(I know, today? it is, smile the "$proper" way, "$talk the proper way, and" dare I say? "$be" the proper way? sorry, that never has, and never will "cut it" it the real world of viollin playing.

If you want that kind of rubbish? er, go elsewhere? cos, what I teach is REAL!

Hello and welcome to this complete violin course. I have published before, while I was living in France, a violin book, but this is a totally new, complete course, from adult-beginner(who plays a bit already) to advanced. 

So, who is this course for? It is not for everyone. Real beginners will know how to start, and will choose one of the other courses available which talk and talk and say nothing. More advanced students will find the missing bits that let them sound the way they always wanted to.

I have studied with some of the best teachers in the world, from Russia and Hungary (yes, you can study at the Juilliard School of Music etc in New York, but you will actually be taught the “Russian school” of violin playing. I also gave up playing professionally at quite a young age. When I started again? I was "old" and had to teach myself all over again. This is how and why this course exists. It CAN be done. It WILL be done. And it can be easily done with correct instruction and/or knowledge. This course will provide you with that.

There is nothing that is “waffle” in this little course. Every word means something. In order to progress you will need to go fast, slowly. :-)

Violin playing is not a race to see how quickly you can master the notes. Rather, it is a lifetime struggle to make the sound you have inside your head come out when you play.  This struggle is a life-long struggle. A struggle against the way our society "sees" people and things. Violin playing should be a joy. It should NEVER be a chore.

For this reason, it is not your hands, arms etc that are most important, it is your ears. There is no way around this. Many lesser schools and teachers will “tell” you what to do. This is not how violin playing is really taught. I was once, at a master-class given by one of my Hungarian (soon to be) teachers, called a talented monkey. “He is talented, yes, but this is not how we play violin,” he said. And this is after I had won first place in many competitions! When I started to study with him I was put on a diet of long slow bows. You will learn all of that in this book.

I wish you well on your journey. And hope that it lasts as long as it must until you can pick up a violin and sing it. 

William Stewart. France 2015

(btw? I have deliberately NOT done anything with the sound of ALL these videos, otherwise? how would you know? so, there are some horrible sounds, just to make a point! bear that in mind... if you wish to hear my "clean" violin sound, studio recorded? there are enough videos online!)