Why Study Music Theory I clearly remember working through my childhood violin teacher’s hand-made music theory workbooks. While lessons from these books were assigned like homework by my teacher, they always felt separate from my violin practice. I never fully connected how my work in the pages translated to my playing. After returning to playing…
Finding rhythm, coordination, and musical expression through movement I was taking a violin lesson over the summer focusing on improving my rhythmic accuracy in sight reading. At one point during the lesson, my teacher asked me to take a step on each beat of the music I was reading. In response to the unexpected difficulty…
The new year is the perfect time to renew your musical intentions, delve into a new project, and to challenge yourself musically. I personally like the idea of starting off the new year with a practice challenge to strengthen or build new habits. If you are looking to challenge yourself to practice differently, or to…
How Seasonal Weather Changes Your Violin’s Sound As we head into winter, we may notice that our instruments sound a bit different. Weather has a notable effect on the sound of a violin, made as it is of wood that responds to the ambient humidity. It also has an effect on the rosin we use…
Community orchestras are one of the main places where amateur musicians connect with their community. Not only are they a meeting-place for musicians of all levels to prepare music to offer to members of their broader community, but they are also places to connect with fellow musicians and collectively approach challenging, rewarding music. There is…
Sometimes, a piece of music will unexpectedly capture my attention. This week, I have been waking up in the mornings with the subtly haunting sounds of the Finale from Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 4 for Solo Violin running through my head. I’m exploring new repertoire, and the exploration process involves steeping myself in the music. Sometimes…
As an enthusiastic amateur violinist and violin student, I enjoy the conversations I have with my teacher about repertoire. I like hearing what music excites her and sharing my own musical discoveries with her while charting a path for my own musical growth. As a young violin student, my teacher used the Suzuki method that…
After beginning to work on the Finale from Ysaye’s Sonata No. 4, I was looking for a warmup routine to ease me into practice while working on the musical and technical elements I’ll need to solidify to play the Finale. I turned to Ysaye’s Exercises et Gammes, a short scale book showcasing exercises and scales as…
Anthologies of music are great places to discover new music, add variety to your repertoire, and can also serve as introductions to particular musical styles, eras, or lesser-known repertoire. For amateur musicians, they can also be sources for study, recital pieces and chamber music to play with friends. Often anthologies are also carefully graded, offering…
“Méditation” from Thaïs is a favorite for student violinists (and violists) looking to develop their vibrato and lyrical phrasing. It happens to be an audience favorite as well, making it a good choice to play for non-musician family members. But there is so much music beyond Massenet’s famous intermezzo that can serve the purpose of developing musical…