For Composers Seeking String Sounds, There Are a Variety of Libraries to Suit the Music
Sample libraries, including those from Joshua Bell, Tina Guo, and Pēteris Vasks’ now offer more realistic and exciting options than ever before
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A Buyer’s Guide to Notation Software To Suit Your Compositional Needs
This buyer's guide to notation software for music composition will help you sort through the array of music notation programs and apps to find the right one for your needs.
How String Players Can Avoid or Recover From Onstage Mistakes
You never know what will happen during a live musical performance—that's part of what makes it exciting for the audience, but can make it scary for the performers.
Home Recording: 5 Quick Tips on Promoting Your Own Recordings
By Laurel Thomsen 1. Test & Plan for Success The process of album promotion should begin long before your first recording session, at performances where you test drive material and determine which songs your audience members can’t live without. It’s important…
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How to Record a Group of Musicians Remotely
With minimal investment, you can record and overdub quality audio and video from home. Here's the tech and know-how you need to produce a remote ensemble recording.
Home Recording: Equipment That Won’t Break the Bank
By Blair Jackson Thanks to the ongoing digital audio revolution, it’s never been easier or more affordable to make high-quality music recordings in your own home or work space. Whether you want to make casual reference recordings to assess your…
Two to Tango: Tips for String Players Working with Guitarists
By Laurel Thomsen | From the May-June 2020 issue of Strings magazine While it can be difficult for string players to find other violinists, violists, and cellists to collaborate with, walk into any crowd and chances are you’ll meet someone…
How to Hold a Violin or Viola Without Tensing Up
Here are six ways to hold a violin or viola to eliminate tension and improve your playing.
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Tips on Nailing Tricky Double-Stops in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto
By Laurel Thomsen Considered one of the world’s greatest violin concertos since 1845, when it was first premiered by its dedicatee, violinist Ferdinand David, Mendelssohn’s thematically lyrical and structurally innovative violin concerto has inspired composers and generations of violinists. After…
Playing Up to Tempo with Your Musicianship Intact
By Laurel Thomsen A quick web search for advice about playing faster on a bowed stringed instrument returns the suggestions that the player practice more, practice more slowly, and use a metronome to gradually increase the tempo over time. All these…
Recovering Onstage After a Mistake, and How to Prepare Your Pieces to Help Avoid It
By Laurel Thomsen As the saying goes, mistakes happen, but when you’ve worked hard to prepare a piece, it’s an important performance or audition, or it’s a spot in the music you usually nail without any issue, the effects of…
Review: Fiddler Gaelynn Lea’s ‘Learning How to Stay’
By Laurel Thomsen Winning NPR’s prestigious Tiny Desk Contest in 2016 gave Gaelynn Lea wings, as she and her husband uprooted their lives in northern Minnesota for the adventure of the road. Coming full circle, her third album, Learning How…
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6 Ways to Master the Chop on Violin
If you have difficulty getting the right amount of "crunch" from your chopping technique, here are 6 ways to master the "chop" on violin that will help.
How to Master Martele
4 ways to add contrast and clarity with a common stopped bow stroke By Laurel Thomsen THE PROBLEM Your music needs to build intensity, make a statement, or wake up an audience, but your bowing technique is lacking. THE SOLUTION…
What Causes Squeaky, Airy, and Scratchy Sounds?
Squeaky, airy, scratchy and unclear sounds indicate that a bow is not properly gripping and vibrating the strings.
Learn to Develop a More Natural-feeling Bow Hold
A 5-step approach to finding the perfect grip for your violin or viola bow By Laurel Thomsen Fig. 1: Turn your hand over so the palm faces up. Let your thumb curl inward. Fig. 2: Turn your hand back over,…
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Bowing Tips: 3 Easy Ways to Improve Your String Crossings
Work your shoulder weight to gain speed, accuracy, and powerby Laurel Thomsen The Problem: You’re not getting power in your strokes after sloppy string crossings. The Solution: Sharpen your awareness of bowing arm dynamics. When you want to move to…
Learn to Develop a More Natural-Feeling Bow Hold
Here is a 5-step approach to finding the perfect grip for your violin or viola bow to produce the desired tone colors, strokes, and dynamics.
4 Ways to Achieve Masterful Bowing Dynamics
To achieve the full spectrum of dynamics while maintaining a beautiful tone, it’s important to consider all four of the factors that affect volume.
Learn to Free Your Left Thumb on Violin and Viola
The thumb plays a key supporting role for the fingers of the left hand on violin and viola, but the left-hand thumb can be a help or a hindrance. Here are 4 ways to free your left thumb.