Sassmannshaus, Kurt – Early Start on the Viola Book 2 Published by Baerenreiter Verlag

Volume 2 in our series, with colour illustrations and easy-to-read fingering charts, contains not only nursery rhymes and folk songs but also classical recital pieces for two violas to help learners improve their ability to read music. They will become acquainted with dotted notes, 16th notes (semiquavers) and their first double stops as well as with changing between high and low finger positions.

The volume is pioneering with its early introduction of playing in different positions: by combining finger patterns, the cornerstone of good scale technique, learners can play major and minor scales in every position without using open strings and this often in the very first year of lessons! This allows them to transpose the familiar nursery rhymes they have already mastered into other keys and higher positions. Together with the beginning shifting exercises, it provides a solid basis for early virtuosity – a great advantage offered by no other tutor in the same way.The authors
In 1976 Egon Sassmannshaus, one of the most experienced and renowned violin teachers in Germany, published his tutor “Früher Anfang auf der Bratsche”. This standard work for young string players quickly became the most popular and best-selling tutor in the German-speaking countries for beginners on the viola. His son Kurt Sassmannshaus functioned as co-editor of the English-language edition, “Early Start on the Viola” (BA 9686, BA 9687, BA 9688, BA 9689), adapting his father’s successful tutor to meet the needs and requirements of English-speaking children.

The combined knowledge and experience of both father and son make these four volumes the most thoroughly researched and thought-through viola tutor for beginners all over the world.