- How to Play Violin in 14 Days: Daily Violin Lessons for Absolute Beginners (Play Music in 14 Days)

Great details, easy to follow along, good quality book, durable and informative

Overall good, but don't expect to be able to get started with a book alone. Find some good videos online that demonstrate proper bow hold, bowing, left-hand position, etc. I find that the lesson structure works well for me, particularly as you start getting into the more complex finger movements of 3rds. Do yourself a favor and focus on making each note sound clean (stop bow, place finger, start bow, keep bow parallel). If you do this, then your playing will sound dramatically better, which is far more encouraging when starting out.

I picked this up wantin’ somethin’ simple to help me ease into violin, and it does a nice job of breakin’ things down where it don’t feel too heavy all at once. The daily lesson setup makes it easier to stay with it, and I liked that it’s written for folks who truly startin’ from square one. It gave me enough structure to keep from just sittin’ there holdin’ the violin lookin’ confused. I will say fourteen days is a mighty confident timeline, so you still gotta give yourself some grace while you’re learnin’. Some parts moved a little quicker than I wanted, but overall it kept me encouraged and made the whole thing feel a lot less intimidatin’.

I came to the violin with a musical bias; I know how to play the piano, and chords of the guitar and ukulele. My bass clef note recognition is therefore weak. But I know basic chording very well. That being said, there is a hidden underlined thing going on with beginner musical books. These books are subliminally teaching you how to play in chords without always actually telling you. With a piano, I knew how to play in C first, then F, G, B flat, E flat and A flat. but I was incredibly weak in the chords of D, or in the chords of A or E. I knew that a seventh cord transitions to the next one up. I knew that C7 transitioned to the cord of F or G7 goes to C, and so on. So that is my bias in this review. There are several beginner books that I would recommend and they are: Nicolas Laoureux Practical Method - Part 1: Violin Method, Old Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus, Suzuki Book One, A Dozen A Day, Pieces to Play Book One, Fiddle Time Joggers, and String Builder Book One. If you want to hone your skills with some method I recommend "adventures in music" or Alfred's book One and Two. The hidden thing going on is that you are being trained to play in a certain key with some of these beginner books. And most of the books do not directly tell you what that key is. When you play Twinkle Twinkle Little star in Suzuki you get training in the A chord. (My weakness in Piano) But this book "How to play Violin in 14 days" starts you off in the key of C. That's what I know, the key of C...and most of the pieces I play are in either C or G of F. So for me, this book was fantastic because it starts where I already am. So my advice is to get exposed to as many beginner books as possible, and don't be afraid of learning more than one way, or more than one slant of things. And speaking of slant, these beginner books rarely teaches beginners to slightly slant their bowing hand to the right on their up-bow, hitting the right edge of the hair. Or on the down-bow hitting a flatter hair approach. All of these books cannot and will not tell you everything. And there is nothing wrong supplementing pieces with your favorite style as long as they match the skill level you are in. The books I mentioned tend to do that. Ultimately, you need multiple sources and multiple takes, especially if you already know music. This book is fantastic, and it gives one other such perspective, and that is crucial. If you want to start your beginning violin in the key of C, then this book is for you. I highly recommend it and good luck to you as you pursue your dream of playing the violin. This is an excellent beginner book !!!

I started the Bethany Olds How To Play Violin In 14 Days book having never picked up a violin. Although I didn't have 90 minutes a day to dedicate to practicing, working for 30 minutes a day, it took about a month to make it through the book. I went through that book a second time using the metronome. By doing that, I had a good foundation for beginning the Violin Hymns book also written by Bethany. The recordings supplied with both books (via website download) are very helpful in being able to see and hear the melodies and exercises. The exercises in this book build upon themselves in such a way that you are gaining a skill without a huge strain. The next exercise builds on that skill...step by step. I went from never playing violin in mid January to now (the end of March) being able to work my way through the hymns book with no major problems. I am not amazing but the tunes are very recognizable and I am growing my skill each time I play the hymn.

not as expected. no chords or scale advice in the book. would advise people to learn to understand music before buying this book

I've always wanted to learn violin but was intimidated because I have absolutely no experience playing an instrument. I looked at A LOT of books on Amazon and decided on this one....and I'm glad I did! This manual had me playing notes in no time! It's clearly written and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book!!!

This is a very good instruction book. I have never even picked up a violin and I have made a great start. The online audio works great too Thanks. I Would say get this book

Book is simple to read

Very disappointed with the book because the audio tracks do not correspond with the exercises. That was very unfortunate.

Also für den absoluten Anfänger ist das Buch eine sehr sportliche Herausforderung. Ich habe bisher ein paar Videos im Internet angesehen und ein anderes Buch zur Motivation gekauft. Ansonsten hilft mir meine Vorerfahrung, früher ein anderes Streichinstrument (Kontrabass) gespielt zu haben. Für MICH persönlich ist das Buch perfekt. Als Selbstmörder bekomme ich jeden Tag neue Aufgaben, die es zu meistern gilt. Alle Übungen sind als Audiobeispiel online abrufbar. Das ist eine riesige Unterstützung. Ich übe übrigens mit einer E-Geige, um die Nachbarschaft nicht zu schocken. Das Programm ist für sehr, sehr ambitionierte Vollanfänger. Mindestens 1,5 Stunden pro Tag. Für mich machbar. Wer weniger Zeit investieren möchte, kann den Day1 eben in 2 oder 3 Etappen unterteilen. Ich selber habe aber gerade den enormen Ehrgeiz, es wirklich in 14 Tagen durchzuarbeiten. Ohne große Englischkenntnisse. Ich reise mir zusammen, was geschrieben steht. Ich kann das Buch sehr empfehlen, wenn man eine klare Tagesstruktur / tägliche Übungseinheiten sucht.

Contains simple explanations

Very helpful and easy to read and play