A collection of well-known tunes, folk music and original pieces for the beginner violinist. Laid out with clarity, these very simple pieces consolidate basic finger patterns with lots of variety. They make good sight-reading practice and a great addition alongside a tutor. A variety of European tunes adds to its flavour - the Swedish 'Little snail' and Serbian 'Clap your hands' for instance. Lots of quavers from the start provide excellent bowing practice and a sense of energy.
Music Teacher Magazine, October 2009
Bags of Tunes has 42 pieces of which 12 are by Cohen, three are popular rounds and the remainder traditional (British and Continental) melodies. Only the last few pieces use more than two strings.
The feature of both books is the clean musical line. Although Mary Cohen indicates mood of the piece or song, she refrains from putting in expression marks or decorations, e.g. flower illustrations, In this way the music has more impact.
European String Teachers Association, Autumn 2008
This is a lovely collection of easy, unaccompanied tunes for beginners, arranged and composed by Mary Cohen, one of Britain's leading string teachers. There is a mixture of nursery rhymes such as Pease Pudding Hot, folk songs like The Drunken Sailor, rounds such as Frere Jacques and original compositions.
All the tunes are in easy keys, with a stretched second finger and in a variety of time signatures, including 6/8. The pieces get progressively harder throughout the book, up to about grade 1 standard. The tunes are well laid out and easy to read, with many of the early pieces only one or two line long. All bowing and dynamics have been left to the discretion of the teacher and pupil.
This book would make excellent supplementary material to a tutor book and good sight-reading practice.
Ensemble Magazine, September 2008
