Midi accompaniment database
Violin - Easy level
This collection of midi files ( format 0 .mid files ) can be used for practising at home. I have arranged the pieces in approximate order of difficulty, and some pieces have half speed accompaniments for study purposes only. If no introduction exists for a piece, then two beats are played ( or 3 if the piece is in 3 ). This can be compared to "counting in".
Please Click here to go to the Portable Midi Accompaniment page ( this is my entire collection of accompaniments taken from my portable PC at home ).
NEW : Click here to Navigate into a Folder of Midi accompaniments : Read the readme.txt file that you will find there for instructions. These are the accompaniments that I use myself, on my portable Ms-DOS PC, when teaching at home.
If you have a Microsoft Windows PC then media player should already be assigned to play midi files. Just left click on the filename and get ready to play. Right click and and "save target as..." then select a folder to save that particular file to your hard disk so you can play the files without having to be online. If you are still having problems we could always email you a file or two. You should be able to put your midi media player to repeat....so you can go over and over the same piece... getting it better and better ! ( thanks to Rob Elliot for pointing this out ). All pieces were recorded by Roland Herrera on a cheap Roland keyboard ..... ( i.e. couldn't find the midi out on the Steinway ).
For "Young Violinist" Midi files by R. Herrera click here.
For Wagon Wheel accompaniments by Paul Wood click here.
Open String Pieces. ( Even the best violinists practise open strings )
 | For notes about many of the following pieces read My first 14 pieces. |
| Elephant Parachutist - First bowing piece to start sounding the G string. Count aloud "3....4" play G--------- repeat ! Read the full instructions here. |
| Raindrops - Just pluck the D until it stops raining (score) |
| All Four Strings - Whole bows. 4Gs 4Ds 4As 4Es again ! |
| Clown Dance - 3Ds and a "stop" x4 again ! "Lots of bow" |
| Snakes and Ladders - DGDAEADG, every note twice...long snakes (sheet) |
| Jumping Ponies - DDAA DDAA DDAA AADD plucking then bowing |
| Chocolate Mousse - DDD---- choc - late - mooooouse |
| The Squirrel - 8 Ds 8 As. Play / count |
| A Restful tune ( "Stepping Stones" n.8 ) Lift and come to the heel during the rests, while counting out aloud "3 ... 4 ... " |
| Strawberry / Banana. dddd d d aaaa d d. The words give you the rhythm (score) |
| The General. 4Gs 4Ds 6Gs DDG. Twice. Two counts in. Another recording here, and a slightly slower one here. |
| Two by two from "Stepping Stones" |
| Waltz ( n.5) from "Stepping Stones". Plucking please ! |
| Wagon Train. GGDDAADD GGDDAAEE **EEAADD G-G-G-G- |
| Stepping Stones. Number 4 from the book "Stepping Stones" |
| The Roundabout. From "Stepping Stones". Sight read plucking. Another recording is here. |
| The Lighthouse. ( n.7 from "Stepping Stones" ) Whole bows please |
| Ice-cream Van ( n.9 from Stepping Stones ) Half, half, whole ! |
| Hiding in the long grass ( n.10 from Stepping Stones ) |
| Buttercups and Daisies from Stepping Stones n.11 |
| Kangaroo ( n.14 ) boing boing boing boing boing etc... ( pizz. means plucking ) |
| Party Piece ( n.15 ) Spot the wrong note. Last open string piece in stepping stones. Pluck holding the bow ! |
| The Doll's Waltz - GDAE ADGD GDAE ADGG in 3/4, floating & softly ! |
First Finger Pieces ( Get that first whole tone in tune...It'll save you months )
| The Ambulance. Up down up down up down till the cows come home |
| From D to E. DD11DD11D1D1DDD from "Violin Playtime 1" |
| From D to E. Another recording of the same piece |
| Caterpillars. dd11ddaa dd11ddaa 11aa11aa dd11aadd. All the bow (sheet) |
| Hobby Horses. gd1d gd1d aadd 11d* gd1d gd1d a1ad 1dg. Fast separate bows |
| Apple Tree ( n.16 from Stepping Stones ) Because this piece has uneven notes, I prefer to start it after caterpillars and Hobby horses. Bow lightly and smoothly on the A using so much bow.... and your bow must travel as easily as a slight breeze |
| Cowboys and Indians. ( n.17 ) Count in 8 notes. Slow version with repeat here |
