 better than online courses I've tried |
| Review Date: February 26, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Raymond Patrick, albuquerque,nm |
Goes from the very basic through fairly advanced in manageable steps. Clear and concise with excellent descriptions. Included CD helps with practice pieces and songs.
For less than the price of one music lesson you have a companion guide and reference to help you navigate from beginner to beyond.
I know I sound like a commercial, but I'm a real person who is amazed that someone put in the effort to craft a manual that really helps self starters.
To show you how basic it can be... it tells you how to take the violin in and out of its case.
The lady who wrote the book knows her stuff and how to communicate it. Actually the quick guide on how to hold the violin and bow will save you grief down the line.
Good luck and have fun with it. |
Great book for beginners
|
| Review Date: March 11, 2008 |
| Reviewer: S. Chamberlain, Massachusetts |
I am an adult who wanted to learn to play the violin without the expense of private lessons. So far, this book has been very easy to follow and the instructions are very clear. The CD is wonderful, it includes short videos and mp3 songs. I can play along with the songs and know that the notes are correct.
My only compaint is that I found alot of the photos in the book hard to see. They are in black and white and the photos are far to dark. |
Violin Instruction
|
| Review Date: May 20, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Troy A. Lewis, Baton Rouge, LA USA |
| Katharine Rapoport brings a lot of experience to light in this book; designed for the very beginner through advanced. If you are trying to tackle violin pedagogy on your own maybe because you can't afford private lessons or maybe your schedule is not conducive for private lessons, or whatever reason; this book is a good place to start. The instruction is informative, structured, and relaxed in nature. |
FINALLY!
|
| Review Date: January 30, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Patrick Moore, Starke, FL USA |
| I have spent the last several years owning and trying to learn how to play a violin (I prefer playing it as a fiddle). I also have asked several music store owners if there was a book on care and maintenance for a fiddle--I was always told "No. You really just kind of learn that kind of stuff as you go..." I never once thought of looking up such a thing on Amazon and boy am I glad that I did! I don't know why more music stores don't carry this item. This book arrived within one week of ordering in brand new condition and I can't wait to get down to the nitty gritty of puttting some of this books suggestions to use. I have briefly glanced over it and it appears to cover all the topics that most beginning or intermediately experienced violinists yearn for! This book is invaluable to fiddlers everywhere! |
Violin For Dummies
|
| Review Date: June 8, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Paul D. Pandolfo, Berlin, CT USA |
| This review is long overdue on my part. I ordered this book before its original publication and it was finally released more tha 6 months past its originally estimated release date. I did receive notifications of revised delivery dates, and it was definitely worth the wait! It really begins at the beginning and progresses to serious techniques like slides, postions changes, vibrato etc. with easy to follow explanations, pictures and CD audio and video exercises. I had had good experience with "Dummies" books in the past (mostly computer technology), and this one has absolutely lived up to my optimistic expectations. The fact that it happened to arrive at my house on Christmas Eve was a nice little surprise too! |
Good learning book
|
| Review Date: April 4, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Bill Nesbit, |
| I ordered a violin over the internet, and then ordered this book. Though the pictures are dark, it contains a ton of valuable information for someone who is a novice. The included DVD was most helpful, and it is fun to play along with the songs. I would recommend this book to anyone who, like me, hasn't even touched a violin before. I already play piano and organ, so didn't have to learn music--perhaps making it a bit easier for me to learn from this book. |
AWSOME!!
|
| Review Date: August 26, 2008 |
| Reviewer: A. Rodrigues, NJ |
| This thing is a life saver! I've always wanted to play the violin but new nothing about it or even how to read music. I bought a cheap violin here on amazon and this book helped me set it up, tune it and play a song...and i don't even know how to read music!!!! this thing is a great companion if you are just starting out. Even before i had my violin fully tuned i was sounding good...not at all with the screetching people think of when a person is starting out. This book rocks! plus super fast delivery...just a couple of days!! |
Dummies are great
|
| Review Date: September 24, 2009 |
| Reviewer: G. Thomas, CA |
| I haven't gotten too far with this one. I've been focused on the harmonica one for now, but this has the same great format as all of the other dummies books that I've bought. It takes you from ground zero and builds you up... |
It's OK!!!
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| Review Date: January 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: S. V. Acevedo, Puerto Rico |
| I really like this book. It's really funny and I'm already playing songs with it. The only con is that I can't see the videos. I already download a few programs and it didn't work, but they aren't that important. The Mp3 are great, so I will use them instead. The pictures are dark, that's true, but you don't need them that bad, they only show simple guidelines of how to hold the violin and the bow and other simple stuff. I hope this book help you learn to play the violin as it is helping me!!! |
A decent starting guide.
|
| Review Date: January 19, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Steve B., |
| Being new to the violin, I need all of the help I can get. This book is interesting and helps me in many ways, but as other reviewers have said, the pictures are often so dark that it can be difficult to discern what's going on. For something that requires precision (i.e. how to correctly hold the instrument), this can get frustrating. You simply can't beat a real, live instructor - but if you're tight on cash or time, this will do in a pinch. |
It is a good book, if you have enought time to read it.
|
| Review Date: September 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: connect_to_reality, |
| I admit I am not a concert violinist, and won't ever be, This book is very informative about violins, but for someone that only wants to learn how to play, it contains way more info than needed. I don't really care what a scroll is, or how these instruments are manufactured, I only want to know how to tune it, install a bridge, and how to find the notes. But I suppose if you are willing to spend the time to learn it all, it is very informative. |
Not Worth the Money
|
| Review Date: July 10, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Royden, Denver, CO |
| As a book about violin basics, this is OK. However as a book about learning to play the violin, it fails. There is an included disk containing both audio and video clips, but it is only good for the audio clips. The video did not work on my copy of Real Player. I finally learned that if I were to pay another $40 to Real Player I could look at the videos that I had purchased. While the line drawings in the book are good, the photographs are very difficult to make sense of. They are all black and white and they have not been well done. For this reason, I would not recommend this book. Spend your money elsewhere. |
Not so great
|
| Review Date: February 28, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Violin Teacher, |
| after wasting my money, I decided to get "Picture Yourself Playing Violin"- a much better decision |
Can you really learn to play the violin with this book?
|
| Review Date: December 4, 2008 |
| Reviewer: C. Harrington, Raleigh, NC USA |
I think it would be more beneficial for everyone if book reviews were ongoing. So, with that being said, I will update this review as I make my way through it.
At first glance,
PROS:
1)easy to navigate through chapters
2)no issues with shipping
3)A LOT of content
Cons:
1)pictures are REALLY dark. no exaggeration folks. it is really hard to make out the details. but this won't be to big of a problem with most of the pictures.
I will try to update this after a few chapters. I had to select a star rating for this to post, but this will change in future posts. |
There are MUCH better books out there
|
| Review Date: April 9, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Violin hopeful, |
| Even though I am learning violin, I am not a dummy, and I do not like to be taught like one. There are much better book out there to learn how to play violin. |
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