The Basic Practice Process

On the whiteboard in my studio for the past year or two has been (among other things) the following:


1. Stop
2. Change
3. Easy
4. Add Something


I think of this as the basic practice loop or process. I refer to it often during lessons, and I'll briefly elaborate here.

Beautiful Essay on Our Over-Scheduled Lives

Mary Elliott: Children at Play

Pickup, Beat or Rebound?

Shaping a musical line is one of the basic aspects of expression. Every note has a role within a gesture or within a longer phrase. It helps to think of each note as either a pickup, a beat, or a rebound.

Magic Beads

Beads are a wonderful practice and teaching tool. This is an article I wrote for the Suzuki Journal on how I use them. 

Coat Hanger Cling

A good way to find a released left hand.

Tonalization: More Long Note Challenges

This variation focuses on the challenge of a quick transition between extremes.

Ed Sprunger on Playing in Sentences

My friend and colleague, Ed Sprunger. If you haven't read his book, Helping Parents Practice: Ideas for Making it Easier, get started right away! He has a new one, and I'm looking forward to reading it even though it is focused on violin. 

Creativity and the Brain

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, thank you and farewell

Tonalization: Variations on the Longest Note in the World

After doing the longest note in the world for a while, you might like to try some other open string exercises.

Michael Tilson Thomas: Music and emotion through time

Tonalization: Longest Note in the World

This is a well-known challenge. The idea is to play the slowest bow you can, while trying to keep the sound full by playing very near the bridge, and also to keep it perfectly even.

Praise Part 3: Praising why?

This last post on the subject of praise concerns not just the effects of praise, but more deeply our own motivations for praising.

Live Performance as a Birthright

...see also this related post.

Everybody's Scale

...love this.