Stringsavvy.com

Igudesman and Joo?

Thom — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:23:28 +0000

Pianist and Violinist combo work here with an orchestra to perform Ennio Morricone’s Fistful of Dollars. Fantastic arrangement with some wicked violin solos! If you have never heard of Igudesman and Joo- check out some of their comedy bits below:

I first stumbled upon these guys a couple years ago and really enjoyed their videos. A modern day Victor Borge perhaps? (Victor Borge Below). This shows yet another example to the wide span of musical opportunities! You don’t have to be “uptight” and play in an orchestra to do something fun with music! Enjoy the videos!

Hip Hop Violinist Kicks It With DJ

Thom — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:43:53 +0000

This video has been a hit floating around the internet for a while now, but I know even the most popular videos haven’t always been seen by everyone so I wanted to share it with you! This is yet another group demonstrating that the violin doesn’t have to be restricted to the classical realm. However, that doesn’t mean that all you students don’t need to practice your classical technique! The licks and style he plays with aren’t totally simple, and he definately knows his stuff.

When I initially saw this video a couple of years ago for whatever reason I just wasn’t into it. Maybe I wasn’t into hip-hop DJ/Violin is a concept, or maybe it was just my once big ego trying to tell me, “oh that isn’t really all that interesting.” Seeing it again now I really enjoyed it and thought you might too! What other styles have you heard or would you like to hear the violin get involved in? Are you doing it yourself? Let us know in the comments below!

Violin Phase

Thom — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:59:15 +0000

Violin Phase

Performed at Concert 13 of Music08 June 21, 2008 by Matthew Albert, Nick Naegele, Yei-in Jin, and Chi-Fan Tai. (Info Via Youtube)

Not for the average easy going listener, Violin Phase is a piece full and open to interpretation. Many of my friends would hear this and ask me to turn it off, stating it just sounded like noise. To me its a world of sound to get lost in! How often does pop music take you to an alternate world and open up your thought process?

Violin Phase, written by Steve Reich in 1967, is to be played with solo violin and pre-recorded accompaniment (prepared by the violinist) or by four violins. The concept is simple, the execution is slightly more difficult, especially with a completely live performance. As you see in this video, one violinist begins playing the repeated ostinato (repeated pattern). At about 2 to 4 times repeating, another violinist joins in, playing alongside player 1. Player 2 begins to accelerate very slightly, creating an out of sync sound until eventually locking in to a new pattern. Rinse and repeat After a while another violinist will begin to join in, calling attention to the new patterns by picking out one and playing it.
Performing such a piece requires GREAT concentration. One commenter on the video above states:

“when you forget the world around you and the people who are playing with you, you can do it. but it has one major disadvantage for the musicians: you cant listen to the music, as soon as you start to listen to what the others are playing, you WILL make a mistake.”

How incredible, removing yourself and completely ignoring everything else, having to stay steady on your part- or else the piece will fall apart. What do you think of the piece? Hate it? Enjoy it? Want more like it? Leave a comment and let me know!

Bonus Lesson: Keep all the Fingers Down? (Question Response)

Thom — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:35:33 +0000

Hello! I get a lot of comments and questions on this site, and I do my best to answer all of them directly on the comments. Sometimes, however, questions come up that I have come across in the past in teaching but didn’t think to address on this site. This is one such question:

Nicola wrote,

“Dear Thom! It has always been a childhood dream of mine to learn to play the violin and I have been practicing by myself for at least two hours a day for two weeks so far. I’m 41 and just thought, DO IT! but I don’t have enough money for private lessons. I was having trouble with bowing and then found your site! Oh my gosh! You have helped me sooo much and made me even more determined. But I have one HUGE problem, which none of my books seem to answer, or seem to contradict themselves. When you play, for instance, G on the D string, do you keep ALL three fingers down, or just put down the third finger? And when you move from B on the A string, to G on the D string, do you have to quickly put down all three fingers again to play G? Or just play B, then reach over with the third finger and play G on the A string? This is a problem with other notes, too. As you move up the notes, do you have to keep ALL fingers down? Many thanks for you wonderful lessons. Nicola in the UK!”

Hello Nicola,

While it is not totally necessary to keep all your fingers down to produce the pitch, you SHOULD get in the practice of keeping your fingers down for ease of playing. It is much easier to do ONE action rather than TWO (i.e. lifting your 2nd finger F# and putting down your 3rd finger G).

When switching strings, you do not need to put all 3 fingers down to “climb” up to G. Like you said, going from B on the A string to G on the D string, just anticipate the G by having your 3rd finger hovering over the G, or even down on the stringer if you have learned how to put your finger down (alternating fingers exercise) without muting the string next to it

Short answer: Yes, keep your fingers down as much as possible.

Thank you for the great question, keep them coming!

Violinist In The Metro- A Social Experiment

Thom — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:35:05 +0000

“A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.
No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”

-Ego Dialogues

Being a musician myself, I love to stop and check out buskers, regardless of skill. I came across an elderly Asian man playing the violin in front of the Art Institute of Chicago. His tone and playing were actually sub-par, but I stuck around and threw some change anyway.

When walking around downtown Orlando, I came across many street beggars and a few buskers. One in particular was a saxophonist who found his nook right in the middle of all the action. I stopped and had a conversation with him, talked about some favorite tunes, and left him a few dollars.

