Customer Reviews

Essential Elements 2000 for Strings Plus DVD: Violin Book 1

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Once I got my hands on this book, I discarded all the other "beginner" books I'd purchased. No more having to play juvenile ditties like Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

I'm an adult beginner violinist and Essential Elements 2000 for Strings with its accompanying CD & DVD has enabled me to teach myself how to play my violin while thoroughly enjoying the effort and without experiencing the boredom and humiliation of having to learn tunes better geared toward much younger students.

I've only been playing since July and I'm already about to graduate to the second book in the series. The curriculum is interesting, playing along with the orchestra on the CD is exciting, and realizing how fast I'm progressing is a dream come true for this 54 year old beginner.

I highly recommend this book as well as Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory Complete to anyone seriously interested in learning violin.

"For a real violin study, go with Suzuki." While that might work for a child that is ages 3-4 in a one-on-one or small group setting (which is what the Suzuki Method was intended for), it does not work well in large group learning situation for kids who are twice that age, beginning instruments in fourth and fifth grade. And to be honest, almost everything in the Suzuki method *IS* an arrangement of an original work (like the Bach Bouree from the cello suites set for violin), chosen because even in their simplified form they help teach the fundamental concepts.

This is my third year using EE2000 in my school program. I usually have between 30-40 students at each grade level in the orchestra. The books and their accompanying CD/DVD work really well and are of the appropriate complexity for the students ages nine through eleven. As a private instructor myself, I recommend to all my students to seek outside instruction, but EE2000 provides a good balance of technical development with ensemble skills for the beginners. Students coming into my program who already play don't feel bored because I am able to append more complex tasks in bowing and fingering to them using the existing material, giving them helpful exercises to expand their current abilities, while they help in encouraging their beginning peers.

Lastly, a smart child, if they are so motivated (as some of my kids are), can look at the directives in the EE2000 book and figure out a lot of things on their own ahead of the class, and they are provided with just enough information to accomplish those tasks fairly correctly, without doing awful things to their technique. The included instruction videos are very helpful in this case as well. This is not true with most other methods (and the Suzuki books are entirely useless without a proper instructor!).

Don't get me wrong; I was a Suzuki student myself for my first few years of playing and from time to time use some of their excellent pieces in my own private teaching (although I primarily teach advanced junior high through college age players). However, it has its target audience, which is entirely different from that which EE2000 and others like it are designed for.

Becuase how else would you learn to read music and interpret that music properly with your violin if you already knew how the song was going to progress?
This makes it "cheat proof" for young and old alike. I like that. It forces the student to concentrate on the notes and actually read them instead of memorizing. It's the best and most organized book of its' kind.
The cd and dvd are included as is some very useful computer software. You do not have to go out and buy everything seperately. This helps on the students, or parents, pocketbook. Lessons are expensive enough without having to go out and spend a fortune on material for the lesson. Save some money and a whole lot of sight reading headaches down the road and get this book.

This is an excellent first book for the violin. I have started learning violin again after a 24 year break! This book is aesthetic, has very clear instructions and diagrams and is designed beautifully. The progression of the exercises is completely logical, allowing you to perfect each technique before moving on. Every symbol is explained clearly, no new note or technique is found in exercises that come before their explanation. There are numerous scale and arpeggio exercises that are marked with a different background color, making it easier to find them. There are many orchestra arrangements (mostly duets), and even a duet with piano accompaniment. The accompanying discs are an added attraction. I don't particularly make very much use of them, but they can make practicing more interesting for children who generally have less discipline. This is a much better series than The ABCs of Violin.

I bought this book because it had a DVD and CD. I had already started learning the violin, and most of the pieces in this book were far simpler than the ones I had been playing in another beginner book. The DVD shows only very basic information, and is full of admonishments to "listen to your teacher, do not do X until your teacher says to". This book is really for kids, as the very simple arrangements and 'compositiion' assignments show. I hoped that the bowing exercises would be useful, and they are, but not enough to justify buying this book for an adult.

