All Focus articles – Page 74
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FocusAsk the Experts: how to teach a group of violin students
Strad readers submit their problems and queries about string playing, teaching or making to our experts
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FocusElectric instruments can be helpful tools for group string teaching
Julie Lyonn Lieberman describes ways that electric instruments can inject energy into group learning sessions
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FocusA history and anatomy of Beethoven's 'Kreutzer' Sonata
The dedicatee of Beethoven's 'Kreutzer' Sonata considered it so impenetrable that he never even played it. Rok Klopčič untangles some of the difficulties of this much-loved work
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FocusHow the harmonic series can unleash your tonal energy
Work on the harmonic series and you'll release a wealth of colour from your instrument without effort. Pedro de Alcantara explains how it's done
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FocusProkofiev's First Violin Concerto is rarely performed - but the work is unique
Recordings of the work - from Joseph Szigeti's in 1935 to James Ehnes's in 2013 - are compared in The Strad's June 2016 issue
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FocusThe importance of lateral movement in the left hand for string players
Surprisingly little has been said in the literature about the sideways left-hand movement, although any passage over more than one string uses it. Rok Klopčič researches
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FocusWas Maud Powell's famous Guadagnini violin actually a modern instrument?
Joseph Curtin examines the evidence – and the violin itself – to discover whether the American luthier George Gemünder was its actual maker
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FocusSheet music: Abram Yampolsky's fiendishly difficult E major study
Could Yampolsky's variation on Kreutzer's Etude-Caprice be the best work ever for practising arpeggios? Rok Klopčič thinks so
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FocusYehudi Menuhin always let the student find their own voice, says violinist Daniel Hope
Hope speaks about Menuhin's influence on his life and career
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FocusFrom the Archive: a cello by Edmund Aireton, London c.1790
This illustration of a cello by Edmund Aireton was published in The Strad, January 1978. The following text is extracted from the article accompanying the photographs:Edmund Aireton was born in 1727 and died in 1807. He worked for Peter Walmsley who had his workshop at 'Ye Golden Harp', Piccadilly, London ...
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FocusPostcard from the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition
It wasn’t just the first prize that was split at the Nielsen Competition in Odense on Friday, writes Andrew Mellor, it was also the jury – but isn’t that the point?
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FocusFrom the Archive: a cello by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona, 1724, 'Hausmann'
This illustration of a cello by Antonio Stradivari was published in The Strad, July 1977. The following text is extracted from the article accompanying the photographs:The early history of the 'Hausmann' Stradivari is uncertain, but Hill believes that it came from Spain. It is thought that it then found its ...
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FocusPostcard from the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition
For the first time in its 36-year history, a UK player took the first prize at the Isle of Man competition. Tully Potter reports on the week-long event
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FocusFrom the Archive: a violin by Jacob Stainer, Absam, c.1660
This illustration of a violin by Jacob Stainer was published in The Strad, May 1975. The following text is extracted from the article accompanying the photographs:Jacob Stainer, the most celebrated of all the German school of makers, was born at Hall, near Absam, Austria in 1621. His distinctive model was ...
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FocusPatrons should buy modern instruments for young musicians, says violin maker Stefan-Peter Greiner
In conversation with Pauline Harding, the German luthier discusses his ideas on sound adjustment, 'Stradivari frequencies' and creating the ideal working environment
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FocusBach should only be played as an encore in special circumstances, says violinist Arabella Steinbacher
The Strad asks six international solo violinists what the encore tradition means to them, and to reveal their personal favourites
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FocusEast vs West: differences in string teaching approaches
Having spent his formative years in the US, cellist Dong-Oo Lee speaks of the distinct teaching style he discovered on his return to Korea
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FocusAsk the Experts: buying your first instrument at auction
Strad readers submit their problems and queries about string playing, teaching or making to our experts
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FocusHow t'ai chi can help cellists
Ross Harbaugh talks through some exercises designed to develop balance and technique
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FocusCellist Mischa Maisky on studying with Piatigorsky and Rostropovich
Both great musicians taught Maisky that the cello is merely a means to an end
