Media
View the String Groove class as seen on PBS Television
ESTA Newsletter, Fall 2003 issue"Book & CD: Inspiration for Improvisation" translated from original copy in Swedish
When Anna Braw and I met during the Christmas holidays, she had with her a
book, together with a CD for me, authored by
American Violinist, Edgar
Gabriel. The purpose of the book is to teach
violinists to improvise. We put
the CD on and began to play through 12 pieces, all
in different musical
styles. It was very interesting, and we were
overjoyed listening to it. It
was also forwarded to the Swedish ESTA Conference
planning group, who were
so impressed with it, that they decided to invite
Edgar to come to Sweden to
show his material and teach it to string players. He
accepted the
invitation. We hope he will also have similar books
for the viola and cello
(published since this article). The following is a
review of the contents of "String Groove®."
Edgar Gabriel's introduction states his book "String
Groove" is directed
toward fiddlers and violinists, starting from
newcomers to advanced who want
to learn to improvise. For those who are familiar
with improvisation on the
violin, the contents are extremely helpful and can
help them develop their
own personality in their performance just like the
great composers - Bach,
Beethoven and Mozart, who were outstanding
improvisers. The book will enable
a musician to find a brand new side to his
instrument. Edgar emphasizes that
a musician should listen to good improvisations, as
his/her role model.
"String Groove" consists of 12 compositions by
Edgar. The first one is an Irish Jig and is followed by Smoothe Jazz, Swing Jazz Blues, Medium Rock,
Slow Middle Eastern Pop, Old Time Fiddle, Cha-Cha,
Heavy Metal Blues, Cajun, Waltz, Pop Blues, Swing Jazz and Hip-Hop Funk Jazz.
In addition to the 12 songs, the 60 pages contain
easily understood text,
with good illustrations and very good teachinginstructions.
At the end of the book, you will find theory, which
discusses interval,
(key) tone chords, music style swing like a sector
of equipment which is
necessary to reinforce the sound which is played
along with a much louder
instrument. There is a CD which accompanies the book
with violin played by
Edgar Gabriel, and accompanied by different instruments.
"Blue Bows", a blues composition, is the third
composition in Edgar's book
A previous issue of ESTA featured a concert of "Blue Bows". About 100
violinists from all over Sweden, together with "Triple and Touch" played
this piece in May. This String Groove chapter
provides background on blues
and gives instructions on how one can learn to play
the blues. As a start,
one should know the blues scales which are based on
the pentatonic scales,
with the addition of tritones. Edgar follows with 18
ways on how one learns
to improvise.
I could never improvise, but after reading the book
and listening to the CD,
I started to catch on and found it a lot of fun. I
continued to study the
book further into the philosophy and history of "blues". Then I followed a
more lengthy piece on harmony and learn how to do
chords. At the end of the
chapter, there is some theory regarding blues with
helpful information for
one to pursue more deeply. Edgar lists some very
good improvisations, which
I think the violinist will find when he listens tothe CD.
Edgar has laid out the book in an easy-to-read
material and good type with
large notes. Here and there, you will find a drawing
of "Mr. Groove", who
clarifies with commentary. I think the book is a
fine teaching tool, and I can really recommend it. It is already available forpurchase in Sweden.
I look forward to meeting Edgar Gabriel October 27-29. Hope the many of you can come to Gothenburg in the fall to becomeacquainted with this exciting
and glorious music.
Eva Bogren
Edgar with Eva Bogren's Scandanavian Strings after a fun day of String Groove
in Gothenberg, Sweden