The String Teacher’s Guide to Remote Studio Teaching
If you’ve only ever taught face-to-face, making the switch teaching remotely can be daunting. But it can be both easy and cost-effective.
How To
Technique, advice, and tips.
Tenths! Not Tense! How Practicing Scales in Tenths can be Useful and Pain-Free
While tenths show up in virtuoso repertoire (like Paganini, Wieniawski, etc.), they are more fundamentally important as a way to improve left-hand technique.
Be Kind to Your Tendons: 6 Low-Tension Exercises for Beleaguered Cellists
If tension is affecting your cello playing and you can’t seem to relax, try these troubleshooting exercises to evaluate your grip and help you loosen up.
Snow Day: 6 Things Cross-Country Skiing Has Taught Me About Bowing Technique
Having skied almost daily now for nearly two months straight, I’ve discovered some things in the frozen wilderness that have direct string-playing parallels. It turns out violists can learn a lot about bowing from a set of ski poles.
Scare Tactics: Tips on How Musicians Can Overcome Stage Fright
What causes stage fright? How can players overcome the problem? And what about beta blockers—are they a good solution?
A Flexible Approach: Can Yoga Help You Fight Injury and Find New Joy in Music?
Injury prevention may be the most obviously compelling reason for string players to practice yoga. It can help musicians improve their physical self-awareness—a critical step to warding off physical problems.
How to Overcome Bow-Hand and Bow-Arm Tension on Strings
Before you can produce the smooth sound on violin, viola, cello, or bass, that attracted you to strings in the first place, you have to overcome that tension in the bow hand.
How to Find the Best Warm-Up Routine for Strings
This 10-minute routine for cellists can easily be adapted for including violin, viola, and bass.
Shutdown Skills Series: 7 Strategies to Help Structure Your Practice Time
While we’re grappling with uncertainty and fear during this unprecedented time, many of us are also facing a new challenge: free time. Here are 7 strategies to help you handle uncertainty and use your free time more effectively.
Lean On Me: Finding Beauty and Expression in Appoggiaturas
Appoggiaturas are so powerful in terms of emotional content because they create an influence on harmony as well as melody.