Violin for Dummies

by Katharine Rapoport

The bestselling guide to teaching yourself the violin just got better

Despite being one of the most popular musical instruments for budding musicians, the violin has a reputation as being amongst the most difficult to learn. But no longer. Violin for Dummies is packed with the information you need to learn the art of this beautiful instrument, whether you're looking to get a head start before taking up lessons or are already studying with a tutor but want a little boost. With this book you have everything you need to get started.

Even if you've never read a note of music, this book will have you playing in no time, introducing you to the fundamentals of the violin, from selecting and tuning to understanding rhythm, musical notation, and harmony.


Walks you through everything from how to hold your violin to playing popular classical, jazz, gypsy, and fiddle tunes Filled with all-new content, including new music and updated resources Designed for aspiring musicians going it alone, the book can also serve as an invaluable aid for instructors Fully revised and updated, Violin For Dummies builds on the winning formula that made the original a bestseller, establishing it as the only book the aspiring violinist needs to get started.

CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of the e-book file, but are available for download after purchase

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Reference, How To, Education

432 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 19, 2012

Reviews

[Stephen Hanrahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like for dummies books .their clear and helpful and usually an excellent place to start learning any new subject.

Violin for dummies was such a starting point. I am a fairly good violin player .now as well as moving onto other instruments including cello guitar and piano.I have impressed several music students with my ability I on the instrument where most of my education was via YouTubeand this book

[Nathalie Marcotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have the 3rd edition published in 2015 . It seems all of the previous negative feedbacks have been read , it is mentionned that you should scratch your rosin before the first use , and the up and down symbols are explained ... I haven't finished it or check the videos yet but since I can now play twinkle twinkle and jingle bell after 86 pages i'm quite happy. I had absolutely no music background or knowledge prior to buying this book

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most Dummies books, the helpful information is hit and miss.

For instance it tells you that you'll need to apply rosin, but it fails to mention that the rosin cake needs to scraped so that a powder can be obtained.

I feel pretty stupid for rubbing the rock-like rosin cake up and down the bow but how was I supposed to know?

[Cak Sentot]

it's good

[Ivan Karamazov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad book by any means but suffers from redundancy and lack of precision due to lot of chatter and unnecessary detail here and there.

It is always difficult to write a book teaching how to play an instrument especially something like a violin. The author managed to do it without big flaws. The book is also encyclopedic in that it covers many aspects of violin playing, history and genres. Definitely recommendable but readers shouldn't strictly follow the book. Indeed, some experts on violin playing would disagree with some of the points and techniques outlined in the book.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very useful overview of what is possible on the violin. Most of it is way past what any beginning can deal with, and I imagine I will come back to much of the book well down the road--long after I develop some basic skills.

[Cassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of useless chatter but it can be helpful at times. I wish that it included more playable music over mountains of text, but it does have some peices that you could use for practice although there aren't many.

[Lunetune · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and useful, just not quite what I was looking for. I have no complaints whatsoever.

[Ida Wilcox · Rating 5 out of 5]

:O Love it :)

[Sherry B. Huffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Highly instructive. Perfect for those interested in learning the violin.

[Inge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interessante boek met tips voor het vioolspel, het onderhoud en de verschillen.
Zeker boeiend (ik speel zelf wel al negen jaar) en toch nog leerzaam.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of wonderful information! I will definitely keep using this book to practise.

[Lydia Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a musician, nor an aspiring musician. Instead, I read "Violin for Dummies" as research for a book I'm writing where the main character is a violinist. What I was looking for was a basic history of violins, plus learning some of the lingo, and what it takes to play the violin.

Miss Katharine has an easy-going style throughout the book and she throws in a lot of puns and that help the book move along. It is also clear that she knows a lot about violins and I can imagine that if I ever did decide to try and play a violin I would come back and re-read the book.

Overall though, this book wasn't exactly what I was looking for, although I did learn a lot from it. I gave it three stars because there was nothing that jumped out of the pages and gripped me, no "ah-ha" moments, and I didn't feel the urge to tell other people about the book. I may have felt differently though if I were trying to learn to play the violin.

[Sah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite that i don't actually read this book, because this book contains the basics that could help someone about the violin, i really find this book helpful, i read the parts that i don't know about the violin.

This book is helpful to those who don't know the basics of the violin, the parts of the violin and bow, proper bow hold and violin hold, how to change the violin string, how to tune and of course, how to read and the note placement in the violin.

I think this book is helpful for those who don't know this basics, but of course this book is also helpful but not as much for those who knows this, probably some new information like the trivia in the books but not as helpful for those who don't know the basics.

But of course this book is not the best violin guide book out there, there are the Suzuki Violin guide books that surely could help a beginner.

[Natalie Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the first few chapters of this and look forward to finishing it. It offered great insight on maintenance as well as history and technique. I also enjoyed the ice skating book by this publisher; I find they're quite comprehensive and always written by true experts (by Yamaguchi, for instance, in the case of the ice skating version).

[Juanita Molina · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little bit hard to understand and the CD didn't work so i was kind of struggling and i didn't understand the up bow and down bow symbols when it came to reading an actual piece of music. I don't think this book is for people that expect to learn Violin without a teacher because trust me it's real hard.

[Athena Greek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well construct book to help in learning violin. You will need a violin methode book with to advence in learning.

[Glarie David · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for self education. Not only it teaches people how to play, it also touch on how to read notes, maintenance and choosing a violin.