All Improve your playing articles – Page 8
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FocusMasterclass: Maxim Vengerov on the Caprice D’après L’étude En Forme De Valse
Being a good musician is like being a great cook, according to Maxim Vengerov. In this Masterclass first published in the November 2005 issue of The Strad, he gives his recipe for playing a fiendish Saint-Saëns waltz arrangement by Ysaÿe
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Masterclass: Leonidas Kavakos on the Sibelius Violin Concerto
The Finnish composer put all his knowledge as symphonic writer and frustrated violinist into this great, elemental work. First published in The Strad’s January 2008 issue, Leonidas Kavakos’s masterclass explains how to do it justice
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Professional string players reveal their favourite accessory
We asked six string musicians to name the one most treasured addition to their kit – though for some it was doing without something which made the difference
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Double stopping on the cello: How to play passages of 3rds and 6ths with more fluidity
Technique advice, exercises and repertoire examples from Lionel Handy, cello professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Birmingham Conservatoire and Winchester College, UK
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Blogs
Conquering performance nerves: sweaty hands, losing bow grip
Brian Hodges answers student questions on coping with stage fright
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Natural playing on violin and viola, inspired by the Alexander Technique
Exercises to release tension and improve ease of movement when playing the violin by Tomas Cotik, violin professor at Portland State University
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Irvine Arditti's sentimental work: Helmut Lachenmann's Grido
For the Arditti Quartet’s founder and first violinist, Helmut Lachenmann’s String Quartet no.3 Grido contains unorthodox challenges and an unusual sense of passion
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Martelé: Essential foundations for a top-quality bow technique
Rictor Noren, violin and viola teacher at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, and MIT, offers a grounding, exercises and repertoire suggestions to help you work on your martelé stroke
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Video
Lawrence Power performs Salonen's Pentatonic Étude for solo viola
In this video from the Philharmonia Orchestra, British violist Lawrence Power plays Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Pentatonic Étude. Salonen wrote the piece for Power, who premiered it in 2015.
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Which shoulder rest to buy, from $25 to $1,100
In recent years manufacturers have come up with new shoulder rest designs and materials, and new dependable models have appeared both at the low end of the market and at the very highest. Femke Colborne talks to the makers with an eye on improvement, and to those who feel they ...
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Contact points: controlling your sound through the position of your bow on the string
New England Conservatory and Juilliard School cello faculty member Natasha Brofsky introduces a set of exercises for exploring the tone, colour and expressive potential of a well-controlled bow, plus three videos showing the techniques in action
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Bridge position adjustment with Edgar Russ
In the first of a new series of YouTube videos, Cremona-based luthier Edgar Russ talks about the importance of proper bridge adjustment and how to check if yours is maintaining the correct angle
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Aleksei Kiseliov – Massenet's Élégie arranged for cello and string orchestra
Aleksei Kiseliov, principal cello of the Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra, plays his own arrangement of Massenet’s Élégie. The orchestra is conducted by RSNO music director Peter Oundjian.
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Advice I'd give my younger self: Nadia Sirota
Collaboration and idiosyncrasy are focuses for the American violist who advises musicians to ebrace what makes their sound unique
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Blogs
10 tips for buying a new bow
Are you considering upgrading to a better bow but not sure where to start? Violinist and bow maker Mariia Gorkun gives practical advice on how to go about choosing the right bow for you and your instrument – Register for free to read
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Sticky stuff: how rosin is made and how to choose the right one for your needs
As string players we all use rosin, but how many of us understand its properties well enough to choose the type that’s right for us? Laurinel Owen investigates
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Arabella Steinbacher on Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto
For the German violinist, Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto opened the doors to 20th-century repertoire – and with it, whole new sound worlds
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Nathan Milstein's Beethoven cadenza played on the 'Milstein' Stradivarius
Nathan Cole, first associate concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, plays Nathan Milstein ’s cadenza for the Beethoven violin concerto on the 1716 Stradivari played by the Russian American virtuoso from 1945 to the end of his career, and which took his name.
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String trio repertoire from Haydn to the present day
To accompany The Strad’s October 2017 issue cover feature on the Trio Zimmermann , Geraint Lewis looks at the available repertoire for this Cinderella of string genres
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Szymon Marciniak, double-bass, plays Bach's Cello Suite no.1
Polish double bass player Szymon Marciniak, who recently won second place at the Bradetich Foundation International Double Bass Solo Competition, here performs at the Kontrabass Kaleidoskop in Kloster Michaelstein, Germany in March 2017
