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Mini Open String Workouts for Viola, Part Three!

3/18/2023

Free Exercises to Celebrate Release of the New Book!

We are excited to release Open String Bow Workouts for Viola, Book Three!
Focusing on bow control, this book has exercises that help your brain tell your right hand exactly what to do to make the sound you want.

Sample Page from the Book

In this sample page from the book, your right arm is trained to play at the tip of the bow. Most of the time, we tend to be "frog-focused" and only rarely travel to the tip.

However, it's important to be comfortable playing everywhere on the bow and working on an exercise that is "tip-focused" can help you feel more comfortable there.

Sample page from Open String Bow Workouts for Viola Book Three

Some of my other favorite parts in the book work on bow starts and bow landings. When I was a student, nobody worked with me on smooth starts and building enough bow control to land on the string cleanly. Instead, my teachers simply told me to "work on tone."

Needless to say, it wasn't until I came across the great Simon Fischer book "Basics" as an adult that I realized that all of the motions that give us good bow control can be taught. I'm exceedingly grateful for his contribution to string study!

A series of books on better bowing

When I edited the first book of Open String Bow Workouts, I was excited to hear a difference in my tone and feel a difference in my handling of the bow. Your comments and support for the books have been much appreciated and have given me inspiration to continue to write more bow training exercises for open strings. This is the third book in the series (so far!)

Free Mini Workouts to Celebrate!

We are excited to release these 10 mini bow exercises for cello in the style of Open String Bow Workouts for Viola, Book Three! To download a free PDF that you can save to your device or print, see the form below.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 10

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Mini Open String Exercises for Violin, Part Three!

3/18/2023

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Free Mini Open String Workouts for Violin, Part Three

Free Exercises to Celebrate Release of the New Book!

We are excited to release Open String Bow Workouts for Violin, Book Three!
Focusing on bow control, this book has exercises that help your brain tell your right hand exactly what to do to make the sound you want.

Sample Page from the Book

Sample page from Open String Bow Workouts for Violin Book Three

Some of my other favorite parts in the book work on bow starts and bow landings. When I was an intermediate student, nobody worked with me on smooth starts and building enough bow control to land on the string cleanly. Instead, my teacher simply told me to work on tone.

Needless to say, it wasn't until I came across the great Simon Fischer book "Basics" as an adult that I realized that all of the motions that give us good bow control can be taught. I'm exceedingly grateful for his contribution to string study!

A series of books on better bowing

Free Mini Workouts to Celebrate!

We are excited to release these 10 mini bow exercises for cello in the style of Open String Bow Workouts for Violin, Book Three! To download a free PDF that you can save to your device or print, see the form below.

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 10

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Mini Open String Workouts for Cello, Part Three!

3/17/2023

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Free Mini Open String Workouts for Cello, Part Three

Free Exercises to Celebrate Release of the New Book!

We are excited to release Open String Bow Workouts for Cello, Book Three!
Focusing on bow control, this book has exercises that help your brain tell your right hand exactly what to do to make the sound you want.

Sample Page from the Book

Sample page from Open String Bow Workouts for Cello Book Three

A series of books on better bowing

Free Mini Workouts to Celebrate!

We are excited to release these 10 mini bow exercises for cello in the style of Open String Bow Workouts for Cello, Book Three! To download a free PDF that you can save to your device or print, see the form below.

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 10

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Another Free Christmas Solo/Duet for Strings: Ding, Dong Merrily on High!

11/25/2022

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These days, even small tasks can be complicated!

Recording sample tracks from the new Advent books these past few weeks required a sense of humor! Baby Lilya was absolutely determined to be heard in the outtake below... Having heard Joy to the World quite a lot by now, she even gets a little rhythmic in the middle of the video. 😂

Let's just say that it wasn't the most efficient session...

But we finally managed to get a couple of (mostly) clean takes to put on the product pages; hooray! And despite the challenges, we are loving having baby Lilya in rehearsals, planning sessions, some lessons, and even a performance or two!

We are happy, however,

that we got all of the actual recording done for this Christmas violin and cello CD before the baby was born. It's a little surreal that in all of the craziness of this past year that a second duo CD release was possible.

