Category: Beginning String Music

Forked Deer: Free Mini Fiddle Tune Booklet for Violin, Viola, Cello, and String Bass!

10/4/2020

All of the music was ready. The snacks, the chairs, the stands; we were ready for anything. Myanna and I had spent hours arranging music, making chamber groups out of names (level often unknown), answering emails, cleaning, and so much more. Summer string camp was about to begin!

Harvey String Teaching Summer Chamber Camp

The doorbell rang and the first student came in, always looking a little uncertain. It's hard to be first! But then the deluge would happen and soon our front porch would be covered with violin, viola, cello, and bass cases and no matter how prepared we had planned to be, chaos would reign for that entire first session.

We have always had students at a range of ages and levels sign up for Summer Chamber Camp, from first year players to high schoolers in advanced string quartets. But by far, the most challenging issue has been finding music for our "Blackberry Blossom" groups: first and second year students in larger groups who want to play with their friends (even if levels aren't compatible) and have fun playing!

The level range inside of these groups has been astonishing. Some students only know a few notes while others can play fluently in first position (but aren't quite ready for the early-intermediate trios and quartets at the next level.)

Problem-solving is pretty much our favorite thing. So Myanna wrote some easy, flexible tune arrangements for these groups.

First, there's a Regular Exercise and a Basic Exercise that can both be played together at the same time (and with all the instruments.)

Then, for each tune, there's an Advanced Melody, a Stress-Free Melody, a Basic Harmony, and a Teacher Harmony (plus, a piano accompaniment and full score, available separately.)

Here's a concert photo of one of our Summer Fiddle groups playing a tune from the Blackberry Blossom Fiddle Books!

We weren't able to have a summer camp this year due to Covid. But now, we're using these books both with in-person and remote string classes and lessons. And we're excited about how flexible the books are, both with level and instrumentation.

And now for the free booklets!

To give you an idea of how the books work, Myanna and I have put together a free set of exercises and tune arrangement of Forked Deer in exactly the same format as the Blackberry Blossom Fiddle Books.

This is an all-new tune that isn't in the books! Feel free to copy and hand out to students or fellow musicians.

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for Violin

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for Viola

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for Cello

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for String Bass

Forked Deer: A Free Fiddle Tune Booklet for String Class

Here are Free Play-Along Tracks for Forked Deer:

C. Harvey Publications · Forked Deer First Exercise

C. Harvey Publications · Forked Deer Second Exercise

C. Harvey Publications · Forked Deer Tune

Learn More

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Improve Your Viola Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

4/1/2019

1 Comment

This past year Theresa Villani, a wonderful cellist and cello teacher, wrote and asked if I had any exercises for bowing on open strings for one of her students. I had a few pages of an incomplete book, which I was happy to share. She wrote right back and said "Please make a book out of these!" (Incidentally, that's how a lot of books get started; share your ideas on this page.) Then, another teacher wrote and asked for a book of open string studies for violin and viola and here we are!

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 2

A few thoughts on how to use both these exercises and the studies in Open String Bow Workouts for the Viola, Book One:

1. Playing open strings really well is hard! They look easy (at least at the beginning of the book) but this is deceptive. Because the sound is so exposed, I found myself getting super picky with the sound I was producing.

When you play these exercises, work on fluidity in bow changes, relaxed wrist and fingers, and getting the string vibrating with the least possible motion from my hand.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 4

2. Playing open string bow studies is a great way to isolate the bow, especially when you are struggling with note-reading. Myanna has been using Open-String Bow Workouts with some students who have trouble reading notes. Since there are just four notes in the entire book, the students could work on bowing without worrying about reading notes (and as an added bonus, their reading improved!)

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 6

3. Playing open string bow studies can help violists at every level. We've used this book with students who had just started playing a few months earlier and also with intermediate and very advanced students. It helped them all, in different ways.

The beginning students used the book to discover what the bow can do. Pure bow technique, such as string crossing, rhythm, and slurs can be taught using this book.

The intermediate students used the book to listen more and improve their tone. At an intermediate level, it's easy to focus on the left hand and forget about the bow. Playing an Open String Bow Workout at the beginning of every lesson has helped our intermediate students build better bow control and tone.

And the advanced students played the slow exercises at an Adagio tempo and the fast exercises as fast as possible to expand the range of their bow technique.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 7

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 8

4. Playing open string studies can really help your tone improve! When I started playing open string studies myself, I was skeptical; how much could it help? But the difference I heard in my playing and felt in my bow hand convinced me that open strings can be one of the most effective ways to practice bowing. And adding just one page a day to your studies can make a difference over time.

