How To | Strings Magazine | For players of violin, viola, cello, bass & fiddle

Vulnerability Can Be a Key Teaching Tool—If You’re Willing to Go There

Showing students the stages leading up to competence lets them know that their experience is not an aberration; that they are on the same road we, too, are on.

Pandemic Pedagogy: How Creative Limitation May Sow Benefits in the Long Term

As performers and teachers, we may use the pandemic's forced limitations to create new and possibly even more productive solutions moving forward.

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.

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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.

man on skiis with violin case strapped to his back

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.

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.

hand with closed fist and limp writs demonstrating bow-arm tension

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.

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.