All Focus articles – Page 78
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FocusNever ignore a niggling pain, says cellist David Finckel
The former Emerson Quartet cellist on how a growing back problem led to two weeks on a friend's sofa
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FocusBribery should not be used as motivation to practise
For years violin teacher Miranda Hughes used rewards and incentives to motivate her pupils to practise. Then she took on her own daughter and had to question her whole approach
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FocusFrom the Archive: 20 violin don’ts
Geo Brayley put together a list of things for violinists to avoid in The Strad’s January 1892 issue
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FocusLA Philharmonic violist Leticia Oaks Strong on curing a frozen shoulder
The artist sacrificed sugary treats and underwent physiotherapy to get back to her best
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FocusViolinist Nona Liddell on studying with female orchestral pioneer Jessie Grimson
Grimson, one of the first women in the Queen’s Hall Orchestra, London, gave her final pupil, Liddell, a solid technique that she still relies on
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FocusViolin professor Maya Glezarova turns 90: former students pay tribute
Mikhail Kopelman, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Liana Gourdjia recall their studies with the doyenne of the Russian School of violin playing
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FocusHow to master staccato bowing, by cellist Xavier Phillips
The French cello soloist and chamber musician explains how, with practice and patience, the challenges of staccato playing can be overcome
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FocusCellist Alison McGillivray on studying with Baroque specialist Jennifer Ward Clarke
The Concerto Caledonia performer and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland professor remembers how her teachers encouraged her youthful interest in the Baroque
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FocusDouble Acts: Cellists Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser of 2Cellos
The London-trained duo performed at the Amsterdam Cello Biennale on 24 October. Bella Clifford spoke to them about friendship, rivalry and crossing the non-classical divide.
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FocusViolinist György Pauk on studying with Ede Zathureczky and Leó Weiner
The violinist and professor was brought up in the Hungarian tradition, which offered him the secrets of how to defy gravity, writes Jessica Duchen
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FocusThere's more to making a good sound than bowing parallel to the bridge
In our July 2006 issue, cellist Gerhard Mantel writes that there's more to good tone production than keeping the bow parallel to the bridge
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FocusHow to phrase feedback get the best from your student
Are the words teachers use helping or harming their students? Femke Colborne learns from psychologists and string instructors that the way feedback is phrased can dramatically affect a student's progress
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FocusRecord instrument prices of the past
The sale of the ‘Lady Blunt' Stradivarius violin for £9.8m in 2011 broke all auction records, but high prices for instruments are nothing new, writes Benjamin Hebbert
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FocusHow to use creativity and logic to help your practice
Shelly Tramposh explains how you can practise more effectively by combining the interpretative flair of an artist with the problem-solving skills of an engineer
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FocusFrom the Archive: The Strad responds to the declaration of World War I
A month after the beginning of the First World War, The Strad's editorial reflected on tough times ahead for classical music, from reductions in funding to the folly of banning works by German composers
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FocusTeaching a stringed instrument you have never played before
What do you do if you're asked to teach a stringed instrument that isn't the one you play? ‘Don't panic!' That's the first rule, according to the experts that Ariane Todes asked
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FocusFrom the Archive: advice for budding orchestral players
Chas J Rockwell compiled a list of handy rules for less experienced orchestral players in The Strad's July 1893 issue
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FocusHow well did Shakespeare know the violin?
The word ‘violin' never appears in Shakespeare's plays, but he left tantalising clues that he knew the instrument well. To mark the Bard's 450th anniversary this month, we republish an article by John Dilworth from 2009
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FocusViolist Lesley Robertson on taking the plunge with laser eye surgery
In this Health Matters article from The Strad, June 2009, the St Lawrence Quartet player describes the process of having her eyes lasered


























