Rethinking Genius

....Or the art of sound. This is something I tell my students or the parents of my students and they always give me this look like I just said something really revolutionary.  I don't know how/why it happened but somewhere along the way music got separated from the other arts. It's strange.  People see music as an art but they don't necessarily think of music falling in the same category as painting or sculpting.  But it is an art.  It's just as much of an artistic expression as a painting.  The difference is in which sense is being stimulated.  Painting is a visual art.  Music is auditory. And just like any other art form you must study the masters.  This means listening to other artists perform your pieces.  The Suzuki Method has become famous (for better or worse) for making children listen to their pieces.  Unending discussions have arisen about teaching students to play by ear and whether this "Suzuki" approach is really all ...

Technique is a subject musicians will constantly obsess over. If the player is a beginner he worries about making unappealing noises. If the player is advanced, he will work on adjusting here or moving there in order to achieve the best possible sound. When working on technique, musicians generally focus on the sound coming out of their instrument and the immediate body part connected with the sound they wish to improve (such as the motion of the bow hand). However, the body is not a collection of separate parts. Rather, it is a complete “package” which must be addressed as a whole in order for the player to truly improve. There are many different schools of thought on how a string instrument should be played. The purpose of this booklet is to give the musician a brief overview of their body and how it “performs” so that injury can be prevented and technique sharpened. You can find this manual on Amazon , Barnes and Noble and most other major e-book stores.