With the summer beginning I’ve decided to highlight Dabczyski and Phillips’s Fiddler’s Philharmonic as my pick for this week.  I thought that this collection of traditional fiddle tunes would be a fun change of pace for students to work on over the summer break.  The book is available for the violin, viola, cello and bass.

There are sixteen fiddle tunes in the collection.  The level of difficulty ranges throughout the book from an advanced beginning to intermediate level.  Each tune is first presented as a solo with chord symbols above the melody line.  The key of the solo version of each tune is determined by where it is played easiest for the solo instrument; therefore, the solo versions of the tune are not the same in each instrument’s book.  The tune is then presented arranged for an ensemble with three parts, the tune, a break (an embellishment of the tune) and a back-up or bass line.  To aide in creating a mixed ensemble, this ensemble arrangement of the tune is in the same key in all the versions of the book.

The Fiddler’s Philharmonic is a fun way to improve upon one’s playing.  Learning a piece in different keys helps with a player’s dexterity and learning different parts for the same piece helps the player understand the piece in more depth.  Also, learning a different style of music can help a classical player play classical music better.

I hope that you are able to get your hands on this book and have an enjoyable time playing your instrument this summer, or any time for that matter.

 - Alexandra Ostroff, violinist and Shar Apprentice