ISBN 9780825890352. 9 x 12 inches. Transcribed by Doris Gazda.
If you have a friend that plays another string instrument and you want to play a duet with them for fun or in a performance, then this is the book for you. This collection contains thirtyone duets in a variety of styles from classical to folk music to original pieces that will be fun to play with any combination of two string instruments. Duets are a great way to learn how to play in a chamber-music setting, and this unique collection gives you the opportunity to do it with anyone else that plays a string instrument, making the combinations of instruments that can be used almost limitless. This would be a great collection for use in a school setting, for students who are especially eager to play music with their friends. The fl exibility of these duets makes them a must-have for any string player.
In our experience as instrumental music teachers, we have found that having students play in small chamber-music groups was a very beneficial exercise to improve the studentas overall musicianship. The simplest form of chamber music is the duet. It is an opportunity for the student to play with a teacher or to play with another student of similar abilities. Aspects of playing such as tone quality, intonation, technique and ensemble skills can be developed during the process of studying duets. These duets are different in that they have many different performance options, since all of the books in this series are compatible. As school music teachers we always had students who wanted to come to the band room during lunch or after school; eager students who simply wanted to play music with their friends. However, that was not possible at the time, since there was very little duet material available that was compatible with all of the string instruments. This book takes care of that. A student can now grab a fellow musician, no matter what instrument they might play and have hours of fun playing duets together. Most importantly, they will learn a great deal about music-making in the process. The duets have been generally arranged in the book in order of difficulty and cover a range of keys that are appropriate for this ability level. Special care was given to making sure that both of the duet parts were on a similar ability level and that each line was given an opportunity to play a lead role at some point during the arrangement. Also, most of the musical markings are attached to both systems and the point size of the music was considered for ease of reading. It is our hope that this collection will help to stimulate and enhance the musicianship of the performers. It was a pleasure for us to have the opportunity to put together this collection. We hope it is a useful tool for you for years to come.
