Violin Alive
“The Violin Alive series is arguably the most comprehensive and useful teaching tool ever produced in Australia. Brilliantly simple and explicit, Fintan Murphy concisely breaks down every aspect of violin technique to allow students to gain the utmost benefit from their playing. In Volume 2, the AMEB violin Technical Syllabus (2001) grades 3-4 is presented along with key techniques crucial for the growth of aspiring musicians. These include tips and exercises on various bowings such as change of bow, hook stroke and spiccato, left hand techniques such as vibrato development and shifting, and a number of warm up and practice strategies. This latest edition has been remastered to a DVDROM, enabling even more techniques to be incorporated onto the single disk. Easy to use and sprinkled with fun and colourful navigation icons, students (and teachers) can delight in exploring all that Fintan has to offer. As a teacher, it gives me great confidence to know that a student will have Fintan with them at home to guide them in their practice during the week.”
“This is possibly the most comprehensive and useful multimedia teaching tool for the violin extant. Its strength lies in the brilliant yet seamless marriage between foundational violin technique and the technical requirements for Preliminary to Eighth Grades of the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB). Great care has obviously been taken in ensuring that the sound and video quality are both top quality. Indeed many of the shots have been varied to highlight different technical aspects. Menus can be brought up by a simple right-click on the mouse, each clip loading up quickly. The slow motion feature really helps students to compare their actions with what they can see. The CDROMs are laid out in the following way: AMEB exercises, scales and arpeggios; Practice points; Key techniques-warm-ups, practice techniques, bowing and left hand; and Resources. Fintan has adopted a most relaxed, easy-going and friendly approach. As he is well versed in Alexander technique, some exercises are performed away from the violin so that the body can be optimally prepared to practice and perform efficiently with ease. Alongside each video clip window is a concise written explanation of each technique. This may help the teacher to accurately verbalise a range of technical issues. Kodaly teaching principles, such as preparing a piece by clapping the beat and singing the melody, are also presented. Perhaps the most powerful characteristic of the volumes is that the sequence of each exercise has been carefully thought out so that even the slowest developing student can acquire a very sound general technique. For instance, the vibrato exercises from ‘banjo polishing’ to the more refined ‘vibrato impulses’ can be done and understood at any level. The cross-referencing of related techniques such as sautillé and collé is very clear and invaluable for the more advanced student. The video close-ups of the left-hand action in a variety of finger patterns and in the higher positions really gets into the nittygritty of what works best on the violin. Each volume is showered with a glossary of terms and a bibliography so that both teachers and students can be fully informed. I venture to say that Violin Alive is the most significant contribution to violin pedagogy in Australia to date.”
– Stephen Chin, Principal String Teacher, Brisbane Grammar School. Music in Action, Music News for Australian Educators, Spring 2006