Music is something we [most of us] run our lives around all the time. Shouldn’t we take some time out of our lives every now and then and appreciate some one else bringing music into our lives? Take the case of the performer at the metro. Everyone hurries past paying little attention to whats going on. In the end a couple of people take notice- but with no applause to finish.

Now what if you were visiting a Disney theme park and came across one or more musical performers? In my experience they gather massive crowds of people. Aside from maybe being late for work, what is the difference otherwise? Would you stick around and listen to a street busker?

Joshua Bell playing his violin

Before I knew what I was doing, I busked at my middle school in the foyer for people hanging out late participating in after school activities. Later on when I worked at a music store a fellow guitar teacher and myself would go outside on our breaks and jam to encourage foot traffic. Few people ever really took notice and stopped to listen, although if you were to take the same performance to a local open mic we would be stormed with people wanting to talk to us afterward and tell us how much they enjoyed the performance. It would seem as if people can only enjoy themselves if they are out to enjoy themselves. What is your take?

“Insane Violinist” Busker Demonstrates Wah and Distorted Violin

Thom — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:44:16 +0000

Caption for the video:
“Caught this guy on the electric violin breaking all possible rules written down for the instrument… :)”

Hair Metal has transcribed to violin? That’s right! No matter how cheesy this guy may be with the black outfit, long hair, and wailing violin… the point is that he is wailing on the violin! This is just more proof to everyone out there that the violin isn’t just for classical music! Want to hear more violinists breaking the mold? Check out the music page for some artists!

I definitely would not say he was “breaking the rules” for violin, but he can play I like the lights on his violin, it makes it look like a spaceship! Shred away! Credit: This violinist is Michael Schulman, a NYC musician. Thank you Saw Lady!

More Lessons Coming Soon!

Thom — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:57:30 +0000

Hey everyone!

It has been a while! I hope everyone is practicing and playing and having fun! I wanted to write a post to let you all know I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, I just simply started a very full and involved school semester. As a business major right now I have classes in Financial Accounting, Business Ethics, Business Law, and Marketing. When they say the time you spend outside of class is close to the time spend in class working on school- they aren’t kidding!

But don’t worry, Stringsavvy isn’t dead! On late nights when I’m not ready to crash I’m spending time working on lessons and articles and other ideas for content to feature.

Some things in the works:

How to Tune Your Instrument!
How to set up a Don’t Fret!
More Lesson Videos!
A Free E-Book on Ten Essential Tips for Success!
More Bands/Musicians to Inspire!
Elements of Musicianship (Article)

Be sure to subscribe via RSS, so you’ll know right away when new content is up!

Is there a topic or area of interest you have a question on or just want me to talk more about? Leave a comment and let me know!

Great Violin Cover of Smooth Criminal and Owner of a Lonely Heart!

Thom — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 06:26:31 +0000

This video has been floating around for a while, but I thought it would be fun to share it for those of you who aren’t as addicted to searching for videos as I can be sometimes Great tone and fantastic arrangements of these classic songs!

I’m Trying out for the Youtube Symphony! (But I Need Your Help!)

Thom — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:07:38 +0000

“We invite musicians from around the world to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. Your video entries will be combined into the first ever collaborative virtual performance, and the world will select the best of you to perform at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in April 2009.” - Youtube.com

Somewhat similar to last year’s Foo Fighter’s contest. This is going to be a chance to perform Tan Dun’s (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) music under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas (currently directing the Chicago Symphony Orchestra). I happen to live in the Chicago area and just went to see the CSO perform recently. Thomas’ onstage presence was exciting, and it would be amazing to work with a high caliber director such as him!

The Audition Requirements are as follows:

1. Record your video audition excerpt of which part you want:

Violin 1

Violin 2

2. Submit your talent video performance of one or two of the recommended pieces on this list

Bach: Bach Solo Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, Mvt. I Presto
Paganini: Caprice No. 20 or 24
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E Minor: Mvt. I, 2 before #Q (bar 392) to End
Mozart: Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major: Mvt. II, bar 1-27 (no repeats)
Schumann: Symphony No. 2 in C Major: Mvt. II Scherzo, bar 1 – 48 (no repeat)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Capriccio Espangnol (all solos)
Tchaikovsky: Suite No. 3 (solo)

I myself am going to need these two months to learn one of these pieces and beef it up in time for the audition cutoff!

From what I understand, these videos will be narrowed down and then voted on by Youtube users. This is where you come in! For those of you who remember, last year I started a voting campaign for my friend Andrew Pearson on Facebook and via Stringsavvy to help get him onto the Grammys with the Foo Fighters. People were able to vote as much as they wanted. If its anything remotely similar I’ll be asking for your help this year to get me playing at Carnegie Hall, something many musicians only ever dream of doing!
Be looking out in January for my submissions! I’ll be sure to let you know here when it happens!

Edit 12/15/08: Due to time restrictions and school I won’t be able to pull off the audition- good luck to all the participants!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Thom — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:12:56 +0000

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all of you visitors who help make my site worthwhile. Teaching others is often another way to really re-teach yourself, and I have definitely picked up a few new things and some reminders along the way. Thanks everyone, and have fun today those of you who also celebrate Thanksgiving!

-Thom