Customer Reviews

The ABCs of Violin for the Absolute Beginner - DVD

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This DVD along with the ABC's of Violin book 1 was a great way for me to start violin. I learned to read music, tune the violin and play Ode to Joy, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary had a Little Lamb all in a week!

It has everything you need if you are a stark beginner like me. I never played another instrument before but learned the music staff on screen, how to hold the violin and bow, pizzicato the strings, play with the bow. The actress who is the author of the book makes things clear and you can play along with her. It is a lot of fun!

I am a visual art teacher who loves music but has never played any instrument. I thought the violin would be much too complicated until I bought this DVD!!! The teacher, Ms. Rhoda, is so precise about details and gives lots of repetition and reinforcement throughout -- she's VERY VERY THOROUGH!!! I especially like the bow hold section with precise directions for placement of each finger plus all the close-up views from every angle imaginable.

The tuning section makes tuning my violin very easy. I can tune each string right along with the teacher.

I completely understand where the finger dots go on the violin after her explanations throughout (these dots were easy to get at any store).

Everything is verbally explained and visually demonstrated in detail so that there are no questions left!!

Ms. Rhoda's perfomance of the musical pieces at the very end of the DVD is SO VERY INSPIRING! It makes my learning of the violin seem like so much fun and makes me want to continue learning.

THIS DVD IS TERRIFIC!!!

I find this DVD very helpful in learning to play violin at home without a private
teacher or class instruction, and feel it's a good supplement for violin students
with a teacher or class instruction of all ages as well.

It's easy to follow, it's imformative, and it's encouraging for the absolute begin-
ner, which I am at 58.

Just loving using this DVD along with the ABCs of Violin Book 1!! Great combo... the actress/teacher is delightful and gives clear directions. Reading, posture, finger placement, etc. etc. is shown clearly.

Playing along is so much fun!

Took all my fears away about playing a musical instrument since I've never had the experience. Thank you for this product!

It costs less than taking a lesson. (If you live where lessons are less expensive, consider the cost of gas)
The book and the video are a team. My 10 year old is able to self teach from them and is doing very well.
I am very pleased with the combo. She does recommend that you have a teacher help you select a violin but goes over tuning, posture and position, how to take a bow, even. The tunes are performed, which will help "stabilize" a beginner's pitch. Sure a teacher is great but if you can't afford it or are in an isolated area like we are, this will work.

It seems to be a very short video session in the beginning but Rhoda is an excellent teacher. She packs everything in 1 hour session. Its especially beneficial for beginners - they can how to hold the violin, bow and playing notes. Only lacking is an accompanying book with the shipment and briefing on the musical language - staffs, cleffs, halfnotes, etc. Had it been more in the video as well as an accompanying book, it would be the best material in single go.

This DVD is very helpful in learning how to hold and play the violin. It was more thorough than the instructor on the first of my only two lessons in a shop. It has three songs from book 1 and other songs from the other four books. It's very very helpful in showing you the different techniques and understanding what the terms mean in playing. I am almost done with book one and looking forward to book 2. The DVD as well as the CD are an important part of learning for the self taught. I have very little natural music ability if any and this book and DVD are the key for me learning violin.

As someone who learned to read music and play other instruments with traditional instruction methods (private lesson and school instruction) I was really unsure if I could even begin to learn the violin with a DVD. Today was the first time I've used the DVD and book set, and as someone who produces video content I already foresee some problems just from lack of camera angles and information that should be provided for an "absolute beginner." For example, on both the bow and the violin, the instructor has placed tape marks to show where fingers should be placed. These are simple hole reinforcements (or so they appear) but there is no discussion of them, and what would have been great is if in the book or the dvd case they could have been included. Further research online told me that tape for the fingerboard is something most students use to help with fingering, so that will be my next purchase.

Also, the technique shown for how to hold the bow relies mostly on her verbal direction on how to do so as the camera doesn't get close enough or the angles to show how her fingers are truly gripping it. I've had to do a lot of follow up research online on things like Rosin (dark or light, how much and how often), and finger positioning and shoulder rest adjustment (my violin didn't come with one, but if you cannot hold the instrument with the weight of your head alone then it's likely you need one - I do). Placement of the bridge, changing of strings and fine adjustments - none of that is on this DVD.

The caveat on tuning the instrument was that if you are a child, take your violin to a music store or have an adult do it. I actually had a string come out of the peg and my pegs seem to slip easily. Again, I had to go research this because the person on the DVD said that if your pegs are slipping to take your violin to a music store and have them fix it. Thus far, not much learning and a lot of time spent at a music store if I listen to her. I'm skeptical that you can learn to play an instrument without learning anything about it's parts and how it works. They make compounds for slipping pegs, weather plays a factor as does the type of strings you use. Good to find all this out now - but not from this DVD.

I'll keep with it and see if I can actually start playing (I stopped after the pizzicato section because I was concerned about how to take care of my bow properly before I started using it.) Thus far, I've spent much more time online than in front of my music stand. Thankfully, I already read music.

[..]

We sparked our five year old son's interest through this DVD and he was SO excited to get an instrument after watching. After starting lessons, we still went back to this DVD to address the questions we had in between lessons - so many things will go wrong at first with all you have to remember about posture, where your elbows are, how to hold the bow, the feet, etc.,etc. The pace is perfect for both of us - I am a professional pianist and am learning alongside my son. The selected works make for realistic performance aims for people just starting out, rather than being too difficult and frustrating for the younger student. We do some things differently at lessons (ie without the marking tape) but there is something to be learned from every teacher in a chosen field.

The adult learner could always supplement getting this DVD along with DVDs of Oistrach, Milstein, et al for even more inspiration. But as Leopold Mozart in his treatise says, without mastering the very basics and getting the first position notes really under your belt, you're not going to get very far. And it is amazing how much a beginner student can forget things or develop a new bad habit in the course of a week.

I would highly recommend this series. Rhoda speaks very clearly and you will have confidence after practicing alongside her performances. There are actually slight variations of technique at this stage going from one teacher to another but here is a concise method in one neat package that will set you off to a great start. I have found many teachers to be less organized and have temperaments to boot. For my son the squeaky weeks were short-lived and he has survived through the 'straighten that bow!' stage with a love of the instrument still remaining. I heard many parents complain that's about when they all quit.

This DVD covers some great information for the beginner, and is a MUST HAVE if you're teaching yourself the violin rather than having a personal instructor. However, if you're working with a personal instructor, you probably don't need this DVD unless the recommend it.

A word of caution, however: This DVD does NOT cover the Vol. I book. I was under the impression it did... I was hoping it would give us a visual step-through of the Vol. 1 exercises and play the songs (especially the duets in the back of Vol. I. She does play the more popular songs in Book 1 (4 or 5 of them) in the "Performances" section, but it doesn't show the music, nor does she have you "play along with" her. I guess you have to now buy the Vol. 1 CD in order to get that kind of instruction (ugh, more $$)?