The violin is an incredible versatile instrument, and can express itself a wide variety of musical styles, emotions, and contexts. A creative and competent player will pour all of her or his culture, ideas, and personality into the instrument. The simple physical motions of dragging a bow across strings can tell a story of where…
Tag: creativity
Bringing it All Back Home: Reconciling Dylan and Seeger
The 1965 Newport Folk Festival is widely considered one of the most iconic moments in rock history. It is one of those historical moments where it felt like everything changed radically in an instant, where the familiar fell apart and a new thing was birthed. A lot has been written and said about the event;…
every note is alive
Basho was a poet who lived 17th century Japan, considered one of the greatest haiku writers of all time. It was said that Basho was once with a student, and they saw a dragonfly, and the student attempted to compose his thoughts on the experience: A red dragonfly If you would but pluck its wings…
How to play “I’ll Keep It With Mine” (or the string parts for any pop song)
Here are a few string players you might not have heard of before, but have probably heard their music. John Cale of the Velvet Underground, Scarlet Rivera with Bob Dylan, David Ragsdale of Kansas, Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Mathews Band, Miri Ben-Ari with a variety of hip-hop artists, including Kanye West. All these artists…
free and creative from the beginning
A teacher is always continuing to learn, and must always be open to new ideas and challenges. Learning is a lifelong process of continuous evolving and tweaking how we do things. I once heard in a class that one of the more important sentences for a teacher is, “I used to think ___ but now…
being musically multilingual
In a previous article, I briefly brought up the concept of being musically multilingual as an important goal for my students. Just as a multilingual person is able to communicate with people from a wider range of nationalities, a musician proficient in multiple cultural or musical traditions can perform with a wide variety of people,…
Why we need both a Suzuki and an O’Connor method….
… I was prepared to not make a comment on this at all, but recent discussions about violin pedagogy and which method books to buy have reached a level of passion and vitriol I usually associate only with religion and politics (and that usually sends me looking for the door.) For those of you too…
Four musical approaches…
When I first walked down this path of using strings to create sound, I was unaware how versatile it could be, or how the same instrument could make me comfortable in a huge variety of settings. I have inserted my voice into all kinds of situations – sometimes projects involving many hours of rehearsal, and…
How to play freely…as part of your daily practice
As I discussed briefly in my previous post, I believe spontaneous improvisation to be a vitally important part of reaching musical maturity. I further think that it’s possible to grow in and practice, and so should become a part of regular music practice. In this new video, I explain how I do it, and what…
Violin Lessons with Michael Fox 