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Extend Yourself: How to Practice Extensions, a Notoriously Tricky Technique
Defined as any finger placement exceeding the normal framework of the left hand, extensions are a rarely mastered but essential building block of technique.
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Improve Your Skills in Four Excerpts with This Cello Fingerings Quiz
Are you one of the many people who wants to improve your skill at devising good cello fingerings quickly? Try your hand at these four short excerpts!
Rethinking Your Approach to Intonation on Violin
The first step to fixing bad intonation on the violin? Admitting it’s a problem.
Practicing Unisons Is Great for Improving Left-Hand Technique
Even a little work on unisons can yield significant benefits.
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Rules of Thumb (Position)—A Path Toward Mastering a Dreaded Cello Technique
When encountering thumb position, it is natural to find the lack of pitch control and general awkwardness of the technique frustrating. Steady on. The only way is through, not around.
Seventh Heaven: Introducing an Interval Full of Benefits
Practicing double-stop sevenths affords several physical benefits to left-hand technique, facilitating easier playing of other intervals, including octaves, thirds, and fingered octaves.
Different Strokes: Connecting Spiccato to the Physics of the Bow
These simple exercises focus on spiccato, a bow stroke that involves a controlled bounce at various speeds using arm, wrist, and finger motion.
Use Visualization to Learn Away from Your Instrument
Projecting a positive outcome can invite renewed mental focus, a heightened sense of well-being, and greater self-confidence.
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Dynamic Intonation Demystified
Dynamic intonation is a way of playing in which fingers don’t just land about where they should to play in tune, but instead are trying to fit accurately into a harmonic landscape
Some Common Misconceptions About Harmonics and 6 Tips for Playing Them Better
By understanding how they are produced and following a few guidelines, string players can master this expressive technique
Starting on the String Yields Great Benefit With Less Effort
Starting from the string (SOS, or grounding one’s overall technique by focusing on the moment the bow first touches the string) is a critical tool in making playing both better and easier.
Painting a Musical Landscape: The Benefits of Concept-First Learning
When learning new repertoire, music students usually dive in from the first measure and build bar to bar; this sometimes may go counter to the intent of the composer and the piece.
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How To Master the Legato Bow Stroke (Hint: It’s Harder Than You Think)
By Laurie Niles | From the November-December 2020 issue of Strings magazine Flashy bow strokes, such as spiccato, sautillé, staccato, and ricochet, get a lot of attention, as they allow the player to bounce the bow, fire off a barrage…
All Motions Great & Small: How to Practice String-Crossing Technique for Bariolage
“Bariolage” is a French word for a bowing technique that involves rapid changing of strings, often between open strings and “stopped” strings—that is, strings with the fingers down.
A Refresher on Bold Martelé Bowing Technique
Martelé bowing is remarkably useful as a teaching tool, specifically for bow-hand strength & balance, & for development of accurate direction in the bow arm.
Reimagining Musical Mistakes as Invitations to Growth
Fixing one failure can raise your entire level of musicianship, especially when you apply the solutions to similar difficulties moving forward. Here’s how to do it.
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Brush Up Your Double-Stops on Violin With This Tricky Interval Exercise
We don't encounter them very often, but still there are great potential benefits to working on double-stops in seconds on violin.
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.
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.
Tools and Techniques to Help Dial In Your Pitch on Strings Instruments
To play in tune, one must work on the ability to hear pitch clearly and physically produce the note in a consistent way. Here are some tips on playing in tune.
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Conquering Coordination Through Broken-Rhythm Patterns
One of the most common problems encountered by string players in virtuoso pieces is the coordination between the bow strokes and the left-hand fingers in fast running-note passages