December 2013

How To Make Your Personal Practice Schedule?

Practice make perfect!
Yes, it certainly does, but only if you practice a lot in an efficient and effective way.

One way to do that is to create a systemized practice package and schedule for yourself with a clear goal. The pieces and exercises within this package must be effectively tuned to each other.

In this video I explain what your practice package must consist of to maximize the results from your practice time.

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

2 replies

How To (and should you) Bow Straight on the Violin or Viola?

Why should you bow straight? What is the difference in sound it makes?

When shouldn't you bow straight?

How to bow straight?

Watch this video and learn!

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

1 reply

4 Ways to Play Soft or Loud on the Violin or Viola

Can you play as soft and loud you want on the violin or viola? How to do it?

Do you know there are 4 ways to play soft and loud on the violin or viola?

How and when to use them, so you can use dynamics in every way you like and find most suitable for the piece you are playing?

1) Amount of bow (lots or a little)
2) weight of your arm
3) place on the string
4) amount of bow hair you use

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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What Does NOT Matter when You Select a Violin or Viola Bow

Did you know that finding your ideal bow is even more difficult then finding your ideal violin or viola?

With your ideal bow you can achieve more musically and technically.

The more your playing improves, the more you will demand from your bow.

What is NOT important when looking for a bow?

• price


• origin


• color


• place


• your teacher's opinion (in some cases)


• plating/assembly

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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What DOES Matter When You Select a Violin or Viola Bow

Did you know that finding your ideal bow is even more difficult then finding your ideal violin or viola?

With your ideal bow you can achieve more musically and technically.

The more your playing improves, the more you will demand from your bow.

What IS important when looking for a bow?

• condition


• round or octagonal


• sound


• ease of playing


• possibilities


• balance


• match with your instrument


• long term results


• your teacher's opinion

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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How To Make that Boring Piece Sound Like Beautiful Music?

Do you have to practice an etude or piece that you find boring?

Do you almost fall asleep after the first bars and do you get annoyed by playing it?

Let me give you some tips to make that boring piece sexy and make it sound like beautiful music!

1) Know that you can make beautiful music out of everything? Even scales and boring etudes? It's totally up to YOU if it sounds like a beautiful piece of music or like a boring collection of notes!
2) Try to find musical sentences in the piece and make your own story out of the pile of notes.
3) Follow the melodic lines and make them hearable.
4) Discover what notes you find important in the piece and make that hearable.
5) Visualize something that fits the piece. Use your imagination to make the music speak and tell a story.

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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What To Do if Your Shoulder Hurts When Playing on the G String

Do you have pain in you shoulder when you are playing on the G string on the violin a lot (C string in case you play the viola)?

What can you do about this? How can you play on the G string without hurting your shoulder?

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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How To Play 'I WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS' on the Violin?

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Violinistic 2014!

Love,

Zlata

1 reply

How to Try Out and Select Your Ideal Violin or Viola Bow

Did you know that finding your ideal bow is even more difficult then finding your ideal violin or viola?

With your ideal bow you can achieve more musically and technically.

The more your playing improves, the more you will demand from your bow.

How to try out and select your ideal violin or viola bow?

• take someone with you


• try it out on your own instrument


• play the same piece with different bows right after each other


• saying 'no' is easier than saying 'yes' to a bow, so put away bows that are not for you right away, don't keep them in the selection


• play a wide range of styles, bowing techniques, dynamics and tonalities


• take a bow home with your for at least 10 days before buying it


• take your time!

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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How To Use Vibrato in High Positions on the Violin and Viola

Peter asks: could you make a video about vibrato in high positions?

Sure!

How to use vibrato in higher positions?

In high positions there are three differences versus normal vibrato:
the proportion vs the string length
the position of your hand
the freedom of movement

My tip is to use faster and smaller vibrato. Watch the video in which I explain why and demonstrate everything.

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

4 replies

Are You Guilty of 'Smoesjes' for Not Playing the Violin or Viola?

'Smoesjes' is a strange Dutch word for 'excuses'.

Over the years I have seen people holding themselves back from playing the violin or viola for the wrong reasons.

This is a pity, because those people could get so much pleasure and fulfillment of playing the instrument of their dreams: the violin or the viola.

In this video I talk about 6 common 'smoesjes' people use to hold themselves back from the pleasure of playing the violin or viola (and they are all not true and void):

1) I (think I) don't have talent or feeling
2) I am too old (to start)
3) I don't have enough time
4) I can't find a teacher
5) I can't pay to play
6) I am left-handed

I hope you will finally get past these 'smoesjes' and that you will start to enjoy playing the violin and viola and everything you can learn and get from that.

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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How To Play 'JINGLE BELLS' on the Violin? (playful pizz and bow version)

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Violinistic 2014!

Love,

Zlata

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How To Make Your Bowing Jazzy, Swingy and with a Bite?

How to bow in such a way that your bowing sounds jazzy, your sound swings and every bow stroke is with a bite?

How to read jazz rhythms and make it sound like jazz instead of like a Mozart sonata?

In this video I will give you some tips.

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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5 Tips to Play in Tune on the Violin or Viola

Playing in tune is one of the biggest challenges a violinist or violist faces (beginner, intermediate, advanced, professional, we all coop with this on our own level).

In this video I will share 5 tips with you to improve your intonation (play in tune):

1) Learn to play in tune step by step, build progress on progress
2) Play scales and etudes
3) Practice a lot and slow
4) Place your fingers confident, force yourself to this, don't deceive yourself
5) Listen to yourself and be very precise

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

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Can You Learn to Play the Violin or Viola when You Can't Read Notes (yet)?

Many people think that you can't start learning a musical instrument when you can't read notes.

That's absolutely not true. It's even better to start learning to read notes when you already play some tunes on your instrument and you can recognize them in the notes.

There is absolutely no point in starting out with boring theory. It's more easy, more efficient and more effective to start with that later.

I share with you how I teach my students and start with a so called 'auditive phase' in which they start right away making music!

Is this video useful to you? Please let me know in the comments!

Love,

Zlata

PS: Do you have questions for me on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below or send an e-mail to info@violinlounge.com

1 reply