Note reading is introduced from the beginning, and accidentals are explained in the easiest way in the first volume. By the end of the first book, many English childrenåÕs songs using all fingers have been played and note values from whole to eighth notes have been introduced. Even the easiest exercises are underlaid with text so that melodies can be perceived as a whole. The original German violin method was first published in 1976. The author Egon Sassmannshaus is one of the most experienced and renowned violin pedagogues in Germany. For the new English edition his sonKurt Sassmannshaus worked as co-author and adapted his fatheråÕs success ful method for English-speaking children. The combined knowledge and experience of father and son make the four volumes of the Sassmannshaus Tradition the most thoroughly researched and thought-through beginner violin method in the world.