Category: Videos

Posted in Repertoire, Sheet Music, Videos

Intermediate Violin Piece Discovery – “Adoration” by Florence Price

Posted on by J Melin

It’s International Women’s Day and we just celebrated Black History Month. The perfect time to share a very special new-to-me piece that’s already been warmly received at a student’s masterclass and a recital.

While I was viewing a YouTube performance of a Gershwin piece by violinist Randall Goosby for a student’s reference, the playlist popped up this compelling interpretation of Florence Price’s “Adoration” by Goosby with pianist Zhu Wang. I got goosebumps! (no pun intended) The arranger’s name was in the YouTube description, so it was easy to verify that this very same arrangement was available on IMSLP.org.

Composed by Florence Price (1887-1953) in the 1950’s for the organ, “Adoration” was apparently discovered in 2009 in a box of her compositions that had been previously considered lost. According to IMSLP.org, the piece “failed to meet notice or renewal requirements to secure statutory copyright with no ‘restoration’ under the GATT amendments” and therefore is in the public domain. It has been arranged for violin and piano by Elaine Fine, who has generously provided it for free download and distribution under the Creative Commons license.

Get your own copy here! The arranger has also published versions for viola or cello with piano. She notes in the IMSLP description, “This piece sounds particularly nice on the viola.”

If you liked this post, you might also want to read about other Contemporary Classical Pieces for Intermediate Violin Players.

Check out my published arrangements at SheetMusicPlus.com!

Posted in Printables, Repertoire, Sheet Music, Teaching Aids, Videos

Valentine Special – Salut d’Amour Study Edition

Posted on by J Melin

Salut d’Amour, a salon piece by Edward Elgar, is a favorite for students who enjoy its unabashedly romantic vibe and mandatory expressive shifting. I place it at advanced-intermediate Level 6, where it is technically comparable to the Accolay Concerto or Haydn Concerto in G. I teach the version in the original key of E, not transposed to D which is also available. Because Salut d’Amour is in the public domain (published in 1899), early editions in both D and E are freely available on sheet music websites like IMSLP.org.

But the public domain editions have some troublesome fingering notations. Some fingerings are awkward, some are missing details (at 4 before E, is it 1st finger in 1st position or 5th position?), some suggest 4th finger when 3rd would allow a stronger vibrato. In the overall style, there seem to be more expressive shifts implied in the fingerings than are really appealing to a 21st-century ear – like, twice in Bar 11.

When I listened to recordings for guidance, it didn’t seem like the artists were shifting quite as often as indicated by the fingerings. Nor were they playing the last two lines exclusively in high positions on the G, D and A strings. (Most student instruments don’t sound their best played high on these strings either.)

Daniel Hope’s lovely modern performance here inspired some shifting choices in the study edition.

I just assigned Salut d’Amour to two students, one a young teen and the other an adult. I spent the first lessons on the piece once again transferring all my hand-written fingering suggestions to their undersized public domain PDFs. Finally the light dawned, and I decided to start again from scratch with a newly transcribed part in MuseScore, to which I could add as many of my fingerings and position clarifications as I liked.

Sample of the violin part of the Study Edition

The result still fits on one page! Along with larger finger-numbers, I added position designations in Roman numerals, and slide-marks where it’s most tasteful to add an expressive shift. I’m calling the result a “Study Edition” due to all these extra markings. Once a student has incorporated them into their playing, they can go back to reading a vintage edition. No changes were made to the piano part, and all rehearsal letters are in their traditional positions.

I’m posting this for sale at SheetMusicPlus.com for $5.99, but you can download a copy here for just $2.99. Enjoy it with the instrument you love!

Download Salut d’Amour

And, here’s more violin repertoire for intermediate students.

Star Teacher #3: Paul Rolland

Over the holiday break from teaching, I finally completed a resolution for 2021: to rent and watch the Paul Rolland video series titled “The Teaching of Action in String Playing.” This influential pedagogue died prematurely in 1978, but we are fortunate that he preserved his teaching approach on video, and now it’s accessible to all on Vimeo.

Paul Rolland’s methods form the basis for Mimi Zweig‘s “Suzuki Synthesis,” taught at her summer workshops at Indiana University and at sister-programs around the country. Having attended her workshop, it was fantastic to watch Paul Rolland’s original teaching videos on the same topics, as demonstrated in 1974. I was about the age of the kids in the video, in my second year of playing the violin too, when these films were produced! (I even think one of the little girls in the back row is wearing a Sears Catalog dress that was one of my favorites.)

When these videos were available only on DVD, it would set you back several hundred dollars to buy the set and watch them. Now for only $49, you can have access to all the videos (3½ hours of content) on Vimeo for an entire year. While I binge-watched them over the holidays, I’m sure I will return to them at my leisure to look for specific exercises that I can use with certain students. The biggest takeaway is how to establish “freedom from tension” in beginning and remedial violin students. The short, easily-digestible videos are almost all under 10 minutes long. Beginner’s topics include Establishing the Violin Hold – Learning to Hold the Bow – Developing Finger Movements – Extending the Bow Stroke. For more advanced players, there are segments on Martelé, Staccato, Spiccato, Shifting and Vibrato.

So for a very affordable price, you can access gold-nuggets of teaching wisdom that you would otherwise spend hundreds of dollars at a workshop to acquire (not to mention the airfare and hotel). If Rolland’s videos whet your appetite, he published a companion book. There is also an annual Paul Rolland String Pedagogy workshop you can attend, and certification you can complete.

Put “Watch these videos” on your list of New Year’s Resolutions, and you will also be a better teacher by the end of this year!

Star Teacher #2: Nathan Cole

Where Mimi Zweig offers invaluable advice for students coming up from the very earliest stages, Nathan Cole has mastered the art of teaching advanced players up to professionals preparing for orchestra auditions. He has offered a premium online Virtuoso Master Course to pros in the past. The second edition of his Violympic Games took place during the summer of 2021, a 12-week course for intermediate to advanced players, with structured video lessons combined with performance challenges. A lively online community of mostly adult students engaged with one another on a private Facebook group, with members from all over the globe.

Nathan is First Associate Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and could clearly spend all his time just performing. But his passion for teaching has turned him into a YouTube pro. While joining his private student cohort is limited and pricey, he has posted many excellent free teaching videos, including a series on the complete Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas for Violin. (He calls it Bach on the Road, an indication of his love of the pun!) Technique videos you’ll want to bookmark for your students include Effortless Vibrato, Mastering Spiccato and Pinky Power: Strengthening the 4th Finger. Check out the full menu of videos on his YouTube channel, or see what online courses are available at Natesviolin.com.

I just purchased a copy of his new book and video series on Scales: The Road to Repertoire and am looking forward to freshening up my scale routine — not to mention my students’!

Posted in Star Teachers, Videos

Star Teacher #1: Mimi Zweig

Posted on by J Melin

string pedagogy websiteA “star teacher” is one that I would like to emulate in my teaching approach. Having attended Mimi Zweig’s Workshop for Violin Teachers, I got to learn firsthand from this master teacher and her colleagues. Mimi has generously made videos of her teaching available, for free, online. All you have to do is sign up at stringpedagogy.com, and hours of content, plus teaching progression outlines and more, are yours. Enjoy!