Well-known music includes ‘Jupiter’ from The Planets and the African-American spiritual ‘Deep River’. There are also lots of new tunes to be explored, such as ‘Rabbit Foot’ by Florence Price and the traditional Ukrainian song ‘Halya carries water’.
The series has been compiled by string specialists Kathy and David Blackwell and covers the musical and technical elements of the early grades in three progressive volumes. Many of the arrangements are featured on the ABRSM Violin syllabus from 2024 and, in addition, all are ideal choices for Performance Grade exams. There are piano accompaniments for every piece, and violin accompaniments and guitar chords for many pieces, providing useful flexibility for students and teachers.
Key features:
New arrangements of repertoire spanning many cultures and styles, in three progressive volumes
Accompaniments for piano, violin and guitar
A rich source of repertoire for a concert or exam
Many of the pieces are featured on the ABRSM Violin syllabus from 2024
An interesting footnote and fun fact for every piece
Contents:
Grade 3
Contredanse No. 12 (from 12 Contredanses, WoO 14) - Ludwig van Beethoven
Rabbit Foot - Florence B. Price
Minuet - Ignatius Sancho
Canzonetta (from Album des enfants, Op. 123) - Cécile Chaminade
Jupiter (from The Planets, Op. 32) - Gustav Holst
L’cha Dodi - Trad. Jewish (arr. Franklyn Gellnick)
Für Elise - Ludwig van Beethoven
Mi Teresita - Teresa Carreño
Bella ciao - Trad. Italian
Gavotte No. 2 (from Children’s Album, Op. 36) - Amy Beach
Deep River - African-American Spiritual (arr. Nikki Iles)
Flight of the Swans (from Swan Lake, Op. 20) - P. I. Tchaikovsky
Water in the Moonlight - Thomas ‘Blind Tom’ Wiggins
Halya carries water - Trad. Ukrainian (arr. Ros Stephen and Julian Rowlands)
La campanella (from Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 7) - Nicolò Paganini
Habanera (from Dama de Ouros) - Chiquinha Gonzaga
March in A (from The Anna Magdalena Bach Book of 1725) - C. P. E. Bach
Rondo alla Hornpipe (from Keyboard Sonata Op. 3) - C. M. Barthélemon
Funeral March of a Marionette - Charles-François Gounod
Kathy and David Blackwell both studied music at the University of Edinburgh. Kathy continued with studies at the University of Oxford before following a career in string teaching and writing educational music. David has worked in music publishing and has composed and arranged a wide range of music from choral and organ compositions to educational music for strings, piano and a variety of other instruments. Together they have written the award-winning String Time series published by Oxford University Press. They have twice won the UK’s Music Industries Association award for Best Education Publication and in 2017 they received an ESTA UK award in recognition of exceptional services to string teaching.