To download this arrangement as a PDF, scroll down to just above the video… During this time of trouble, hordes of unaccompanied pieces for every instrument have crawled out from under their hiding places as musicians have scrambled to find something, anything, to play by themselves! Even etudes have enjoyed a renaissance, something that warms …
Wieniawski “Alla Saltarella” arranged for 2 violins Read More »
Here’s a secret they don’t tell you about joining a professional orchestra: over the years, your colleagues get younger and the jokes get funnier. When you start out as a bright-eyed 20-something, you cast a wary eye at all the gray-hairs in the locker room and groan at their one-liners, most of which you’d swear …
Master the ricochet stroke with the Way of the Fist Read More »
I have an ambivalent relationship with the metronome. We’ve had enough difficulties over the years that we eventually had to set some ground rules. Still, the metronome (or its modern cousin, the smartphone app) is never far from my hand in the practice room. It’s one of the most important tools in my kit, in …
Speed up Paganini’s Moto Perpetuo with Parallel Tracks Read More »
Sometimes you know without a doubt that your hands are out of sync on the violin. Other times, things seem just a bit… unclean. You’ll notice it most in fast passages with all separate bows, and particularly when those passages are strongly on the string. That’s because when you play quietly, or off the string, …
If you joined the Violympics this past summer, this Mazas is already an old friend! If not, you’ll love exploring what seems at first to be a run-of-the-mill etude. It’s all about hand frame on the left (one of my favorite topics) and a mix of crisp articulation with smooth changes and crossings on the …
Now that the Violympic Games are over, I’ve been itching to get back to my YouTube roots. So here’s a new video for the fall, even though the thermometer is supposed to hit 111 degrees Fahrenheit in Pasadena tomorrow! I’ve been wanting to cover the simple topic of left-hand setup for quite a while, and …