As a violin teacher, I love Essential Elements because it is a good balance of music for playing, exercises for perfecting technique, music theory (explanations), and even music history. The explanations are short enough to read during a lesson, and the diagrams make explanations easy. I love the CD accompaniment. It is fun to play along with, gives students some confidence to see if what they're playing sounds right, and helps keep students moving along so they don't get stuck if they mess up. The music styles from song to song are different and interesting: country, funk, classical, folk, and even Christmas music. There are loads of short songs to go through, which is great for learning to read notes and sightreading. So if the student doesn't get a particular song perfectly, it's ok to keep going because they'll get it again in a different form. There are two sets of performance pieces: one in the middle and one at the end of the book. These 5-6 duets can be done in 2 groups or by 2 individuals. At the end of the book, there is a short Bach Minuet solo with piano accompaniment (which is printed in the book). It is obvious this book is intended for use with youth/children's orchestras ("share your work with orchestra friends"), but my adult students have enjoyed this book too (just skip those exercises). One of my adult students says he really likes the DVD program which shows you (as you're playing) what notes you're supposed to be on and analyzes your playing so you see which notes you played wrong.

I like how the book starts with just plucking (pizzicato). The first 12 pages help students focus on the left hand fingerings and reading music before they start bowing. That way, student's don't feel overwhelmed with both arms and fingers doing different things all at once. I also like how if there is a a song with a particularly difficult rhythm, there is a preceeding "shadow bowing" song that lets you practice "playing" on the rosin so that you can get used to the way the bow goes for the song. There are many exercises for the bow hold and bow arm as well as for the left hand that are helpful. The book ends with a violin fingering chart which is helpful for those trying to figure out how to read music... although this would be more helpful if it was located earlier in the book.

There are just a couple of things in the book I don't feel are very helpful: the early bow hold (why not just go for it?), the practice record in the inside cover (is it for checking off if you practiced regardless of how long? there isn't enough room to write anything else) and the lines that tell you to keep holding a finger down even if you are bowing another string (that's a skill that is not important at this point). Another weird thing is that the CD only goes to song 74, and for the rest of the songs, you need to use the DVD. So you'll have to turn on a TV or computer screen to find the later songs. I also feel that the book takes too long to teach students how to read music. The first two-thirds of the book is in D major. The focus seems to be first on rhythm (different time signatures and types of notes: eighths, dotted half notes, etc) and things more important to orchestras, such as time signatures. So don't expect to pick up any other piece of music and be able to play it, especially if it's in another key. I usually just supplement with a handout about the notes. Otherwise, stick with the book, and you'll eventually get to it.

All in all, I highly recommend this book. It's fun and helpful for beginners. And it's the best all-in-one book you'll find out there.

As an adult beginner, but not a beginner musician, I have found this much more helpful than many of the (fiddle) methods--which seem to be primarily a sequence of tunes. I have the patience for and appreciate the value of "graded" exercises. The salesperson at the store who sold me my fiddle told me this was a "must have" book and he was right--and it was cheap at about $6.99 or so.

As someone interested in old time fiddle, I would have liked to have seen "double-stops" in the book, but I understand that they occur very late in the ordinary (classical) string curriculum. Don't worry, they will no doubt appear in any other fiddle book you buy! :) This is a great book to start with.

I previewed several music books. I wanted one that taught me more than just notes. Hand positioning, exercises, pictures and easy to read instructions are all part of this music guide. It comes with 2 DVD's which is above and beyond for the price and for that addition the perks just keep on coming. If you can't sit with an instructor, make sure you sit with this collection. This will certainty make my learning experience that much more enjoyable, even when I hit the wrong notes.

It is an easy to read beginners book for adults and I really enjoyed how everything was arranged. I still have a lot of work left to do, but I will be purchasing the other guides also.

this book is worth every penny i spent on it. its a one in a million book that has more than just fingering charts as you go, it has great bow builders and shows you how to hold the bow. the technique in this book will have you enjoying the learning and practices. it's easy to read, follow and is very clear. the dvd and cd are very helpful! i am very pleased and recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn the violin. from taking formal lessons to teaching yourself, this book, dvd and cd are great!