All Tone articles
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Focus7 tips on adjustments to get the best out of your instrument
The finest Stradivari in the world will sound poor if it is badly set up. Here are some points to consider sourced from our archive
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Focus
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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Focus
Singing during practice can help improve sound and characterisation
Cellist Laurence Lesser suggests that learning to listen to your voice constructively isn't easy, but it helps to set musical feeling directly into motion
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Premium ❘ Feature
Technique: Sautillé
Tips to help you master a bow stroke vital for making a good impression at any orchestral audition
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Feature
Ask the Experts: should players separate technique and musicality in practice?
A violinist asks if players should separate technique and musicality when preparing a piece for a performance, and if there is a strategy that can help combat performance nerves
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Focus
10 views on dynamics for bowed strings
Advice on how to produce effective dynamic contrasts from 120 years of The Strad
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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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Focus
10 tips on maximising tone quality & projection
Advice on projecting your sound from over 120 years of The Strad
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Video
‘With Nicky’ 2: Developing Your Sound
Why is sound so important? ‘With Nicky’ this week delves into the depths of developing sound, while reminding us that no two violinists sound the same, and that they shouldn’t sound the same. There’s lots of experimentation, plus plenty of advice on embracing the journey to finding your own 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
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Focus
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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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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Debate
How can violinists create a personal sound?
Once upon a time, violinists just wanted to get as close to Heifetz's sound as they possibly could. But now that golden standard no longer applies, Jessica Duchen asks, how do the stars of today mark themselves out as special?
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Focus
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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Premium ❘ Debate
Take the hostility out of string playing
Today's performers should remember that you don't need to be aggressive to make a searing point, argues Richard S. Ginell
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Blogs
Aaron Rosand on how to produce a beautiful tone
The American violinist examines the role of the bow in tone production
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Focus
Ask the Experts: regaining your technique after time away from the violin
Strad readers submit their problems and queries about string playing, teaching or making to our experts
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Focus
How to produce a strong, uninhibited sound without pressure, by cellist Joel Krosnick
The former Juilliard String Quartet cellist explained to Laurinel Owen how to effectively transmit energy from your body to the instrument in 2005
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Blogs
How to bring 'grain' to your sound - cellist and baritone Matthew Sharp
The British artist describes how to use the body to create a 'fearlessness of expression' and to give the sound meaning 'beyond surface preoccupations'
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Focus
Young players must find their own sound within each composer’s idiom,' says violinist Kyung Wha Chung
Kyung Wha Chung Violinist Kyung Wha Chung speaks in The Strad’s October 2016 issue about her long-awaited recording of Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, fifty years after she began playing the works . Click here to subscribe or login. Alternatively, download the full article on ...
