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Recent Top Blogs

To Pinch, or Not to Pinch

By Clayton Haslop
November 19, 2009 10:13

I received a couple of interesting notes in my inbox in response to my most recent blog. One, coming from Kenton, down Florida way, was the ‘violin’ entry in an old Webster’s Dictionary. And though the accompanying illustrational was quite odd indeed, the text was right-on in its characterization of the violin hold I thought. It said, ‘…held nearly horizontal with the player’s arm with the lower part supported against the collarbone or shoulder.’ It did not say, ‘held between the chin and shoulder’, as many might believe. In another response Stephen asked ‘whether one pinches the neck between the thumb and base of the index finger horizontally, or whether the thumb should be under the neck so that you can squeeze into the notes and roll the vibrato like a cellist’. Now it is certainly easy to dismiss the former, I’ll have no pinching of violin necks in any coaching or master class of mine. Pinching of violins or violinists is strictly verbotten.... Read more...
2 replies

The Death of Stage Fright

By Mendy Smith
November 18, 2009 21:27

It's amazing how it actually happened. For years I was in the "flight" mode. Internal chatter took the stage front and center... what if I played a wrong note, missed a beat, come in late, and most of all - what will others think of me? My bow arm would shake like a leaf, I made horrible intonation mistakes. All my musical ability (such as it was) flew out the window the moment I stood on stage. Then a turning point came in my life - overcome the flight instinct or lose a scholarship. That day, fight won over flight. At first I thought it was a temporary thing, but the more I played the less fright had a role to play in my music. Fast forward to this evening. It was just a rehearsal, with an audience of two. Last time I rehearsed in front of two people (back in March preparing for the audition), I got the shakes. But not tonight. .. Read more...
1 reply

The Rest of My Life

By Sydney Menees
November 18, 2009 14:13

I’ve reached the final stretch of the first semester of sophomore year in college. Here at Bard, this is a critical time because we are supposed to moderate into our major. When I was stressing about what to major in last year, people I spoke with who didn’t go to Bard didn’t understand why it was such a big deal. “I changed my major seven times!” They would say. Not so here. When one declares a major as a freshman, it is simply an “intended” major. When one moderates, it becomes her official major. Moderating entails writing a paper responding to a prompt pertaining to one’s intended major and presenting it to a board of three professors. Now you understand my dilemma.

When I first came to Bard, I had only ruled out one major: music. This wasn’t because I was jaded or bitter, but simply because I view music as a hobby of mine, not something I want to pursue as a career. Now, just to decide what I wanted to major in… Read more...
10 replies