Musicians who Travel – Five Things they Need
Wouldn’t it be great if all of our gigs were in the same town we live in? Or at least within an hour of our home? Sadly, if you want to make good money as a freelance musician, you have to travel and stay overnight from time to time. This means long car rides, a…
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violinguy
Chamber Music – The Best Way to Play
There are three basic categories of classical music that performers can choose from – orchestral music, solo music, and chamber music. Obviously within those categories are infinite sub-categories and genres, but when we perform, we do so in one of those three ways. I have loved chamber music since the tender young age of 13…
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violinguy
Long Layoff – Getting Started Again!
For those of you just joining us, I usually post 2-3 times every month. You may have noticed an almost two month layoff. Hopefully you did because that means you actually visit here regularly :). I enjoy creating new content and updating my site regularly but sometimes life takes over and some things need to…
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violinguy
The Classics – Gateways to Even Better Music
One of the criticisms I hear a lot regarding classical music is, there is only so much Mozart, Beethoven, or Tchaikovsky out there. While that is true, most novice classical music lovers are usually unaware of the awesome depth of fine music from any one composer. Mozart has 41 symphonies to choose from. Brahms wrote…
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violinguy
Rock and Pop Ripped from Classical Music
I have always said that without church music there would be no secular music (baroque, classical, etc.), and without classical music, there would be no rock or pop music. There are so many great rock and pop artists who write great melodies. Some pop artists are excellent composers in their own right. Paul McCartney wrote…
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violinguy
Final Four – Tournament of Classical Music
Well, here we are. I’ve been out of town performing and that’s made me a little negligent when it comes to writing for my blog. I’m going to fix that with a bunch of posts this week before I go out of town again. Today, we’re going to get our tournament down to the final…
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violinguy
Tournament Update – Beethoven and Stravinsky Brackets
The games are afoot, so to speak, in the Tournament of Classical Music! Here is the first update and results post. Now, this year I’m determining the results on my own. In future years, with more readers, I will probably put it to a vote. As far as this year is concerned, I am going…
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violinguy
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
Parents and Violin Lessons – How to Help
No matter what method is being taught to a child, the parents still play a key role in that child’s success. As a teacher, I teach Suzuki method with my youngest and beginning students. I stress the parents’ role from the beginning. One or both parents must be involved in a child’s musical development from…
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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
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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