Book/CD set
Schott ED 12886 £13.99 in the UK from Schott www.erics-music-shop.com
email: info@erics-music-shop.com
Tel: 020 7534 0710
UK and Europe
US and Canada
‘Rarely venturing from the keys of D and G major, I approached Pete Cooper’s latest publication ‘Eastern European Fiddle Tunes’ with trepidation, anticipating blackened staves, chromatic scales and sky-high ledger lines. I really should have known better. Pete’s consummate skill is as an enabler. He knows how to harness the enthusiasm of the budding amateur and show you how. This collection comes with written notes on the scales, modes and rhythms, and reassurance that only about a quarter of the 80 tunes will demand you leave the comfortable world of first position. Further help comes with the accompanying CD on which he’s recorded the tunes straight - no fuss, no arrangements, just a good working tool. Although the tunes are divided geographically (Romania, Serbia, Poland, etc.), once again Schott have skimped on making room for information about the individual tunes. Laudably, Pete Cooper has made it his duty to publish this information on his website. An invaluable book for those with a touch of Gypsy wanderlust - Verity Sharp
This new book contains a rich selection of tunes from many Eastern European countries including Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Macedonia, and pieces from the Klezmer tradition.
There are 80 tunes in a variety of styles: mazurkas, polkas, kolomyikas, freylekhs, horas, csárdás, legenyes, sîrbas, rucenitsas, kopanitsas, etc.
The material is wide-ranging in complexity, including very simple pieces as well as many more challenging tunes requiring intermediate to advanced technique. The introduction provides explanations of rhythms, scales, modes, and notes on the individual tunes.
A CD with all the pieces accompanies the collection.