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 9

Free Mini Viola Bowing Workout No. 10

To celebrate the release of the new book of Open String Bow Workouts, we are offering the above mini set of (all-new) viola open string studies for free!

When you play these, focus on correct form and how you're holding the bow.

Keep the bow arm shoulder, wrist, and fingers as loose and relaxed as possible. The thumb should be gently balanced on the bow; never squeezing.

Listen for the smoothest, most even sound during each note and keep the bow moving at the same speed while you change bows so there is no variation in sound.

For more viola studies that help you play with better tone, check out this book:

1 Comment

Improve Your Violin Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

3/30/2019

2 Comments

Free Violin Sheet Music: Open String Bowing Exercises!

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 2

Here are a few observations Myanna and I have made while playing and teaching with these studies:

1. Playing open strings is hard! They look easy (at least at the beginning of the book) but this is deceptive. Because the sound is so exposed, I found myself getting super picky with the sound I was producing. This in turn led me to work on fluidity in bow changes, relaxed wrist and fingers, and getting the string vibrating with the least possible motion from my hand.

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 4

2. Playing open string bow studies is a great way to isolate the bow, especially when you are struggling with note-reading. Myanna has been using Open-String Bow Workouts with some students who have trouble reading notes. Since there are just four notes in the entire book, the students could work on bowing without worrying about reading notes (and as an added bonus, their reading improved!)

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Violin Bowing Workout No. 6

3. Playing open string bow studies can help violinists at every level. We've used this book with students who had just started playing a few months earlier and also with intermediate and very advanced students. It helped them all, in different ways.

The beginning students used the book to discover what the bow can do. Pure bow technique, such as string crossing, rhythm, and slurs can be taught using this book.

The intermediate students used the book to listen more and improve their tone. At an intermediate level, it's easy to focus on the left hand and forget about the bow. Playing an Open String Bow Workout at the beginning of every lesson has helped our intermediate students build better bow control and tone.

And the advanced students played the slow exercises at an Adagio tempo and the fast exercises as fast as possible to expand the range of their bow technique.

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

To celebrate the release of the new book of Open String Bow Workouts, we are offering the above mini set of (all-new) violin open string studies for free!

When you play these, focus on correct form and how you're holding the bow.

Keep the bow arm shoulder, wrist, and fingers as loose and relaxed as possible. The thumb should be gently balanced on the bow; never squeezing.

Listen for the smoothest, most even sound during each note and keep the bow moving at the same speed while you change bows so there is no variation in sound.

For more violin studies that help you play with better tone, check out this book:

2 Comments

Improve Your Cello Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

2/14/2019

2 Comments

Over the next few months, in between writing The Romberg Sonata in C Major Study Book and The Saint-Saens Concerto No. 1 Study Book for Cello, I got to work on the open string book.

After I had written about half of the book, I sat down play through it, rather reluctantly. It seemed almost a waste of time to sit and play through so many pages of just plain open strings.

But then I made some discoveries and found myself really excited about open strings!

1. Playing open strings really well is hard! They look easy (at least at the beginning of the book) but this is deceptive. Because the sound is so exposed, I found myself getting super picky with the sound I was producing. This in turn led me to work on fluidity in bow changes, relaxed wrist and fingers, and getting the string vibrating with the least possible motion from my hand.

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 1

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 2

2. Playing open string bow studies is a great way to isolate the bow, especially when you are struggling with note-reading. I have a student who started lessons a few months ago and was unable to adapt to note-reading. We started playing Open-String Bow Workouts and just a month later, he was reading all of his music much more easily.

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 3

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 4

3. Playing open string bow studies can help cellists at every level. I've used this book with a student who had just started playing a few months earlier and also with some of my intermediate and very advanced students. It helped them all, in different ways.

The beginning students used the book to discover what the bow can do. The intermediate students used it to listen more and improve their tone. And the advanced students played the slow exercises very slow and the fast exercises very fast to expand the range of their bow technique.

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 5

Free Mini Cello Bowing Workout No. 6

4. Playing so many open string studies gave me an incredibly smooth bow motion! I mean, wow. I was surprised and rather rueful; it was humbling to realize how much my bow can still use work.

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

To celebrate the release of the new book of Open String Bow Workouts, we are offering the above mini set of (all-new) cello open string studies for free!

When you play these, focus on correct form and how you're holding the bow. Keep the bow arm shoulder, wrist, and fingers as loose and relaxed as possible. The thumb should be gently balanced on the bow; never squeezing.

