All Focus articles – Page 4
-
FocusDeveloping arm, wrist and finger vibrato
Rok Klopčič takes a look at different types of vibrato through the eyes of the great teachers and players - from the June 2003 issue
-
FocusLeila Schayegh's top 5 tips on historically informed vibrato
The Baroque violinist shares her wisdom on how to use vibrato authentically
-
FeatureHow to help music students with sightreading
If your students only brush up their sightreading at exam time, they're missing out on an important part of music making
-
Focus10 tips for learning and teaching sightreading
Advice from The Strad’s archive on how to improve sightreading and reminders of its crucial place in any good musician’s skillset
-
FocusPlaying with a relaxed fourth finger by violinist Ros Stephen
Ros Stephen, author of the Oxford University Press Globetrotters series and Violinworks method books, gives exercises and advice to help string players reach fourth finger notes without straining
-
Premium ❘ FeatureWhere should string players look when performing from memory on stage?
Teacher Talk: your string teaching questions answered by our panel of experts. From October 2011
-
FocusDouble bass technique: Back muscles, weight, and flexibility in the right hand
How to get the most out of your body when playing the double bass, by Dan Styffe, principal bassist for the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music
-
FocusDouble bass beginners should play in all left-hand positions
Thomas Martin pinpoints some common technical problems for young bassists and insists that beginners shouldn't be restricted to playing in the lower positions. From the May 2014 issue
-
Focus6 tips for teaching young violinists by Suzuki instructor Teri Einfeldt
The University of Hartford Suzuki Department chair shares her methods for teaching children
-
FocusAsk the Experts: what to look for in a Baroque bow
In this article from the June 2016 issue, Strad readers submit their problems and queries about string playing, teaching or making to a panel of experts
-
Premium ❘ FeatureFemale composers: A woman’s touch
Quartets written by women are too often overlooked by today’s performers, argues Ian Lawrence. In celebration of International Women’s Day (March 2011), he recommends an array of works to hear and play from a repertoire spanning three centuries
-
Focus‘The lyre of Orpheus’ - the life and works of Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen
In our August 2021 issue, Kevin MacDonald investigates the lives and careers of female violinists in Georgian England. Read this extract profiling Italian violinist Maddalena Laura Lombardini Sirmen, who enjoyed success both as a performer and composer
-
FocusHow useful are Ševčík exercises for violinists, violists and cellists?
From the archive: Violinist Ivry Gitlis, violist Bruno Giuranna and cellist Christopher Bunting share their views on the influential method
-
FocusTalking heads: 'Bergonzi definitely did not mean to make Stradivaris'
In this extract from the July 2021 issue, Andrea Zanrè examines Carlo Bergonzi’s unique head craftmanship
-
FocusYehudi Menuhin's marked-up copy of Bach's Solo Violin Sonata no.2
Have a small peek into the workings of Menuhin's interpretation. Taken from The Strad's May 2016 issue.
-
FocusVilla-Lobos and the cello: an early start
In this extract from the July 2021 issue, Felipe Avellar de Aquino writes about Heitor Villa-Lobos’s early leanings towards the cello which sparked his extensive output for the instrument
-
Focus5 tips from Max Grosch for improving jazz rhythm
The jazz musician shares his wisdom on ways to improve our jazz rhythm and internal sense of pulse
-
FeatureStrength in Diversity: Minorities in US Orchestras
Half a century has passed since the New York Philharmonic hired its first black musician, and yet the percentage of Black and Latino players in top US orchestras remains woefully low. Vivien Schweitzer reports on the organisations taking action towards greater inclusivity
-
FocusWhat can musicians learn from working with dancers?
Pauline Harding attends workshops, talks to early music specialists and pioneering modern players, and discovers a whole new approach to interpreting classical music
-
Focus‘Is $16 million for a violin too much to pay? Not these days’
In the 1998 movie The Red Violin, a great violin maker named Nicolo Bussotti, based on the real-life luthier Antonio Stradivari, supposedly mixes the blood of his deceased beloved wife into the varnish of what is to be his most precious creation. The violin’s journey, from its creation in Cremona ...
