Violinissimo

The Violin Shop's Fiddle Masters Concert Series is quite simply the finest collection of fiddle performances ever captured on DVD. Recorded "live" in an intimate 50 seat concert room, fiddlers at the top of their game are accompanied by some of the finest musicians and singers in the world. The result - 64 astonishing performances, released on 3 volumes, featuring 53 musicians from 13 different concerts. These DVD's offer a unique and fresh combination of music and film with an extremely high level of performance and production. Volume 3 of this series features: Daniel Carwile, Hanneke Cassel, Casey Driessen, Brittany Haas, Natalie Hass, Alex Hargreaves, Tatiana Hargreaves, and Gabe Witcher.

Darol Anger's deep knowledge of the violin, along with his relaxed good humor and encouraging manner helps bring fiddlers to a whole new level. Using a "call and response" interactive teaching method, Darol trades licks with you as you learn tunes and styles from the Mississippi Delta to blues-inflected bluegrass, bebop, and even rock and roll. 88 min. Includes music booklet. (NOTE: Level 3: Early Intermediate: You have been playing a while and can play some songs and/or instrumentals without too much difficulty. Now you want to move into specific styles, develop your repertoire and increase your technique. The instructor still covers the material in detail, but there are more challenges.)The fiddle is a perfect vehicle for this soulful music, with its liquid slides and expressive, vocal-like intonation. As Darol says, "Once you learn to play a little blues, you can get by in pretty much any style." He starts right off with a great Sonny Rollins' riff blues, "Sonny Moon for Two". You'll learn the piece lick by lick, finally playing a duet in harmony with Darol. "Cool Blues" by Charlie Parker is another great riff blues. "Don't be scared," says Darol, "it's the easiest tune he wrote." Again, you'll trade licks and learn how to take blues ideas and apply them to any musical situation. "Blues in the Garage," an original Darol Anger piece written just for this lesson, combines shorter but more complex licks with slides, triplets and other important stylistic moves.Darol analyzes the pentatonic (five-note) blues scale and its added "blue notes," and teaches how you can easily transpose licks and tunes from one key to another. By using the right vibrato, bowing techniques, intonation and other nuances, it won't be long before you can get the true blues feeling and are riffing and jamming in all the blues styles.

Matt Glaser developed this dynamic, interactive course specifically for early-intermediate fiddlers who want to start improvising in traditional swing and jazz styles. His lesson is filled with technical tips, theory and fascinating information on all asp

Finally, a video that takes students from opening the case to playing a simple tune in no time. Topics include: maintenance and care for the instrument, correct posture and holding techniques, simple finger patterns, bowing and plucking methods, your first notes, music theory, and helpful hints to get you started fast.

ABC'S OF VIOLIN FOR THE ABSOLUTE BEGI - DVD Movie