String Groove vs Pink Monkey

String Groove ® teaches improvisation to string players through written notation, listening examples, play along exercises and spoken instruction to students. Musical styles: Jazz, Rock, Fiddle, Blues, Latin, Middle Eastern and more. Notation: Treble, Alto (viola) and Bass clef and works for all members of the string family. String Groove can work for other C instruments outside of the string family such as flute and bassoon. Audience: String students, teachers and professionals who want to learn how to improvise and teach improvisation. Recommended Level: Ability to play: Violin - Most notes in the first position Viola – Some notes in the 3rd position Cello - Some notes in the 5th position Other - Students not familiar with flats (or upper registers for viola and cello) can still work with String Groove if they limit themselves to familiar notes. String Groove is designed for the traditional string student and some music reading music is expected, however, it is possible to use String Groove entirely by ear. The Advanced sections consist of technical etudes, rhythmic and bowing exercises in the styles associated with each chapter. Throughout String Groove, Mr. Groove (or Mr. G) for short offers helpful ideas for improvising when selected. Music Theory is utilized in a practical and fun way. The basic sections introduce key signatures, chords and intervals. The advanced sections introduce jazz theory with the understanding that the user comprehends basic music theory. String Groove is ideal for music teachers who would like to teach improvisation to String Students. The App is an extension of the book and CD “String Groove, Ideas for Improvising” by Edgar Gabriel and is the result of his experience teaching improvisation workshops, courses and studio lessons. Compatible with iPad.

Inspired by long-time Deaf cultural folklore (and often a perennial late-night fireside favorite), The Pink Monkey is re-created with fun word-play twists about a lost teenager who encountered an unusual creature in a stranger’s mansion. While reading and interacting with this story, perhaps you will notice much-loved features: Exaggerations of perspective + scale. Colors. Quirky materials. Idioms. Sense of time. What’s real, what’s not real? Packed with over 200 vocabulary words, signed and fingerspelled, and with 23 pages of ASL videos, this app is a proud addition to our collection of award-winning high-quality VL2 Storybook Apps. The Pink Monkey is built and transformed into a storybook app for all ages retold through a digital educational mixed media approach using American Sign Language and English. Brought to you by Visual Language and Visual Learning’s Motion Light Lab. This story is told in American Sign Language by Shira Grabelsky, a talented storyteller and proficient Deaf educator, and illustrated by JamiLee Hoglind, a digital collage buff and funky marketing guru. VL2 Storybook Apps are designed based on proven research in bilingualism and visual learning to provide young visual learners an optimal reading experience.