Listen for the smoothest, most even sound during each note and keep the bow moving at the same speed while you change bows so there is no variation in sound.

If you want even more help for your bow, check out the book that started it all!

Interested in Developing Better Tone?

Live outside the US? All of our books are on Amazon around the world and many of our books are available as PDF downloads on Learnstrings:

2 Comments

Devil's Dream Lesson: Free Exercises for Cello

12/6/2018

2 Comments

So, Devil's Dream has some tricky string crossings! Both the bow and the fingers have to change strings with efficient, agile movements in order to play this piece at a fast "fiddle" tempo.

Here's the version of Devil's Dream that we'll work on:

Devil's Dream for Cello

Here's a Warm-Up Exercise for String Crossings:

Devil's Dream: Warm-Up Exercise for Cello

Devil's Dream - Free Cello Exercise No. 1 Harvey

Focusing on just the bow can help you identify underlying string crossing issues. Here are the open strings that your bow is playing under the actual fiddle tune:

Devil's Dream: Open String Exercise for Cello

Now, one of the main difficulties with this piece is crossing strings with the left hand. Here is an exercise to work on crossing strings with the fingers:

Devil's Dream: Left Hand String Crossing for Cello

And another exercise for the left hand:

Devil's Dream: Faster Left Hand String Crossing for Cello

And finally, three exercises for speed. Start slow and when you've learned them, play them as fast as possible. Keep your bow smooth and close to the strings. "Bar" your first finger across the strings in measures 3&4 and 11&12 to help make your motions as efficient as possible.

Devil's Dream: Speed and Agility Study No. 1 for Cello

Devil's Dream: Speed and Agility Study No. 2 for Cello

Devil's Dream: Speed and Agility Study No. 3 for Cello

Happy cello fiddling!

Other String Crossing Books

2 Comments

Alternative to O Come Little Children

8/23/2018

1 Comment

When a teacher mentioned that her student wasn't allowed to play O Come Little Children because of religious reasons and asked about an alternative piece, I wrote this piece as an option that still teaches many of the same techniques: string crossing, slow and fast bows, etc.

O Come Little Children, in Suzuki Book One for Violin (or Viola, or Cello), is also a Christmas carol and some teachers may be looking for a substitute when students or parents request it. Or, Spring Melody (below) can be used as a supplemental piece in addition to O Come Little Children when students need more work on these skills. Beginning violin, viola and cello adult students can enjoy this free piece as well!

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Violin

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Beginning Violin

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Viola

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Beginning Viola

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Cello

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Beginning Cello

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Forked Deer: Free Mini Fiddle Tune Booklet for Violin, Viola, Cello, and String Bass!

Here's a concert photo of one of our Summer Fiddle groups playing a tune from the Blackberry Blossom Fiddle Books!

And now for the free booklets!

Here are Free Play-Along Tracks for Forked Deer:

Sign Up to Get Free PDFs of the Forked Deer Fiddle Booklets!

Improve Your Viola Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

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

Want to print these exercises out and play them?Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales and free book offers through our newsletter!

For more viola studies that help you play with better tone, check out this book:

Improve Your Violin Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

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

Want to print these exercises out and play them?Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales, discounts, and free book offers through our newsletter!

For more violin studies that help you play with better tone, check out this book:

Improve Your Cello Bowing: Free Mini Open String Workouts

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

Want to print these exercises out and play them?Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales, discounts, and free book offers through our newsletter!

Interested in Developing Better Tone?

Devil's Dream Lesson: Free Exercises for Cello

Devil's Dream for Cello

Devil's Dream: Warm-Up Exercise for Cello

Devil's Dream: Open String Exercise for Cello

Devil's Dream: Left Hand String Crossing for Cello

Devil's Dream: Faster Left Hand String Crossing for Cello

Devil's Dream: Speed and Agility Study No. 1 for Cello

Devil's Dream: Speed and Agility Study No. 2 for Cello

Devil's Dream: Speed and Agility Study No. 3 for Cello

Other String Crossing Books

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Alternative to O Come Little Children

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Violin

​Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Viola

​Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Cello

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Want to print these exercises out and play them?

Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales and free book offers through our newsletter!

Want to print these exercises out and play them?

Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales, discounts, and free book offers through our newsletter!

Want to print these exercises out and play them?

Sign up to get a free PDF of these exercises in Ebook form and learn about sales, discounts, and free book offers through our newsletter!

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Viola

Spring Melody - Free Sheet Music for Cello

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