Kathy and David Blackwell are masters of coming up with tunes and arrangements that are entertaining to learn, yet simple enough for those in the early stages of playing a stringed instrument . . . The first piece, We are the Champions, takes the syncopated rhythm of the title and gets the players to perform it in unison at various pitches, before venturing into harmonies and passing the rhythm backwards and forwards. It's great fun and helps students get to grips with syncopation, where rhythms can look complicated but sound natural. In Ping-Pong the players pass a phrase back and forth - fantastic for encouraging students to listen to each other . . . The teachers' notes give some excellent suggestions for warming up and performing, for example playing the syncopated rhythm of We are the Champions on open strings first, or doing a glissando up to octave harmonics when playing Skating. It's a well-constructed selection . . .
Catherine Nelson, The Strad September 2012