An excellent violinist and composer, his greatest contribution to music was his Treatise on Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing. Published at Ausburg in 1756 it was the major work of its time on the violin and it contains much that is of considerable interest and value to musicians today: notes on performance, practice, a glossary of technical terms and specific chapters on the playing of written and improvised embellishments, the trill, and special rhythmic figures. Copious exercises illustrate each point made in the text. A Preface--revised for this edition--offers an illuminating biographical study of Leopold both as a man and as a musician.

    Thomas, the "Rock of Chickamauga," was a Virginian who chose the northern side in the Civil War. While Thomas was considered a traitor by his family, his military superiors regarded him with a certain mistrust because of his southern background. Nonetheless, Thomas was prominent in the battles of Mill Springs, Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, and Nashville, and was immortalized at Chickamauga, where he tenaciously held the field until ordered to withdraw.

    

    All seven grades of this method are written in standard notation only to encourage better sight reading. In Grade 1, the student guitarist will learn to play solos, duets, scales, and chords in the keys of C, A minor, G and E minor. Even in Grade 1, the student is already exposed to the chord/melody concept of guitar performance.