Teaching
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Focus‘A complete workout for the bow’ - violist Patricia Pollett’s study of choice
In this extract from 2012, viola professor at the University of Queensland Patricia Pollett shares why Ševčík’s op.2 no.5 allows players to focus on a variety of bowstrokes, and why it’s more difficult than it looks
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Focus
‘The best medicine for string-crossing, spiccato and the right arm’ - Felix Andrievsky’s etude of choice
In this extract from September 2012, violin professor Felix Andrievsky shares how Paganini’s Caprice no.2 is an excellent tool to develop your right arm technique
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Focus
‘Celebrate each note in terms of its beauty and excellence’ - Timothy Eddy on playing expressively
In this extract from the August 2021 issue, professor of cello at the Juilliard School Timothy Eddy provides tips for students and teachers on building an emotional connection with music and harnessing technique to play with expression
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Focus
‘I value them as supremely sharp tools’ - Colin Carr on Popper studies
In this extract from the August 2013 issue, Colin Carr, Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music, shares his thoughts on using the technical studies to create fluidity in music making
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Premium ❘ Feature
Pedagogues’ top studies: Etude of choice
There’s a wealth of variety when it comes to the studies string teachers can use with their students. Vicky Hancock asks some leading pedagogues which ones they find most useful
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Premium ❘ Feature
Popper cello etudes: Rites of passage
To mark 100 years since the death of cellist and composer David Popper, we ask top cello teachers from around the world: how valuable are his notoriously tricky cello studies to today’s students and players?
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Technique: Playing with expression
How to build an emotional connection with music that shines through in every note
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Focus
5 tips from Max Grosch for improving jazz rhythm
The jazz musician shares his wisdom on ways to improve our jazz rhythm and internal sense of pulse
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Focus
How can I play jazz bowings on the violin?
Do you sound uninspired when you try alternative styles? How should you interpret the printed notes? Julie Lyonn Lieberman reads between the lines to bring life to your right hand
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Technique: Jazz soloing on the double bass
How to build from a simple bass accompaniment to an improvised solo line in a few basic steps
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Focus
How to nurture a musical prodigy
Early public exposure and adulation can overwhelm highly gifted youngsters. Catherine Nelson talks to expert teachers about how they help prodigies cope
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Focus
Bomsori: ‘The mentality at Juilliard was so different from what I was used to in Korea’
The South Korean violinist talks to Andrew Mellor about studying in the US and her experience so far of life as a professional soloist
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Focus
‘Practise difficult passages while standing on a rickety chair, or spinning around in circles’ – Evan Wilson
The former principal violist of the LA Philharmonic shares ideas to help you improve strength, endurance, flexibilty and control
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Focus
Musical groundbreakers: Ševčík’s female pupils
At the beginning of the 20th century, a small number of female violinists became internationally renowned. Linking the members of this intrepid group was the famous Czech string teacher Otakar Ševčík, as Rosalind Ventris discovers
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News
UK music school ‘vicariously liable’ for sex abuse by violin teacher
Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester has been ordered to pay £45,000 in damages for assaults carried out in the late 1990s
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Premium ❘ News
Analysis June 2021: Limited access
Most conservatoires depend on their annual intake of international students. What happens when a crisis such as Covid-19 affects the young musicians’ ability to travel at all? By Peter Somerford
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Premium ❘ Feature
Technique: Left-hand calisthenics
Quick warm-ups to help you improve strength, endurance, flexibilty and control
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Feature
Accessories 2021: Teaching Online – Amplified Learning
Coronavirus has upended the lives and livelihoods of musicians around the globe – and one consequence has been the rapid growth of online instrumental teaching. Charlotte Smith looks at ways in which dedicated technology can enhance the experience without breaking the bank
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Focus
How should we articulate early music on modern instruments?
How to use Baroque bow techniques to build variety, lightness and flow into every phrase
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Debate
Opinion: On the margins
Conservatoires should do more to make 17th-century music a fundamental part of the curriculum, writes Walter Reiter
