Mel Bay's Complete Irish Fiddle Player by Peter Cooper Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mel Bay's Complete Irish Fiddle Player
Book Review: An excellent book for any budding Irish traditional fiddler
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book for anyone who already plays fiddle but wants to know more about the Irish tradition. Particularly interesting is the emphasis that Cooper puts on the importance of the bowing right from the start. There is always a temptation when playing jigs and reels and the like to think only of the speed of the left hand fingers, but Cooper rightly emphasises that without the lilt and the accents that good bowing gives to the music, it is lifeless. Cooper gives detailed guidance on bowing right from the start and pieces are ordered in the book so that bowing techniques develop steadily. This excellent book is gradually changing my mechanical playing into something that might be worth listening to!Book Review: Excellent book - but no accompanying CD
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book and well worth owning if you're at all interested in fiddle music - particularly for the detail it goes into about bowing patterns.
The only thing to be aware of is that the book also has two CDs available of Pete Cooper playing all the tunes. This edition (the one advertised) doesn't come with the CDs and I'm having some difficulty sourcing them separately (and I suspect that even if I do then by the time I've bought the CDs plus the book the cost may more than having bought the book and CDs together in the first place from another source).
Of course this doesn't detract from the book - just caveat emptor!
Book Review: Indispensable
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, be sure you buy the version with the CD, as the lilt and rhythmn of Irish music is all important and has to be listened to. As far as I am aware all the pieces in the book are included on the CD, as well as examples of the rhythmns and ornamentations.
This is not a book for an absolute beginner on the violin, but for a classically trained amateur wanting to put in a creditable attempt at Irish fiddle music, this is a godsend. The pieces are arranged in order of the difficulty of bowing, and it is the bowing which gives the traditional feel and lift - and the bowing which is the trickiest part for classical violinists to adapt to. Peter Cooper obviously knows this all too well. If you work your way conscientiously through this book, taking note of all the tips and techniques and exercises on the way, you can't help but start to sound authentic.
I can't recommend this book highly enough. I have bought quite a few Irish fiddle tutors, but this is the one I am actually working my way through and I am getting results.