 (Teacher’s manual, $14.95); 9780739010396 (Viola, 2006, $7.95); 9780739044209 (Second set book and CD for Viola, 2009, $14.95) With the increasing popularity of alternative styles among string instruments, I thought it would be nice to include one example in this educational edition, but

Geoffrey Ovington

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