Complete Bailalaika Book - Softcover

Bibs Ekkel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786624752 ISBN 13: 9780786624751

Publisher: Mel Bay Publications, Inc., 1997

Synopsis

The balalaika is most often associated with Russian folklore. In this comprehensive method book, concert and recording artist Bibs Ekkel shares his extensive knowledge of the balalaika as taught in Russia today. This 160-page book is divided into four sections: an extensive Foreword, the Tutor, A Brief History of the Balalaika, and a Repertoire Section. Unlike many Mel Bay books, the Complete Balalaika Book does not begin with the rudiments of music notation. Rather, the 20-page Foreword offer insights on the tunings of all the instruments in the balalaika family, hand positions, string sources and height adjustment, and chord shapes. The author even describes how to make a bass balalaika pick from shoe leather. The Tutor or instruction segment is written for the 'prima balalaika' which is correctly played with the fingers only rather than with a pick. The Tutor jumps right in with exercises and tunes in quarter, eighth, and sixteenth-note values with occasional! dotted notes and syncopation. Perhaps half of the music in this section is shown in both standard notation and tablature. A glossary of musical signs and Russian musical terns is included. A Brief History of the Balalaika is well written and nicely illustrated. Very few Mel Bay books contain such a comprehensive historical overview of the subject instrument. The Repertoire Section offers a valuable resource of Eastern European folk tunes. All but two selections in this section are written in both notation and tab with suggested guitar chords, the exceptions being an arrangement for balalaika and piano, and a balalaika orchestra score. More than simple melody chord leadsheets, these are the author's own arrangements of tunes for solo balalaika and balalaika orchestra. A companion CD with selections performed by the author completes this highly effective instructional package.

About this title

About the Author

Born in 1946 in England of mixed Polish-English background, Bibs Ekkel is both musician and linguist. His career as one of very few outstanding professional balalaika players outside Russia has brought him much recognition worldwide, including in the balalaika s Motherland, where he has performed on radio and TV as well as at Moscow s prestigious Hall of Columns and Tchaikovsky Hall . In addition to concerts, cabarets, recordings, movie soundtracks, radio and TV he has had speaking and playing roles in many films and BBC-TV productions, where he has also worked as advisor on Romany or Russian themes for movies such as: The Man Who Knew Too Little; The Saint; Yasha the Liar. He has lectured on Balalaika, Russian Gypsy music and language at a variety of US Universities, co-authored a BBC radio educational series and written and presented programs on another pet subject, the Russian singer Peter Lescenco, for BBC World Service. Other instruments he plays include: domra, guitar, garmoshka, piano, and gusli. Apart from solo balalaika albums and various recordings fro record libraries he has recorded several albums with his group Tziganka . This highly successful emigre music and dance ensemble has been touring internationally, performing concerts and cabaret, since he founded it in 1975. Some of the group s records have been issued on such labels as Russkiy disk , Moscow, CBS Israel and Decca , London.

Edition details

• Publisher: Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786624752
• ISBN 13: 9780786624751
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 162