The Tournament of Classical Music – Overview
I’ve been wanting to do something like this for many years. The Tournament of Classical Music. The NCAA basketball tournament is one of my favorite 3 weeks in sports and it’s coming soon. Sixty-four teams (not including the play-in games) compete for the national championship. There is a bracket which works its way down to…
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violinguy
How to Learn Your Music Without Your Instrument
Surely one can’t actually learn music without practicing it on the instrument in a practice room. Well, that is only partly true. Yes, you have to have your instrument and you have to practice with it to learn music, but there are so many things that can be done with only your sheet music and…
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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 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
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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violinguy
Dos and Don’ts of Playing Gigs
Gigs come in many different forms; weddings, symphony work, corporate functions, pit orchestras, and many more. Below are six tips that every musician should follow so he or she will not only be successful, but get hired again. For purposes of this article, I will assume you are a freelance musician and not a tenured…
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violinguy
5 Violin Practice Tips to Do More in Less Time
Practicing. I doubt there is a single violin student who can’t wait to lock himself in a tiny room and hash out scales for hours. Successful violinists practice violin for upwards of 6-8 hours per day. That’s longer than some people spend at work. Below are five practice tips to help you get more accomplished…
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violinguy
The Mount Rushmore of Classical Music
We often hear about the “Mt. Rushmore of……” when it comes to many things. Usually it’s sports-related (the Mr. Rushmore of baseball hitters, etc.), or even music (the Mt. Rushmore of bands). Here is my Mt. Rushmore of classical music composers (rewritten from a lost blog post of a few years ago). I’ve thought about…
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violinguy
The Wonderful World of Viola
As I have already stated, I play viola in addition to violin. This year, I purchased my first good viola to use for gigs and teaching, and this last weekend, I performed with it for the first time. For years I have been a violinist who can’t resist telling a good viola joke (What’s the…
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