All Improve your playing articles – Page 2
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FocusMartelé: Essential foundations for a top-quality bow technique
Rictor Noren offers grounding, exercises and repertoire suggestions to help you work on your martelé stroke
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FocusMovement in the bow hand and wrist, by violin professor Boris Kuschnir
Kuschnir explains how to master control of your sound through correct use of the bow
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FocusString players should bow with individual fingers rather than the whole hand
Awareness of the movement of each right-hand finger is one of the great secrets of bowing, writes Rok Klopčič
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BlogsViolinist Aaron Rosand on why memorisation is key to interpretation
The American maestro discusses the importance of understanding a work's cultural background and performing by memory to convey this. From 2016
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Premium ❘ FeatureHow to develop left-hand finger strength
Up and down movement is the basis of left-hand technique and many pedagogues have invented fiendish exercises to improve it. Rok Klopčič takes a look at some of them
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FocusViolinist Elena Urioste on why a thorough warm-up routine is a necessity for good practice
The US violinist explains why warming up is an essential part of a day's practice
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Focus7 tips for playing fast passages for string players
Guidance from The Strad’s archive on increasing left-hand finger speed and minimising tension
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FocusTechnique: How to achieve clean and effortless definition in the left hand, by Grigory Kalinovsky
Professor of violin at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, with some exercises to improve your left-hand articulation. From 2018
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FocusHow I warm up: violist Maxim Rysanov
The Russian-born viola player gives an insight into his detailed warm-up regimen
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BlogsAaron Rosand on how to produce a beautiful tone
The American violinist examines the role of the bow in tone production. From 2013
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Focus8 ways to develop musical expression and individuality
Views on cultivating personal style and engaging your audience from 130 years of The Strad
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BlogsViolinist Julia Fischer and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott on sound projection
The soloists talk to Pauline Harding about orchestral accompaniment and soloistic sound
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Focus10 tips on maximising tone quality & projection
Advice on projecting your best sound from over 130 years of The Strad's archives
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FocusHow to produce a strong, uninhibited sound without pressure, by cellist Joel Krosnick
The former Juilliard Quartet cellist explained to Laurinel Owen how to effectively transmit energy from your body to the instrument in 2005
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FocusHow can violinists create a personal sound?
Once upon a time, violinists just wanted to get as close to Heifetz's sound as they possibly could. But now that golden standard no longer applies, Jessica Duchen asks, how do the stars of today mark themselves out as special?
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BlogsViolinist Aaron Rosand on how to produce a good vibrato
The American violinist examines the role of vibrato in enhancing sound and providing character. From 2017
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ArticleCellist Steven Isserlis on using vibrato to improve phrasing
Steven Isserlis gives a cello masterclass on Schumann's Fantasiestücke op.73, recorded at the International Musicians' Seminar, Prussia Cove. The student is Ani Kalayjian
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Focus10 things you need to know about vibrato
The following quotes, taken from the pages of The Strad over the past 100 years, offer a fascinating glimpse of the changing attitudes and approaches towards this most subjective and controversial area of a string player's technique
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ArticleCellist David Finckel on vibrato
Cellist David Finckel introduces the subject of vibrato as part of a series of video demonstrations on cello technique. Vibrato, he says, 'connects the listener to the player's innermost feelings about the music. It should be something that reinforces the music, not something that is painted on top ...
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VideoEsther Yoo’s practice tips: chord pizzicato
Yoo shares how mimicking a guitar pick with the index finger and thumb can help violinists with strumming technique
