Here is the latest addition to Bärenreiter’s Easy String Ensemble series. These six simple but catchy melodies are ideal for early ensemble training and for first concert performances.
Beloved as much for the way it sounds as the way it looks, the Hardanger is a stunning piece of folk art, reflective of a rural homeland in Norway.
As performers and teachers, we may use the pandemic's forced limitations to create new and possibly even more productive solutions moving forward.
We asked Ryan McLaughlin, of all the instruments that have passed through his hands, which one does he most wish he could have kept? What made it special?
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Teaching online can feel impersonal in comparison, but 2020 has offered me the space to re-evaluate the way I approach my own musical and teaching life.
Oxford University Press’ newest title in its Notes for Performers series offers historical and analytical information on 35 pieces for the viola, from Bach to Weber.
Here’s a primer describing some of the relevant bonafides you might run into the next time you’re exploring the works of modern violin makers.
The question that I’ve been asked from day one has been, “Why does it feel different than any other music school when I walk in the door?”
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While tenths show up in virtuoso repertoire (like Paganini, Wieniawski, etc.), they are more fundamentally important as a way to improve left-hand technique.
When Beethoven, aged barely 15, composed these three piano quartets, the genre was rare and not yet part of an established chamber-music tradition.
“Inspired by the ‘Go Local’ movement, which I really believe in, the initial idea was to build a violin out of materials from within in a 25-mile radius of my home."
When Niccolò Paganini needed a powerful new violin, he found (or was given) an instrument by Guarneri del Gesù. He called it “Il Cannone” (the Cannon) and used it for the rest of his life.
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Thomastik-Infeld is celebrating the Dominant’s golden anniversary by launching a new, related string set: the Dominant Pro.
Call it love at first sight. At age nine, after watching a demonstration of Saint-Saëns’ “The Elephant” from The Carnival of the Animals, British musician Toby Hughes knew he had to have a double bass.
Is tension is affecting your cello playing so much that you can’t seem to relax? Try these exercises to evaluate your grip and help you loosen up.
Having skied almost daily now for nearly two months straight, I’ve discovered some things in the frozen wilderness that have direct string-playing parallels. It turns out violists can learn a lot about bowing from a set of ski poles.
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Injury prevention may be the most obviously compelling reason for string players to practice yoga. It can help musicians improve their physical self-awareness—a critical step to warding off physical problems.
I’m the leader of the international touring band Dirty Cello. As COVID-19 shut everything down, I made it my mission to keep playing and performing. And we found a way.
Before you can produce the smooth sound on violin, viola, cello, or bass, that attracted you to strings in the first place, you have to overcome that tension in the bow hand.
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