| Sea Horses ( n.20 from Stepping Stones ). Sustain those low notes ! |
| Circus Elephants ( n.21 from Stepping Stones ). Bass ! |
| Cockle Shells ( n.23 from Stepping Stones ). Bow lightly ! Don't press to hard on the E string otherwise the shells might break ! |
| Oom-pah Band. ( n.26 last piece in Stepping Stones ) If you know your Stepping Stones you can now move on to Wagon Wheels... well done ! |
Two Finger Pieces
| Hot Cross Buns. 21d- 21d- dddd 1111 21d- one-a-penny..2-a-penny. (sheet) |
| The River. Vp1 n9. d122 d122 d121ddd. Long even minims |
| Puppet on a String. Vp1 n16. Middle of the bow d1d1222 2121ddd (sheet) (score) (listen) |
| In the moonlight Vp1 n22 Use open E very lightly |
| Bugle Call Vp3 n1. Open As are better than 4th fingers. |
| In the Sun Vp1 n25. (sheet) |
| Goldfish Bowl from Wagon Wheels. (sheet) |
| Hoe Down ( full speed ) - ( half speed ) ( fair speed ) ABRSM Grade 1 list c |
Three Finger Pieces
| Clown Dance. d122 3-3- 212d 1-1- d122 3-3- 2d11 d-d-. Little little long long |
| Little Fox ( steady speed ) - Traditional Ukrainian dance from "Violin Playtime 2". (download the sheet music) |
| Ukrainian Dance. The same piece. Another recording. |
| Hills and Dales - From Wagon Wheels (sheet) |
| Round Dance Vp1 n26. dd12 3-3-. little little long-long- |
| Bells of St. Basils. Use open instead of 4th finger |
| Pony Trot Vp1 n29. Long bow Staccato |
| Old Macdonald Vp1 n31 Separate bows in bar 1. |
| Children playing Vp1 n17 2213 2-a- Start at lower half |
| Courageous Climber Vp1 n20. Sustain all the minims to the end. |
| Michael Finnigan. Vp3 n4. Middle of the bow, slight staccato |
| Pussy cat in the snow. Vp2 n6. In three. Ignore the dots above the notes |
| Presto. Vp3 n5. Middle of the bow. Open As are fine. |
| In Olden Times. Vp1 n13. Keep 2nd and 3rd fingers close together |
| To the Maypole. Vp3 n6 Make the 1st note clear. |
| Over the hills and far away. Vp3 n2. Slur the quavers. |
| Morris Dance. Vp2 n22 2nd finger next to 1st. |
| Circus Bearfight. Vp3 n8. Open Es are allowed if played well. |
Four Finger Pieces
| Raindrops from Vp1 n21. |
| Poème Vp1 n32. Whole / half the bow |
| Carnival. From violin playtime 2. Use the 4th on the E string. |
| Carnival. Another recording |
| The Hobby Horse. Vp1 n33. 4th on the G is harder. |
| J'ai du bon tabac. Vp2 n1. Observe the slurs. Remove the last one. |
| Rigaudon Vp2 n3. Grand warm G sounding piece. Large bowing. |
| Vivace. Vp2 n9. Middle of the bow. Ignore dots |
| Slovak Song. Vp2 n11. Large bows to start with. Gaps in between notes. |
| Buzz, Buzz, Buzz. Vp3 n9. Middle of the bow. |
| The Vicar of Bray. Vp2 n14. Large bows. Open a strings are fine. |
| Cossack Dance. Vp3 n10 Middle of the bow. Count in 4 quavers before you start. |
A Collection from Violin Playtime 1 - 3 (
Vp1 / Vp2 / Vp3 )
Violin Playtime is a series published
by Faber Music Limited - For obvious copyright reasons, we cannot reproduce the
score.
| Mazurka. Vp1 n4 Open strings. Play an a on the 1st beat of each bar. |
| Pont d'Avignon. Vp1 n2. Open strings. Play one G or D per bar. |
| In Winter. Vp1 n6 Open strings. Play A and E, except bars 4/5 ( D and A ) |
| The Great Cathedral. Vp1 part 2 . Two fingers. 2nd finger near the first ! |
| Chorale Vp1 Part 2 n38. I bow this differently. |
| Lullaby Vp1 n39. Bowing printed is right. |
| Nursery Rhyme. Vp1 n42. Use open a if you like. |
| Andante. Vp1 n43. This is hard for this book. |
| Fields of Flax. Vp1 n44. Grand staccato again. |
| Little Brown Jug. Vp2 n17 . 2nd finger next to first. |
| Valsette. Vp2 n28 Little waltz. 2nd bar has a 4th finger. |
| Hora Vp2 n31. Large bows to start off. |
| Allegro from the Fairy Prince. Vp2 n32. 2nd near 1st on a |
| The Winter. Vp2 n33. E minor. Intonation is vital. |
| The Gossip. Vp2 n37. 2nd part is off the string in A major. |
| Down Bow Polka. Vp2 n38. Down bows are near the heel. |
| Russian Hora. Vp3 n12. Rubato. Speed changes in this. |
| Galop. Vp3 n13 by Kabalevsky. |
| The British Grenadiers. Vp3 n14. Grand staccato / détaché |
If you have any comments, ideas or complaints about any of the pieces, then please let us know, so we can correct the problem or provide additional support.