60 Minute Introduction to Violin For Beginners

I loaned this out and never got it back. Very useful video, wish I could find it on DVD, however the wind back review works better on a VHS than DVDs in my opinion. At any rate Peter Vogel gives a very easy and to the point step by step lesson of the scales and how they are used to build songs.

is ok I guess

This video will teach you the basics about the violin. It's a little boring, but if you pay attention you will learn. Glad I bought it. The second time I watched I was playing along to Mary Had a Little Lamb! Well, I was impressed, anyway!

This is more of a critique than a review of this DVD. Please understnad that I'm not a professional violin teacher. I have had about 3 months of lessons years ago and I can barely play the violin.The instructor in this DVD claimed, at the beginning, that the fundamentals learned from this DVD will enable the student to play in any style including classical, blue grass, country, and rock and roll. I think it did not deliver on this promise.Here are the chapters in this DVD1. Introduction2. Playing condition3. Bow Preparation4. Tuning the violin5. Holding the violin6. Left Hand position7. HOlding the Bow8. bowing open strings9. Exercise 110. Exercises 2-411. Half Notes12. Quarter Notes13. Tone Quality14. Review15. Music notation16. Noting the violin17. Exercises 20-2418. Here We Go Exercises19. Here We Go20. Mary Had a little lamb21. Exercises 28-2922. Exercises 30-3123. Song24. Exercises 34-3725. The Alphabet Song26. Practice Tips27. Slurs28. Exercises 43-4629. Go tell Aunt Rhody30. D Scale31. Exercises 55-6032. 3/4 Time33. Exercises 66-6834. Sunday Waltz35. Summary I suppose you're suppose to buy the companion music book from the publisher for another $15. I didn't get this book. Do not let the number of chapters on this DVD fool you. The total running time is only about 50 minutes. It runs through all the chapters in a hurry. Most (if not all) of the exercises shown contain one or two measures of notes. As you can see from the chapter listing, this DVD shows you how to play 3 songs. The longest one is Sunday Waltz. It's only about 7 or 8 measures long. All of the exercises and demo songs are of the "put your finger here to play this note" variety. One cannot learn to play violin this way. Playing the violin is much different than playing the piano in that intonation is very important. Without proper critique from an experienced teacher, the student will not have knowledge to differentiate between right and wrong intonation. This DVD also does not demonstrate proper hand, wrist, and finger posture and movement. In order to play a song, your fingers will have to be in the right place at the right time. And sometimes your fingers have to be in some very un-intuitive places in order to play some passages correctly. You can't put stuff like that onto a single DVD. It has to be learned over time. The approach taken by this DVD might have worked if you're learning the piano, but I'm sorry to say that it will not work for learning the violin. For that you'll need a real teacher. If you want to learn how to play "Mary Had A Little Lamb" and "Sunday Waltz" BADLY, then learn from this DVD. Otherwise, get yourself a teacher.

This is the perfect DVD for someone who has never played the Violin or fiddle before. It teaches everything from holding the violin, to using the bow, to learning how to play your first songs. I found that after a month I was ready to move on to classical songs. It truly was a great and cheap way to learn.

Good information

Like the dvd, but question whether it was brand new or not. It looked like it had small scratches on it.

Seemed to be a good book