Learn More

Note: We encourage you to purchase and review the album on Amazon (rather than here on the website) because we really need reviews!

There is a lot of excitement about these new Advent books!

Flexible, compatible, and fun, these books give students and musicians material to play each day of the Christmas Advent season.

First, the Warm-Up helps you work on the difficulties in the carol and variation. Then the carol Melody is followed by a Variation on the carol. The Duet part can be played with either the Melody or the Variation. (Please note: it is not recommended to play the Melody along with the Variation).

Learn More

To celebrate the new Advent books

We are releasing two free Christmas carols for violin, viola, and cello. Here is the blog post with the first free Christmas carol, Good Christian Men, Rejoice!

And here is the second free Christmas carol:
Ding Dong Merrily on High!

Note: This solo/duet is compatible between instruments and so are the new Advent books!

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 1: Free Violin Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 2: Free Violin Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 1: Free Viola Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 2: Free Viola Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 1: Free Cello Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 2: Free Cello Christmas Carol

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Free Christmas Solo and Duet: Good Christian Men, Rejoice! (In dulci jubilo)

11/20/2022

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New Album Release for Violin and Cello!

Music + Baby = Fun but Exhausting Rehearsals

People say that having a baby changes everything. It most certainly has changed Myanna's life completely. But it has also changed our writing and publishing and performing and teaching. We had the idea for String Duo Christmas nearly two years ago, and started mapping out the project.

While Myanna was expecting, we were in the

middle of intense recording sessions. We finished the final recording session just in time: three weeks before the baby was born.

Lilya has heard more Christmas music in her life than she knows what to do with. In fact, between the album and the new Advent books that are being released this fall, and all the Christmas-themed rehearsals and lessons she will listed to, she will probably think that Christmas is year-round...

She was (almost) as excited as we were when the CDs came...

You can learn more about the album here:

Learn More

Once the restocking issues are worked out in a week or so, we encourage you to purchase and review the album on Amazon because we really need reviews!

This year, we are releasing three Advent study books!

These books have warm-up exercises, carol melodies, and carol variations for every day of the Christmas season; a sort of music advent calendar!

Learn More

Looking for a stress-free solo or duo gig book this holiday season? Whether you want just the basics or something a little fancier, these tunes and variations are all completely sight-readable. With interchangeable harmonies so both instruments can take the lead, and an easy-to-read layout for those low light situations, these books are an effortless way to expand your holiday rep!

Violin Takes the Lead!

Cello Takes the Lead!

To celebrate these releases, here is a free compatible solo and duet version of Good Christian Men, Rejoice! (In dulci jubilo)

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 1: Free Violin Christmas Carol

Free Violin Christmas Solo and Duet: Good Christian Men, Rejoice!

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 2: Free Violin Christmas Carol

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 1: Free Viola Christmas Carol

Free Viola Christmas Solo and Duet: Good Christian Men, Rejoice!

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 2: Free Viola Christmas Carol

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 1: Free Cello Christmas Carol

Free Cello Christmas Solo and Duet: Good Christian Men, Rejoice!

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 2: Free Cello Christmas Carol

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Free Preparatory Exercises for the Squire Tarantella!

9/17/2022

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Free Preparatory Exercises for the Squire Tarantella

Exciting New Release for Cello!

The Squire Tarantella for Cello Practice Edition has Preparatory Exercises for each difficult part of the piece. Then, the book continues with study notes: the entire Tarantella with positions, extensions, rhythm, and more marked for you! A performance edition of the piece comes next, then a cello duet that was written specifically for the Tarantella, and the piano accompaniment, and finally Cello Curriculum pages that show you where the Tarantella could fit in a traditional course of study.

Here is an overview of what's in the book:

Sample pages from the book:

Learn More About the Book

To Celebrate the Release of the New Tarantella Book

Cassia has written a set of all-new Free Preparatory Exercises that are not included in the book!
You can use these extra exercises to work on agility and shifting before you start work on the Tarantella and help to make your study easier.

