All Focus articles – Page 9
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Focus7 ways to harness mental practice for musicians
Tips for using mental imaging to boost your musical practice regime from The Strad’s archive
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Focus
Remembering the Hungarian pedagogue Béla Katona
One of the 20th century’s greatest violin pedagogues, Béla Katona would have turned 100 this month. Here Tully Potter speaks to former pupils – mainly at London’s Trinity College of Music – about the success of his teaching methods
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7 views on repetitive practice
Is repetition the most effective mode of practice? Debate from The Strad Archive
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Anne-Sophie Mutter on Herbert von Karajan and John Williams
Anne-Sophie Mutter talks to Charlotte Smith about her very different, and yet in some ways remarkably similar, collaborations with conductor Herbert von Karajan and composer John Williams
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8 pieces of advice for happy string quartets
Words of instruction and inspiration on quartet playing from the pages of The Strad
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Pablo Casals’s approach to vibrato
The legacy of Pablo Casals can be traced primarily to the methods of his colleague Diran Alexanian and favourite student Maurice Eisenberg. Oskar Falta explores the Catalonian cellist’s main vibrato theories, as communicated by these two associates
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6 ways to perfect your double-stops
Tips from The Strad’s archive on producing even and finely tuned double-stops
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How should string teachers deal with naturally unmusical children?
It may be sad to say, but some pupils have no gift for playing at all, says Royal Northern College of Music senior lecturer in education, Philippa Bunting
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6 ways to improve your string crossing
Tips for even and seamless string crossing from The Strad’s archive
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How to achieve smooth bow changes at the frog
Former Juilliard School cello professor Bonnie Hampton answers advises readers on how to encourage smooth bow changes in their students
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11 stretching exercises for musicians
Do you feel tired and stiff after performing? Pilates instructor John Black explains how some simple stretching exercises can make all the difference
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Boris Kuschnir: Educating and forging talent
The Austrian violinist gave the below lecture on 8 December 2019 at the first meeting of the Shanghai Conservatoire of Music’s Advisory Council for International Artists
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The harmonious string quartet - a balance of four personality types
No one said that living in a quartet was easy - but the most successful groups develop a unique identity that survives vitriolic relationships and even personnel changes, writes Paul Robertson
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A method for viola-playing, according to Karen Tuttle
Violists, particularly in the US, regard Karen Tuttle as a pioneer of pedagogy. As this month marks the 100th anniversary of her birth, Carlos María Solare outlines some of her ideas on playing the viola
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8 tips for second violinists
Views on second violin playing from experienced orchestral and chamber performers
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7 tips for carving a scroll
How to perfect the head of your instrument from 125 years of the Strad
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Hilary Hahn marks 30 years since her debut solo recital aged ten
‘I built up to it for months, and I’ll never forget it,’ says the American violinist
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6 tips for improved coordination
Guidance from The Strad’s archive for greater synchronisation between left-hand fingers and bow
