Technique – Page 4
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Premium ❘ FeatureTechnique: the importance of practising in 5ths
How the ability to play in perfect 5ths can help you to hone your position, intonation and vibrato
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Focus
Can bowing-wrist suppleness improve intonation?
John Krakenberger has made a number of interesting connections between good tuning and loosening the bowing wrist in his teaching
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Debate
Young students must learn to listen if they are to practise effectively
String students who struggle in the early stages of learning often don't know how to listen. Patiently help them to train their ears, says Peter Quantrill, and practice sessions will become ever more fulfilling
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Premium ❘ Feature
Technique: Walking bass
Essential foundations for producing a jazz bass-line with good sound, rhythm and harmony
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Review
Book review: The Violin in 5ths: Developing Intonation and Sound
Anne Inglis reviews Rodney Friend’s inspiring volume
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Blogs
Émile Sauret, moderation and the ‘saccade’ bow stroke
As Nazrin Rashidova continues her recorded exploration of Sauret’s Études-Caprices played on his own Stradivari, she contemplates an unusual technical challenge
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Blogs
Yuri Zhislin on the 6 pillars of violin playing
The violinist and violist boils down a career’s worth of experience as soloist, chamber musician and teacher
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Premium ❘ Feature
Ask the Experts: helping double-jointed students
Five teachers and health specialists respond to a reader's query on how best to teach a double jointed student.
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Premium ❘ Feature
Ask the Experts: purchasing the right Baroque bow
A trio of Baroque bow makers give their thoughts on what to look for when making the leap into historically informed playing
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Premium ❘ Feature
Technique: chords
How to tackle multi-stopped passages with more confidence, musicality and alacrity with Pavel Berman, professor of violin at the Lugano Conservatoire in Switzerland, and Academy of Perosi in Biella, Italy
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Focus
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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Video
‘With Nicky’ 9: Recap – vibrato in Massenet’s Méditation
A recap from Nicola Benedetti’s vibrato video, using the first two bars of Massenet’s Meditation as a vibrato exercise. ‘It’s important to remember that with all exercises, in the end, use your ears – they will tell you exactly how you want to sound and send messages to your hands ...
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Video
‘With Nicky’ 8: Recap – Playing Fast
A recap of last week’s video today on Nicola Benedetti’s journey of YouTube tutorials, in which the violinist goes back over one of the most important parts of developing the basics for the left hand: Playing Fast - Velocity Requires Flexibility. See the full series here
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Video
‘With Nicky’ 7: Back to More Basics, Left Hand Part II
After a few very busy weeks practising, Nicola Benedetti presents Back to More Basics Left Hand Part 2. She says: ‘Before you watch this week’s video, I’d really encourage you to revisit Back to More Basics Left Hand Part 1 as this week is a continuation from what we were ...
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Focus
Technique: Velocity studies with Hans Jørgen Jensen
Some musicians love playing fast. Others struggle with it, both psychologically and physically: they can’t control their tempo, they play too loudly, their fingers collapse and lose their natural curvature, they have unnecessary tension in different parts of the body, they make facial grimaces, or they lift their fingers too ...
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Video
‘With Nicky’ 4: Vibrato Part II
Following on from last week’s episode in her series of video tutorials, Nicola Benedetti is on to Vibrato Part 2, in which she progresses from easier to slightly harder vibrato exercises. She focuses on how to put some of last week’s exercises into practice with one of the most popular ...
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Video
'With Nicky’ 3: Vibrato Part I
This week on Nicola Benedetti’s series of video tutorials, she talks about a much requested subject…vibrato. It’s not surprising there have been so many questions and comments about it as vibrato is one of the most tricky things for string players to develop. Learning and building the fundamentals of this ...
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Focus
8 ways to improve your intonation
Tips and tricks for playing in tune – or giving the impression of playing in tune
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Focus
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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Focus
From the archive: Technique or tone?
This article from The Strad, September 1954, argues that the trend among students of pursuing mechanical brilliance at the expense of beauty of tone is misguided
