by Lora | Sep 27, 2018 | Expressive playing, Left hand technique, Uncategorized, Vibrato
When a violin student learns vibrato, they literally have the ability to create hundreds of shades in their playing. It is like handing an artist a tube of red, yellow, and blue paint….does every artist know how to create any color from the primary shades? No,...
by Lora | Sep 9, 2018 | Adult learners, Bow hand technique, Expressive playing, Violin tone
Let’s think about driving a car for just a second: You have driven for so many years, you don’t think about all the complicated things that you do each time you drive. It’s just part of your “driving instinct”. Good drivers have amazing...
by Lora | Sep 9, 2018 | Adult learners, Bow hand technique, Expressive playing, Violin tone
Did you realize that LOUD does not equal INTENSE? Once you realize this fact, you are well on your way to achieving the subtlety and nuance that makes the violin speak with greater inflection and expressive range. When I first start to teach my students how to play...
by Lora | Oct 1, 2015 | Expressive playing
And the final secret to expressive playing: DRAMATIC HAIR! These photos crack me up. You want a happy evening sometime, search online for “stock images violinist.” WOW. They think you’re a moron, the people who make those images. Ah well. On to the...
by Lora | Sep 28, 2015 | Expressive playing
In previous posts about playing expressively on the violin, we have discussed how to listen to the masters to figure out the invisible nuance that makes the magic. I have asked you to sing to uncover natural expressive opportunity hints such as a vocal slide, a...
by Lora | Apr 11, 2015 | Adult learners, Expressive playing, Online violin lessons
This is a very good and a very common question: As a violin learner, when are you ready to start vibrato? Normally, teachers wait to teach vibrato when their students are in Suzuki Book 3 or its equivalent. But is that just a random choice? Is it tradition that makes...