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 1

Free Squire Tarantella Preparatory Exercise No. 1

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 2

Free Squire Tarantella Preparatory Exercise No. 2

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 3

Free Squire Tarantella Preparatory Exercise No. 3

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 4

Free Squire Tarantella Preparatory Exercise No. 4

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 5

Free Squire Tarantella Preparatory Exercise No. 5

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 6

Free Squire Tarantella Preparatory Exercise No. 6

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 7

Free Squire Tarantella Preparatory Exercise No. 7

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 8

Free Squire Tarantella Preparatory Exercise No. 8

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Free Cello Etudes in Closed First Position!

5/3/2022

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Celebrating the release of Book 1A in the Cello Etude System!

The Cello Etude System has been carefully structured to help students who learn at different paces. Here is how it works:

Book 0: Beginning Studies
Book 1A: Closed First Position
Book 2A: Extended First Position and Half Position
Book 3A: First Position and Fourth Position

Two Learning Paths in Every Book

There is a relaxed path and an accelerated path through every Cello Etude System book. The relaxed path takes you through all of the etudes and the accelerated path (for learners who move more quickly through music) takes you through a carefully selected segment of the book that teaches all essential skills but without as much repetition.

Book 0

Book 0 has beginning cello etudes: open string etudes, studies with just open and first finger, etc., progressing to basic etudes on all four strings in first position.

Here is Book 0:

And here is the blog post with free beginning etudes (not included in the book!):

Learn More

Book 1A: Closed First Position

Studies on string crossing, embellishments, hooked bowing, dynamics, double stops, chamber music skills (such as entrances,) and more!

Learn More

Here Are The Free Cello Etudes (in Closed First Position) to Celebrate the Release of Book 1A!

Note: These free etudes are not in the book!

Free Closed First Position Cello Etude No. 1

Free Closed First Position Cello Etude No. 2

Free Closed First Position Cello Etude No. 3

Free Closed First Position Cello Etude No. 4

Free Closed First Position Cello Etude No. 5

Free Closed First Position Cello Etude No. 6

Sign Up to Get Your PDF copy of these
Free Cello Etudes in Closed First Position!

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Introducing Our Newest Music Clip! Plus, Other Solutions for Keeping Pesky Music Books Open!

4/6/2022

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Here are some solutions!

First of all, they really are a pain...

We teach with and practice with hard-to-open music books too. It has been so difficult to keep them open that we have never stopped searching for different book clips and solutions to the problem.

The bends:

There's the student "too tired to clip the book so I'll just whack the page with the bow" move. There's the "responsible adult" careful bend open at the spine, lengthwise. There's the frustrated "Cassia-in-a-hurry-in-a-lesson" bend: halfway down the book, perpendicular to the spine, bending as if to break the spine. That one works really well!

Why can't all of our books be spiral?

It's too expensive. The costs for printing and storing our catalog as spiral books would be well over a million dollars. This would necessitate doubling or tripling the current costs of the books.
Not enough availability. Our books are printed all around the world and shipped to retail stores and customers in the countries in which they are printed. These services are not available for spiral books right now and making the books available outside the US would cause shipping costs to exceed the cost of the book in nearly all cases.

However!

We are working to offer some of the thickest books in spiral editions on this website. If there's a book you teach with a lot that you'd like to see in a spiral edition, let us know and we'll put it on the spiral list!

The first clip

The first clip we found was through our grandmother. She somehow came across these clips and gave them to us for Christmas one year. They worked really well for us!

Several years ago, we started carrying them on the website.

Some (minor) problems with these clips are...

Our students really have trouble figuring out how they work. I mean, straight-A, top-of-their-class, amazing-cello-playing students can't seem to remember that the outer spikes of the clip should be on the outside of the book, facing them.

In addition, the clips are harder to use on very thick books and they need two hands to put on, at least most of the time.

SO, We've Kept Looking for Solutions!

Introducing the newest page holder clip:
'The Mini'!

These Mini clips we've found are working well so far! Students can figure them out, which is a good sign. They work best when the book has been bent open a little. Thankfully, the book binding for this type of book is quite strong and can hold up to quite a bit of bending.

Shop Print Cello Books

Shop Print Violin Books

Shop Print Viola Books

And if you've given up on print books completely...

Check out our site of PDF downloadable books! They can be saved to your computer, printed, or read on a tablet.

