All Shifting articles
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FocusReplacing shifts with a stretch: Daniil Shafran’s left-hand technique
Oskar Falta examines Soviet cellist Daniil Shafran’s unique left-hand technique and vibrato in this extract from the September 2021 issue
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Article
Double bassist François Rabbath demonstrates his crab technique
In honour of François Rabbath, who turns 90 today, we are republishing content from our archive related to the French-Syrian double bassist
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How to make the most of cello scales
Approach scales with commitment, imagination and daring, and they will inspire your cello playing, argues Mats Lidström
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Premium ❘ Article
Ask the Teacher - Grigory Kalinovsky
The New York-based violin pedagogue explains why he advocates Galamian scales and a few sprints for students warming up
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Article
A 30-minute daily practice routine for violinists and violists
How to keep your playing in shape while maintaining a busy schedule, by Misha Galaganov, professor of viola and chamber music at Texas Christian University, TX, US
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How to make scales enjoyable
Encouraging students to practise scales needn't be an uphill struggle, says Paul Harris - in fact, it can even be fun!
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Premium ❘ Feature
Technique: A 30-minute routine to keep your playing on top form
Ideas to help violinists and violists maintain high technical and musical standards around a busy regime
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Premium ❘ Feature
Technique: Sound and phrase
The importance of developing a refined, balanced technique to communicate a nuanced musical line on the double bass
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10 playing tips by violist Lionel Tertis
The famous English viola player and Royal Academy of Music professor gave performing tips to student Sydney Errington in the 1930s
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Feature
How to shift smoothly and cleanly by cellist Jeffrey Solow
When it comes to shifting, the American cellist and Boyer College professor gets his inspiration from the physics of ball games in this 2007 article
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Blogs
Rachel Barton Pine: 10 tips for practice and performance
The Strad attended a masterclass with the American violinist in 2015 and took down these practical pointers
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6 ways to improve shifting for string players
Advice on how to shift smoothly and cleanly from 120 years of The Strad
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The secret behind Paganini's amazing technique
Generations of violinists have tried to discover what it was that made Paganini so legendary. In this article from 2014, the late great Ruggiero Ricci shared his thoughts with Strad readers
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Turtle Island Quartet techniques: chop, slide and hickety mute
Members of the genre-crossing ensemble share some of the unusual techniques they use to give them their unique sound
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10 tips for improving your scales
Guidance from The Strad’s archive on tuning, bow control, shifting, direction and pulse
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Technique: Developing a 'cello vocabulary' for more effective practice with Amit Peled
A system of emoticons and words you can use to help you remember important technical ideas, by Amit Peled, cello faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University
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Technique: Two-octave scales and arpeggios
An essential way to improve tone and intonation by Michael Frischenschlager, professor emeritus of violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna
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Ask the Experts: playing violin in the second position
Strad readers submit their problems and queries about string playing, teaching or making to a panel of experts
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Blogs
Intermediary notes are unnecessary for shifting
One the great pedagogical minds of the 20th Century, Yuri Yankelevich (1909-1973) wrote an extremely detailed treatise on shifting that has now been published in English by Oxford University Press. Translator Masha Lankovsky takes a look at one of his conclusions
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Scales and exercises are essential for all string players
Not all players regard exercises as important, but without a sound technical basis you cannot achieve your expressive potential, writes the cellist
