It occurred to me the other day that the things we often tell our students to do to get better are the same things we tell ourselves while we’re practicing!......
Have you ever had a teacher or mentor who didn’t want you to listen to any recordings or watch any videos of your pieces that you were learning? I think......
How often do we start working on a phrase to build its contours, find its climaxes, colors, inflections etc. only to be completely distracted by our intonation? How can we......
As classical musicians, how often do we find ourselves limiting our music listening to classical music? Yes, many of us listen predominately to “classical music” pieces that we are currently......
How many times have you played something where you thought you were making a big enough gesture but were told it wasn’t enough or even inaudible? I think, especially in......
Happy Mother’s Day to my mother, Lisa Lederer! She was as tough as she was loving and warm. But she made me practice at LEAST an hour a day every......
What a perfect season to present your recitals! You’ve worked hard all semester on playing more in tune, getting smoother bow changes, making cleaner shifts, and getting your sound to......
MUSIC STUDENTS: If you get lonely practicing alone for hours in an isolated practice room consider finding other musicians and building your own chamber ensemble. Or consider coming to a......
Even though life is even WAY crazier than usual these days with what’s happening with our planet and world affairs (!) there seems to be one wonderful constant in my......
Hi all! Please try to follow this protocol before your jury (and other performances). I think you will find it very helpful… 1. OPEN STRINGS: Play every single section of all of......