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7 Ways Duets Can Make Teaching (and Studying) Easier!

4/2/2022

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-Myanna Harvey

My teacher and I never played duets in our lessons when I was growing up. We stuck to hard-core exercise and etude books like Sevcik and Schradieck, Wohlfahrt and Kreutzer, and all the other great books that have been helping people improve at the violin for a hundred years.

As a result, my technique was great, but I could never count at all. Well into high school, rhythm remained a tantalizing mystery reserved for wind players and those who were naturally blessed with having “good rhythm”. I learned all my repertoire rhythm by hearing it, including the ins and outs of orchestral music. Eventually a theory class forced me to actually learn how to make sense of what I saw on the page before I heard it, and the Great Mystery became just a math problem. Thank you Mr. Wilensky!

But when I started teaching, I needed a way to help my students count better that worked in the lessons. I started assigning duets in addition to technical studies, etudes, and solo repertoire and immediately saw my students improve!

Here are some of the benefits I’ve noticed from playing duets in the lessons with my own students over the years:

1. Duets improve rhythm!

Duets are often written in score form, which gives your students a chance to see how the parts fit together and what each note is “worth."
Duets let the teacher establish and insist on a tempo that the student learns to follow. Students can feel pulse and phrasing from the teacher.
Because duets don't work unless the student counts correctly, they can hear why they need to count.
Duets are usually the very first chamber music that students experience. Hearing another part at the same time that they are playing can be initially confusing but it is so important for students to get used to that!

2. Duets help sight-reading.

Sight-reading was another big mystery to me as a kid. Having students sight-read through duets that are a few levels below their current solo repertoire gives them hands-on guided experience in real-time playing. They get weekly chances (with just a little bit of "in-lesson pressure") to tackle the challenges in reading music and making sound from what they see on the page.

3. Duets help tone and overall sound.

When you play with your students, they subconsciously rise to the sound you are creating together. If you use vibrato, they’ll use more. If you are playing with a confident, beautiful tone, they’ll find themselves matching you. If you use longer bows, they will too. Hearing you play alongside them will have a greater effect on their playing than all the explaining, exhorting, and general nagging I usually resort to.

4. Duet-playing improves morale.

When I use duets that are shorter and easier than their concerto or sonata, it’s an easy win; my students can learn an assigned duet in a week or two and feel like they’re really succeeding at something. Solo repertoire takes longer to master and it can be discouraging to be in the middle of learning a long piece without shorter, less-intense music to bring some joy to the lessons.
When we play together, the students sound much better than they do alone; it’s a tangible difference that they and their parents can hear right away.

5. Duet-playing in recitals helps avoid stage fright.

Nervous performers (including some adult learners) can benefit immensely from performing with their teacher in a duet! Duet performances give the student a safety-net and the sense that they aren't alone up on stage!

6. Duets help build a strong student-teacher relationship.

Cassia and I both had awesome and awe-inspiring teachers. We never felt comfortable talking to them as if they were actual human beings. Because of this, I am convinced that lessons were more stressful than they needed to be. Duets help your students realize that it isn’t you against them; you’re in this together!

7. Duets are just plain fun!

Trading rhythms...
Taking turns on melody and harmony...
Feeding off each other’s energy...
Celebrating the social part of music...
Playing music that sounds good, no matter what the level!

I usually play duets with my students either at the end of the lesson, or after exercises and before solo rep, and it always works as a mood booster. When we can achieve joy in a lesson, as well as musical improvement, to me, that’s success!

-Myanna

Browse Violin Duets

Browse Viola Duets

Browse Cello Duets

Check out some of these duet books to
make your teaching easier!

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Free Cello, Viola, or Violin Solo Fantasia on Eleanor Plunkett to Celebrate Flying Solo Book Two!

3/11/2022

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Welcoming Baby Lilya!

Wow, it's been quite a few months since the last blog post! Quite a bit has happened and we are so excited to share it with you all.

We have had an addition to our publishing family! Lilya was born to Myanna and her husband this past January. Lilya was in rehearsals and onstage all fall and winter in the womb and not much has changed with her playlist now; she's already listening in on lessons, rehearsals, and editing sessions! She seems to love music already and especially perks up at hearing her grandmother play the piano.

