Lesser Known Masterpieces of John Williams
John Williams is arguably the finest film composer who ever lived, and he is still working right now (on Star Wars ep. VIII and eventually ep. IX). I have known his music since I was a child and spent hours listening to the 4-LP set of the original Star Wars (now titled “A New Hope”). …
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violinguy
5 Pieces for Holiday Gigs String Players Should Know
Ah, the holidays. Christmastime is here again (cue Vince Guaraldi). This is when many string players make a nice chunk o’ change. In order to be successful, you need to know the standard repertoire of holiday performances, and below are the 5 you should definitely know and know well. I’ll also include some “honorable mentions”…
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violinguy
5 Music Collections Every Advanced Student Needs
As a violin student goes from cute-for-playing-for-neighbors-and-relatives to serious advanced student, the music he or she needs increases. Below, I give you the five absolutely essential sheet music collections that every serious violin student needs. There are no elite violinists in the world that haven’t studied these works or learned these etudes. If you want…
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violinguy
Arranging Music for Any Ensemble
With the advent of music editing software like Sibelius or Finale, I have had a renewed interest in composing over the last 10-15 years. Composing is more of a hobby for me, but arranging music has become more than that. I have started making serious money by arranging different music for different ensembles and now…
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violinguy
The Chicago Cubs and Me – What Do I do Now?
Greetings. Today’s post is very off-topic for my blog, but very necessary given recent events. I can’t believe I’m typing this. The Chicago Cubs just won the world series. Family History After 108 years of epic futility, the Chicago Cubs have won the world series. I’ve been a Cubs fan since birth (in the Western…
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violinguy
Five Things All Gigging Musicians Need
Greetings intrepid readers. You may have noticed (or not, which is more likely) that I haven’t written any articles lately. There are a few reasons for that, and today I’m going to focus on the main reason – lots of gigs and no time to write. I’ve also been sick (see my last post on…
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violinguy
How to Stay Healthy and Keep Playing
As the summer wound down this year, I had a really hard time staying healthy. I had the stomach flu at the beginning of August, followed by a cold later that month. Then came the stomach flu again (this time without the fever and chills) in September. Had I been more busy, I would have…
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violinguy
Advice for Youth and Student Auditions
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post giving advice to professional violinists doing orchestral auditions. Well, now it’s time to get the kids involved. Student auditions happen many times during a child’s violin education. There are auditions for school orchestra seating, all-region orchestras (in the US), all-state orchestras (again, US), and other various…
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violinguy
Audition Advice for Orchestral Violin Players
I have (update: had – it was cancelled, sigh) an orchestral audition coming up in a few weeks so I thought I would share some of the audition advice I have learned over my many years of playing the violin. I have scoured the interwebs for audition advice and have found some great stuff. There…
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violinguy
Five Activities You’ll Be Good At If You Play the Violin
Learning to master the violin is hard, however the tools you use in learning the violin are very helpful in many other activities. When you play the violin, you are gaining dexterity in your muscles. When you play violin in a group, you are listening and blending in. Learning music helps your brain develop memory. …
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violinguy
Back to School Violin Supply List
It’s time for the kids to go back to school which means it’s time for violin lessons to get started again. Every violin student needs certain supplies for his or her lessons. Read on for the best back to school violin supplies updated for 2016. Instruments Every violin student needs a violin and bow. Duh. …
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violinguy
The Practice Room is Your Laboratory
Let’s be honest, no one likes to practice. The best violinists in the world don’t love getting into a room and working for hours on little snippets of repertoire. Unfortunately, the practice room is where we work and improve. Practicing is necessary, but if you’ve read anything else I’ve written here, you’ll see that I…
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