#1,809 in Arts & photography books
Reddit mentions of I Can Read Music, Vol 1: Violin (For Violin)
Sentiment score: 2
Reddit mentions: 2
We found 2 Reddit mentions of I Can Read Music, Vol 1: Violin (For Violin). Here are the top ones.
or
These easy-to-read, progressive exercises by Joanne Martin develop a student's music reading skills one stage at a time, with many repetitions at each stageThese easy-to-read, progressive exercises by Joanne Martin develop a student's reading skills one stage at a time, with many repetitions at each stageI Can Read Music is designed as a first note-reading book for students of string instruments who have learned to play using an aural approach such as the Suzuki Method, or for traditionally taught students who need extra note reading practiceIts presentation of new ideas is clear enough that it can be used daily at home by quite young children and their parents, with the teacher checking progress every week or twoThese easy-to-read, progressive exercises by Joanne Martin develop a student's reading skills one stage at a time, with many repetitions at each stage
Specs:
| Height | 0 Inches |
| Length | 0 Inches |
| Number of items | 1 |
| Weight | 0.68 Pounds |
| Width | 0 Inches |
I use this with students learning to read music because it focuses on a step by step progression, keeps things simple- but doesn't use any hints (other then the occasional page that identifies new notes at the top): https://www.amazon.com/Can-Read-Music-Vol-Violin/dp/0874874394
It's incredibly simple and moves slowly, but gives plenty of time to practice reading the notes. Even my adult student who have studied other instruments love it because it gives them something simple to focus on to start relating where the notes are on the violin. A few pages in and they know where to put the finger for each note and the note name.
I like it better then flash cards because it's being directly related to the violin. It also does rhythm separately then pitch.
I nearly responded yesterday but I didn't want to seem like I should be an authoritative source. My advice may be bad and crippling me and I just don't know it. But since someone chimed in with sentiments that echo my own, maybe this will help?
I just turned 30 recently and am now coming up on the one year mark learning violin (while raising an infant!) so take what I have to say with a profound grain of salt - I have little to no idea what I'm talking about. My only background in music was a course in college that covered intro and basic theory so I'm starting basically from zero.
I've bought Essential Elements, All for Strings, the Doflein Method, ABCs for Violin, Wohlfahrt Easiest Elementary Method, I Can Read Music, Suzuki 1 and a few books geared for instructors to teach. What I find is the more methodical the better I like the book.
ABCs for Violin is arguably the best overall. It contains a DVD which I didn't find that helpful compared to my teacher, and generally starts with basic exercises in preparation for a given piece or series of pieces and seems to introduce things fairly evenly. I wish it were a bit more methodical but the music is much more accessible than some of the others. So far I've enjoyed Ode to Joy, New World theme, London Bridge, Home on the Range, and O Come All Ye Faithful.
Doflein or Wohfahrt are much more methodical and introduce things very systematically and introduce 4th finger use almost immediately - which makes sense to me as an adult with medium to large hands. Doflein seems to focus on duets to help improve playing and is very progression and practice oriented but the music is generally older tunes that are unrecognizable which makes learning to play them more difficult even though I've learned some I liked. Doflein and ABCs are the basic books my teacher is using with me; aside from glancing through Wohlfahrt and playing the first few pages of exercises I haven't gone through it much but expect it suffers from the same issues as Doflein.
Essential Elements I liked and it has the ability to download the music off the website but it takes a really long time to introduce 4th finger. By that point (I started on my own) my teacher noticed I'd already developed a bad 4th finger habit and my teacher thought it was too easy and dismissed it; All for Strings met a similar fate.
I Can Read Music for Violin I only picked up later after I was struggling with rhythm problems and my teacher had copied a couple pages of exercises for me to work on. If you are really new to reading music this might be okay and basically alternates one page for fingering/tone and the next page for rhythm.
Suzuki I won't comment on as I've only looked through it but never really used it. After researching it for a few days and comparing it against what I know about learning physical skills I just didn't feel that it would be the best way for me to learn - I can't follow the logic that created it. It has been used by millions worldwide and quite a few swear by it, and it is definitely accessible because of it.