The following article was found on Violinist.com “Why can’t I play as well in performance, as I do in the practice room?” Many people find themselves in that situation, and …
Shrinking the Gap Between Practice and Performance
thou shalt
In an article in the October 2006 issue of Clavier, Greg Brown says the goal of The 5 Browns is to relax some of the formality of concert etiquette that might discourage …
Changing Teachers
During the first couple weeks with a new transfer student, they will often exclaim when I say or demonstrate something, “Wow – I didn’t know that! My old teacher never …
Vanhal Cello Concerto in C
In May, Mark came across mention of a cello concerto by Vanhal he wasn’t familiar with, decided to look for it and found a delightful YouTube recording but no score. …
How to Practice Better
The following are excerpts from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daily email where he wants to cultivate “the positive corner of the internet”. While his emphasis is of course on physical fitness, many …
Dealing with Performance Anxiety
Most of us who grew up learning an instrument and therefore performing at recitals were offered various pieces of advice on how to deal with performance anxiety. They ranged from, …
The Art of Teaching
The Art of Teaching is different from, say, the art of painting, or the art of playing an instrument, different from the art of tuning a piano, or the art …
Retard!
Retard! Ever since I came to this country, I’ve been puzzled and appalled by music teachers who use the term “ritard”. I recently came across it on a website where …
Competitions – who gets to go?
In my studio, I have many ambitious and competitive students and parents who naturally aspire to enter competitions and win prizes. This leads to the important question: Who gets to …
Planning and growth
Many, many years ago, when I was still in the first ten years of my teaching career, I was successful. I was able to attract good students, where good meant …