All Improve your playing articles – Page 6
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FocusDeveloping arm, wrist and finger vibrato
Rok Klopčič takes a look at different types of vibrato through the eyes of the great teachers and players - from the June 2003 issue
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6 tips for smooth bow changes
Advice on smooth and inaudible bow changes at the tip and the heel from The Strad's archives
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8 ways to maximise your sound with minimum effort
Advice on how to increase your sound without any extra effort from The Strad Archive
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10 views on the benefits of slow practice
Debate on how best to harness slow practice from The Strad Archive
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10 ways to avoid tension in your playing
Advice on how to be flexible and relaxed as a string player from 120 years of The Strad
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Functional Fingering
An article on ways to move around the fingerboard without upsetting your musical flow by Leo Phillips
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How do you get into a conservatoire?
Mark Messenger, head of strings at the Royal College of Music, reveals what conservatoire audition panels are looking for
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Premium ❘ Feature
Antonio Pappano: What conductors want from their string sections
A regular, nice, beautiful sound doesn’t interest the music director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, he told The Strad in this interview from 2008
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Focus
Ask the Experts: minimising excessive body movements
We asked four string pedagogues to give their thoughts on eliminating or cutting down on excessive body movements when playing
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Article
Masterclass: Jan Vogler on Beethoven Cello Sonata op.69
Cellist Jan Vogler explores the first movement of the first-ever sonata to give equal weight to both piano and cello
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Video
Masterclass with Violinist Gábor Takács-Nagy
Violinist Gábor Takács-Nagy coaches Sirena Huang on Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata as part of a masterclass for the Classical Bridge Music Festival.
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Video
Learning Beethoven with Maxim Vengerov
Three students at the Royal College of Music reveal what it’s like to work with Maxim Vengerov, ‘one of the big legends of the violin’ on Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.
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Focus
Staccato - one of the most controversial elements of right-hand technique
Rok Klopčič examines the different types of staccato plus the various and sometimes strange approaches to perfecting the technique
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Debate
How to find time to practise as a busy music teacher
Performance coach Travis Baird recommends three key strategies for effective practice when everyday commitments seem to leave little time
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Article
A cello quartet with one cello
Four members of the Wiener Cello Ensemble 5+1 perform Ravel's Bolero on a single instrument to great comic effect. Watch: Music teacher loses temper with violinist – with destructive results
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Focus
Masterclass: Jian Wang on Brahms's Cello Sonata No.2 in F Major, second and third movements
The Chinese cellist gives advice on how to play the middle movements of this colourful, passionate work, and calls on cellists’ capacity to play cantabile
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Focus
Sentimental work: Lynn Harrell on Bloch's Schelomo
For the US cellist, the singing qualities and narrative drive of Bloch’s Schelomo bring evocative memories and spiritual uplift. From the January 2017 issue
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Debate
Is playing a concerto really the ultimate test of musicianship?
Performing a concerto has long been regarded as the highest test of a string player's musical prowess. But what exactly do they prove, asks Toby Deller
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Focus
Technique: Minna Rose Chung on double stopping and Tartini tones
Using ‘difference tones’ to perfect your intonation when tackling double stopping passagework
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Sentimental work: Jennifer Stumm on Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata
For the American violist, this 1919 work brings back memories of early successes and the inspirational teacher who introduced it to her
