All Focus articles – Page 19
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Focus10 tips for performing from memory
Guidance from The Strad’s archive from how to incorporate memorisation into your practice, what the benefits might be – and when not to bother
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FocusViolinist Elena Urioste on why a thorough warm-up routine is a necessity for good practice
The US violinist explains why warming up is an essential part of a day's practice
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Focus7 tips for playing fast passages for string players
Guidance from The Strad’s archive on increasing left-hand finger speed and minimising tension
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FocusTechnique: How to achieve clean and effortless definition in the left hand, by Grigory Kalinovsky
Professor of violin at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, with some exercises to improve your left-hand articulation. From 2018
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FocusTechnique: double bassist Alex Henery gives tips on controlling left-hand finger pressure
How to place down, lift and move your fingers in a way that minimises fatigue, by Alex Henery, principal double bassist of the Sydney Symphony and head of double bass studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. From February 2019
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FocusHow I warm up: violist Maxim Rysanov
The Russian-born viola player gives an insight into his detailed warm-up regimen
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Focus‘It’s always a reward to be on stage’ - Maxim Vengerov on 40 years of performance
Ahead of a celebration concert with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, the violinist reflects on his impressive career in the spotlight as a child, including the pressures, rewards and lessons learnt from a lifetime of performance
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Focus5 ways to build fourth finger strength
Tips from The Strad’s archive on avoiding a weak, collapsing left-hand little finger
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Focus7 ways to improve your tone
The elusive and deeply personal subject of tone production is pondered in the following quotes taken from the pages of The Strad over the past 130 years
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Focus8 ways to develop musical expression and individuality
Views on cultivating personal style and engaging your audience from 130 years of The Strad
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Focus10 tips on maximising tone quality & projection
Advice on projecting your best sound from over 130 years of The Strad's archives
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FocusHow to produce a strong, uninhibited sound without pressure, by cellist Joel Krosnick
The former Juilliard Quartet cellist explained to Laurinel Owen how to effectively transmit energy from your body to the instrument in 2005
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FocusSinging during practice can help improve sound and characterisation
Cellist Laurence Lesser suggests that learning to listen to your voice constructively isn't easy, but it helps to set musical feeling directly into motion
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Focus‘I can see good tone’ - Suzuki’s tonalisation exercises
With musical examples, Helen Brunner examines how Suzuki’s tonalisation exercises are used to create a beautiful sound on the violin. From the September 2021 issue
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FocusHow can violinists create a personal sound?
Once upon a time, violinists just wanted to get as close to Heifetz's sound as they possibly could. But now that golden standard no longer applies, Jessica Duchen asks, how do the stars of today mark themselves out as special?
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FocusMy Experience: violinist Oliver Neubauer, Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute
Flexibility and adaptability are essential traits for a professional chamber musician, says violinist Oliver Neubauer on his time at the San Francisco Bay Area festival
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FocusShould vibrato exercises be practised separately from the repertoire?
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts. From 2011
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Focus10 things you need to know about vibrato
The following quotes, taken from the pages of The Strad over the past 100 years, offer a fascinating glimpse of the changing attitudes and approaches towards this most subjective and controversial area of a string player's technique
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FocusThe Strad Podcast Episode #55: Time For Three on triple concertos
Violinists Nick Kendall and Charles Yang, and double bassist Ranaan Meyer speak about triple concerto commissions, plus their favourite string techniques
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Focus‘Every day there is something new’: Pekka Kuusisto on the c.1709 ‘Scotta’ Stradivari violin
Recently loaned the instrument by a patron through Tarisio, the violinist shares his thoughts on playing this ’golden period’ Strad
