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 182-page book is divided into four sections: an extensive Foreword, the Tutor, A Brief History of the Balalaika, and a Repertoire Section.  The Complete Balalaika Book does not begin with the rudiments of music notation. Rather, the 20-page Foreword offers 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 terms is included. A Brief History of the Balalaika is well written and nicely illustrated. 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 lead sheets, these are the author's own arrangements of tunes for solo balalaika and balalaika orchestra. Includes access to online audio with selections performed by the author that complete this highly effective instructional book.

     
A Cossack Crossed the Danube      
Akh, Nastasya      
Baa-Baa Black Sheep      
Dance, Dance      
Dark Browed, Dark Eyed Lad      
Daydreams      
Do Not Scold Me      
For Czar, Motherland and Faith      
Go Home You Gossips      
God Save The Czar      
Goin' Home      
I Loved You      
I Shall Go Down To The River      
I Was In The Garden      
In the Field a Birch Tree Stood      
It's Not The Wind That Bends The Branch      
Katiusha      
Leaf from an Album      
Moonshine      
Polosynka      
The Post Troika Hastens      
The Slender Rowan Tree      
The Ural Rowan Tree      
Two Guitars      
Under The Apple Tree      
Varyag