Introducing...The Vielle: A Practical Start to the Instrument

Well...

A bit surprised for the actual number of pages and for the content of this booklet, in my opionion disproportionately priced. Quite a few methodologically questionable choices. A good start for an amateur without any wish of accurate explanations or historical consistency.

A lovely book of medieval and later melodies

This book, beautifully written, illustrated and explained, and with audio tracks by the author Clare Salaman, was a kind of in memoriam impulse buy. I haven't (yet) used it for its primary purpose, but nevertheless can highly recommend it as an introduction to the vielle. The beautifully reproduced illustrations and photographs give both a sense of the background to the music and practical hints for playing. Most of the 30 tunes included are from the mediaeval period but there are also several from Playford's 17th century collection of dance tunes as well as some renaissance melodies. The tunes are presented in relatively large font size and aside from slurs there are no performance markings, bowings, dynamics etc. This gives the book versatility, and it would be an ideal buy for young players of any non-transposing treble clef instrument who are interested in early music. (Of the 30 tunes, only a couple use pitches below middle C.)

easy to ship from japan

I ordered some instrumentals and scores.it's easy to order and recierved it so quickly!

Just What I Needed

My lockdown project was to learn to play the Vielle. But where to start? As a violin player already, this short, well-written book was absolutely perfect for me. Everything was clearly explained, including essentials such as tunings, playing position and bow hold, but without unnecessary detail to wade through (as I had found when previously trawling the Internet). There are 30 pieces to play, with written notation and an easy audio link to hear them being performed. The book is a quick read, but one, because of the music, I will go back to many times. It is just what I needed. Thank you.

A way to easy, early proficiency on a lovely little instrument to play haunting music!