Westbury Park Strings:
Contents of School SectionHere you will find essays, articles and information about various aspects of string playing. Please print out any page you find helpful. If you would like to contribute an article, or even help us with the technical side of our site please get in touch. Recent additions are listed in the What's New ? section. Most, but not all of our articles on string playing are placed in these 3 categories :
On this page: Violin Viola Cello General Etudes Violin_Studies
Violin School Main Menu :
Easy / Intermediate / Advanced
Articles for violinists. Study material with notes, posture tips, repertoire, and technique essays for all levels.
Other relevant information can be found in the Étude course section of our site. Viola students should come here too.
Violin related articles for beginner, intermediate and advanced students. Latest additions are listed in the What's new ? section.
Here is a little bit of everything from Open Strings to Wieniawski's École Moderne !
Violin : Easy
( Beginners / Little scales / Concertinos / Wohlfahrt etüden )
 | Some violin and bow holding tips for beginners |
| The Elephant parachutist piece for beginners |
| The first 14 pieces for violin, viola and cello. ( Beginners and ages 4-5 ) |
| Main Midi accompaniment database 1 for easy violin pieces |
| My entire Portable PC midi accompaniments are here |
| The Young Violinist : A collection of easy pieces to play |
| 12 Russian Folk Pieces ( easy - about grade 1 ) |
| 8 Russian Romantic Pieces with short notes ( grades 1 to 8 ) |
| Light Folksongs from East Europe |
| Garlitzky studies and Nikolic Concertino ( easy - from grade 1 to 5 ) |
| Very Short Violin Studies created by pupils for pupils |
| Easy Studies for Violin ( Grade 1 Études ) started Dec 2000 |
| Wohlfahrt study guide : Studies Op.54 : Studies Op.45 |
| Dancla study guide : 36 Studies Op.84 |
| How to play easy 2 octave arpeggios |
| Semitone Exercise for young violinists |
| View left hand finger pattern animation and basic pattern article. |
| The 10 most common mistakes ; bow holds / stance / posture |
| Wagon Wheel accompaniments by Paul Wood. |
| What I give my students to play : A lovely Repertoire list ! |
| 61 Midi accompaniments to The "Young Violinist" |
| First 18 pieces ( midi accompaniments ) to Light folksongs from East Europe |
| Little Violinist by Albert Markov, Accompaniments |
| more being added monthly |
Violin : Intermediate
( Kreutzer & Rode studies / French Concertos )
| About the bowing stroke called détaché |
| Mangeot talks about changing position |
| Playing in the first 5 positions ; a beginner's guide |
| More about changing position ( shifting ) |
| Let's learn basic Vibrato at last |
| Horizontal (chromatic) LH finger action and Vertical finger action |
| Rough notes on posture and bow holds |
| Leonard : Left hand daily mechanism study ( Intermediate ) |
| Mazas Op.36 Etudes Spéciales Book 1 study notes |
| String Glossary on right and left hand technique |
| I need to buy a new shoulder rest, but which one ?! |
Violin : Advanced
( Technical and Artistic high school / Dont Studies )
| Yampolsky talks about advanced fingering and intonation |
| G major 4 octave scale fingering suggestions |
| Leopold Mozart on the right index finger |
| Tartini and the art of the right hand |
| All about which violin strings to buy |
| A list of Kreisler encore recordings |
| Violin Technique glossary |
| Physiolology facts |
| Download Viotti's Concerto n7 for Violin |
| Go back to the Intermediate section |
Viola School Main Section : More coming soon
| The 10 most common mistakes in posture / stance / bow hold. |
| Light Folksongs from East Europe |
Cello School Main Section :
More articles in preparation but here are some to start you
off...
Articles for cellists. Study material with notes, posture tips, repertoire, and technique essays for all levels
| Emanuel Feuermann |
| How to hold the cello ( Intermediate ) |
| How to hold the bow ( Easy and Intermediate levels ) |
| Easy cello bowing : Images for young cellists |
| The Young Cellist : Comments to a selection of easy pieces |
| Romberg and the history of the cello |
| Easy midi accompaniment files for young cellist ; practise with your PC |
| My First 14 pieces - Easiest open string repertoire |
| Advice about practice at home - Stage 1 and Stage 2 |
| Light Folksongs from East Europe |
| Fedorchenko : A selection from a Russian study book |
| Upside down Cello bow hold example with pictures |
| more soon |
General Articles Main Section :
History, makers, players, Instrument makers, composers, Theory, Aural, common technique and other miscellaneous topics are covered here.
| Aural : Practice your rhythm ..... rhythm bank in 3/4 time |
| Aural Tests : Grade1 - Grade5 Test A - how did you get on ? |
| AB Guide to Music Theory Book 1, Grades 1-8 Topics updated March 2008 |
| Buying an Instrument : things to look out for |
| Violin (Viola & Cello too) Work routine with tips. |
| Talking about bridges and curvature |
| Books on string pedagogy |
| WPS our partial list of books ( with book cover pictures ! ) |
| General advice for beginners |
| The history of Charles Dancla, violinist and composer |
| An old collection of questions and answers ( 1998 ) |
| String glossary ( in progress ) |
| Bowing / rhythm patterns for young violinists violists and cellists. |
| Leopold Auer talks about open strings : why study them ? |
| Reminiscing about the St. Petersburg string school |
| Something about "tonus" ; the quest for a healthy tone |
| More about this tonal topic. A student follows up. |
| A tribute to Leonid Kogan |
| A rough start on a Violinists / Composers biography |
| Tuning-Up discussions on the newsgroup |
| Practice at home - stage 1 & stage 2 |
| Some ideas about practicing. |
| An article about following two teachers at once. In short ; don't. |
| Leopold Auer on style |
| All about bows and bow makers |
| Playing at the heel and other controversial issues about teaching ! |
| A brief list of favourite recordings. These are what you should be listening to ! |
| more soon ! |
Links
| Étude section ( Study guides to your études ) |
| Violin Studies This page leads to study notes on the standard didactic studies such as Mazas, Kreutzer, Dont, Duport and others. |