Paul Hindemith is one of just a few composers whose principal instrument was not the piano but a string instrument. We owe it to his interest in education which in turn was owed not only to his professional colleagues but also to the music lovers that he also wrote compositions for children and amateur musicians. He therefore gladly promised his collaboration when Erich Doflein asked him to write some compositions for the 'Violin Method' he intended to publish together with his wife Elma. This method was to be characterised by easy, yet fully adequate original compositions which gradually introduce the instrument's technical possibilities. Hindemith's 41 studies composed for Doflein are now available in a separate edition for the first time.