Debate
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: Avoid overloading students with information
Double bassist Alex Ferkey believes that young string players are often derailed by information overload, and should trust more in unconscious processes when trying to perfect their technique
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: Mass discardment of cheap bows
Cellist Andrew Janss was shocked to discover the phenomenon of the cheap, single-use bow: one that costs more to rehair than replace. He calls for a change in manufacturers’ attitudes to such waste
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: Criticism in teaching
Cellist and teacher Naomi Yandell explores the fine line between nagging and getting a point across by reminder and reinforcement, and suggests that a less verbal approach can often yield good results
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: Adjusting instrument necks for teenage players’ growing hands
Bow maker Bernd Müsing believes that widening violin and viola necks could help young players, especially teenage boys, who find that there is no longer enough space between the strings for their growing fingertips
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: How improvisation can help with perfectionism
Having discovered a love of improvisation during the pandemic, cellist Simone Seales believes that the practice can free classically trained musicians from a typically unhealthy fear of imperfection
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: The benefits of rest for students
Cellist and teacher Naomi Yandell is often pleasantly surprised at how much progress can be made by students during a break from lessons
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: The importance (and difficulty) of playing softly
As string players, we are often encouraged to make a big sound, but cellist Davina Shum believes that the art of playing quietly is an underrated one
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: EFT for performance anxiety
Violinist Jenny Clift struggled with performance anxiety until she discovered an unusual therapeutic technique
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: Rethinking Beethoven’s String Quartet op.135
Norman Werbner argues an intriguing case for a different way of performing Beethoven’s String Quartet op.135
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: The pros and cons of backing tracks
Naomi Yandell argues that while backing tracks are a useful learning tool, they create an experience gap that needs bridging
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: A case for depping
The art of deputising may be one of the scariest things a musician can do, but it’s a skill that can benefit all players, says cellist Davina Shum
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DebateOpinion: The Wisdom of Yoda
In the Star Wars universe, Jedi Master Yoda is the ultimate teacher – and his insights can be applied just as readily to string playing as to learning the ways of the Force, writes cellist Brian Hodges
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: Are regional differences in orchestral tuning really necessary?
Historically, orchestras have tuned to slightly different versions of the note A. Thomas Eisner wonders whether such gradations really matter
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Premium ❘ Focus‘The violin concerto lives again’ - Opinion
Are we witnessing a golden age for new violin concertos, or simply too much of a good thing?
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Premium ❘ Focus‘Cut the Stradivari cord’ - Opinion
Luthier Paris Andrew argues that, rather than copying Antonio Stradivari models, makers should study other beautiful instruments that exist
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: how chamber music develops communication and listening skills
Violist Rosalind Ventris shares her experience of the transformative power of playing chamber music
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: How teachers can help students deal with feelings of futility and despair
Neesa Sunar explores how teachers can call on their own experience to help pupils struggling with feelings of sadness or futility
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: Does an orchestra’s home hall define its sound?
Edwin Barker, principal double bass of the Boston Symphony, argues that an orchestra’s ‘home’ concert hall shapes the unique character of the ensemble
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Premium ❘ FocusOpinion: How learning a language can inform musical practice
Naomi Yandell’s efforts to learn a language using Duolingo have inspired her to rethink the way she teaches her own students, particularly with regard to repetitive practice
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DebateSlow practice should be used only when needed as a learning tool
Are you wasting your time? As musicians we should be doing more to question the standard warm-up and practice regimes, writes violist Paul Neubauer