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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violinguy
The 5 Best Mendelssohn Scherzos
Felix Mendelssohn is one of my favorite composers (but is he on Mt. Rushmore?). He was just as much a child prodigy as Mozart ever was, and just like Mozart, he didn’t live to see his 40th birthday. He gets far too little credit, mostly because he wasn’t revolutionary in his composing. Like Brahms, he…
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violinguy
The Best Pieces of Classical Music in Every Key
Classical Music by Key – Introduction (and excuses in advance) In classical music (and even popular music), the key of a piece is one of the most important choices a composer makes. Every key has its own characteristics that can make a symphony great, or boring. For example, Spinal Tap says that D minor is…
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violinguy
The Care and Feeding of your Violin Teacher
Choosing a violin teacher is an important process in finding the perfect match for your abilities. A good teacher will work with what you have, not engage in a futile attempt to get you to do something uncomfortable. A good teacher will be patient most of the time, but tough when called for. Finally, a…
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violinguy
How Does That Make You Feel? – Emotion in Music
Emotion in music is a huge topic. Music makes people feel all kinds of emotions, and not the same for everyone. People are always asking, “What’s the most depressing piece of music?” or “What is the happiest symphony?” These feelings are going to be different depending on who you are. Below, I’m going to give…
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