Late-Night Creativity

Myanna is up all through the night with Lilya and has taken this time to finish editing Flying Solo Violin Book Two, Flying Solo Viola Book Two, and Flying Solo Cello Book Two. Over the past 2 months, Myanna has gotten quite good at writing with one hand and holding the baby with the other. Practicing presents even more challenges (and some funny pictures) but she is managing. We are so grateful to live 5 minutes from each other and 5 minutes from our parents; a triangle of music and art - plus the ability to help each other - that is quite a blessing!

Here are the new releases!

And to celebrate, here's an all-new Fantasia that
Myanna wrote on the Irish tune Eleanor Plunkett!

Fantasia on Eleanor Plunkett for Cello Solo, arr. Myanna Harvey

Fantasia on Eleanor Plunkett for Violin Solo, arr. Myanna Harvey

Fantasia on Eleanor Plunkett for Viola Solo, arr. Myanna Harvey

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​Free Exercises to Celebrate Release of the New Book!

​Sample Page from the Book

​A series of books on better bowing

Free Mini Workouts to Celebrate!

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 10

Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of these Mini Open String Bow Workouts for Viola!

Free Exercises to Celebrate Release of the New Book!

Sample Page from the Book

A series of books on better bowing

Free Mini Workouts to Celebrate!

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 10

​Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of these Mini Open String Bow Workouts for Violin!

​Free Exercises to Celebrate Release of the New Book!

Sample Page from the Book

A series of books on better bowing

Free Mini Workouts to Celebrate!

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 2

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 4

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 6

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 8

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 10

​Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of these Mini Open String Bow Workouts for Cello!

These days, even small tasks can be complicated!

Let's just say that it wasn't the most efficient session...

We are happy, however,

There is a lot of excitement about these new Advent books!

To celebrate the new Advent books

And here is the second free Christmas carol:​Ding Dong Merrily on High!

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 1: Free Violin Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 2: Free Violin Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 1: Free Viola Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 2: Free Viola Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 1: Free Cello Christmas Carol

Ding, Dong Merrily on High, Page 2: Free Cello Christmas Carol

Sign Up to Get Your Free PDF of this Compatible Solo and Duet for Violin, Viola, and Cello!

New Album Release for Violin and Cello!

Music + Baby = Fun but Exhausting Rehearsals

While Myanna was expecting, we were in the

She was (almost) as excited as we were when the CDs came...

This year, we are releasing three Advent study books!

Violin Takes the Lead!

Cello Takes the Lead!

To celebrate these releases, here is a free compatible solo and duet version of Good Christian Men, Rejoice! (In dulci jubilo)

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 1: Free Violin Christmas Carol

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 2: Free Violin Christmas Carol

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 1: Free Viola Christmas Carol

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 2: Free Viola Christmas Carol

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 1: Free Cello Christmas Carol

Good Christian Men, Rejoice, Page 2: Free Cello Christmas Carol

Sign Up to Get Your Free PDF of this Compatible Solo and Duet for Violin, Viola, and Cello!

To Celebrate the Release of the New Tarantella Book

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 1

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 2

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 3

Squire Tarantella - Exercise 4

Free Exercises to Celebrate Release of the New Book!

Sample Page from the Book

A series of books on better bowing

Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of these Mini Open String Bow Workouts for Violin!

Free Exercises to Celebrate Release of the New Book!

Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of these Mini Open String Bow Workouts for Cello!

And here is the second free Christmas carol:
Ding Dong Merrily on High!

Here Are The Free Cello Etudes (in Closed First Position) to Celebrate the Release of Book 1A!

Sign Up to Get Your PDF copy of these
Free Cello Etudes in Closed First Position!

Introducing the newest page holder clip:
'The Mini'!

-Myanna Harvey

Check out some of these duet books to
make your teaching easier!

And to celebrate, here's an all-new Fantasia that
Myanna wrote on the Irish tune Eleanor Plunkett!

Want to print these?

Sign Up Here to Get Your PDF copy of
Eleanor Plunkett for Solo Violin, Viola, or Cello!