Yesterday I was sitting on a recording session for the soon-to-be-released “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” music by Michael Giacchino. My good friend Dr. Jim was next to me, and in one of the breaks he gave me some good advice. We were discussing Violin Mastery’s coming-right-up “Orchestral Repertoire Class,” and he wanted […]

It’s early morning here in Los Angeles. A layer of fog covers the San Fernando Valley, which lies just below my perch in the Santa Monica Mountains. Imagine it will burn off soon and turn into another day of hot weather. In any case, I’ve been thinking about violin playing, as the sky brightens, particularly […]

As we all know is, it’s a virtual given that when we step in front of an audience to perform the whole game seems to change – even to the point of “all bets are off,” for some of us. Must it be like this? Of course not! And here is one hot tip to […]

Much is said regarding the relaxation of the right shoulder in teaching studios. Yet the quality of relaxation and freedom in the left shoulder often goes neglected. If you watch any of the truly great violinists play virtuosic music; that is, music that requires quick leaps from lower to upper to lower positions, you will […]

The past few days I’ve been doing the spring cleanup around our property. And let me tell you, there isn’t a plant in Arizona that doesn’t have at least two ways to scratch, poke, bite, or otherwise draw blood from you if you try to alter their personal destiny in the slightest way. Fortunately, none […]

Before I get into the main subject of this newsletter I’d just like to say a few more words about the June Seminar and Masterclass. This event will absolutely be ENABLING and INSPIRING for players of ALL levels. Now, I won’t go into WHY I know this, you’ll just have to trust me. You know, […]

I am happy to report that after 5 days and nights, Star, our new puppy, is getting the potty thing right about 80% percent of the time. Actually with ‘poop’ he’s been 100% for two straight days. And boy does it smell a lot better around here! But hang on, these are not the SKILLS […]

I don’t know whether you are a fan of figure skating, and if not please forgive the brief digression from the subject of this newsletter. Last night the senior ladies skated the first of 2 programs that will decide the national champion and lead to the selection of 2 skaters to go to the winter […]

A few days ago Tania, daughter Clara and I watched in awe as Jeremy Abbott jumped, spun and otherwise skated his way to a second title as U.S. men’s figure skating champion. And as the top skater in a field as deep as the United States has ever seen, he didn’t do it by a […]

Before getting to the subject of my newsletter today I want to let you know that I am donating 10% of what comes in to Violin Mastery this month toward the relief efforts in Haiti. After all that country has been through in recent decades, and now this. It just boggles my mind and breaks […]

Today I’m going to tell you what goes on up close and personal under the neck of my instrument. After all, these things probably constitute 60-70% of one’s left hand technique. And they have everything to do with how you support the weight of the violin. To begin with, let’s dispense with the notion of […]

Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting you run out and get a table and massage oil for your violin. Not that they aren’t nice to have at your disposal, along with a massage therapist, for a little after practice deep tissue. No, what I’m talking about here is a way for the stiff-of-finger, or even just […]

This morning I was fooling around a little more with the spiccato groove. Something additional came to me that I can add to yesterday’s comments. I said that the detache is the basis of spiccato; true. I also said that it is very useful to ‘condense’ your detache, and PURPOSELY confine it to the string, […]