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Violin tips & More
11 Hottest Gifts for Violinists and Fiddlers
Are you scouting gifts for violinists and fiddlers? To help you with your search, here are some of my favorite things that will inspire and delight the violinists, fiddlers and music lovers on your holiday gift list. I just love the idea of channeling some of the...
Q&A – Song Choices for Beginners
Q: I want to learn to play some songs that are cool and sound great but are simple enough for a beginner. I don't like the songs beginner books offer — things like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star or worse, songs I’ve never heard of! Can you recommend a good book or...
How To Amplify The Violin
Last September I was performing at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Festival and someone asked me, "How do you amplify your violin to get such a natural sound?" I get that question a lot online, but this time, I had everything set up in position to shoot a quick video...
3 Ways to Deal with Nerves While Playing Violin in Front of People
I've been performing on tour with Circa Paleo for 20 weeks now, and have gotten waaay behind on answering emails and messages. I just got a Facebook message today with a juicy question that made me really miss interacting with all you fiddlers out there- it's been so...
How to find time to practice as an adult in a hectic world!
I could totally relate to this question sent in by Rodrigo in Mexico city: "I'm 32 years old, and I am very busy most of my day. I have a sales franchise and work in a consulting firm here in Mexico and most of my day is spent on my work. However I'm very enthusiastic...
Hot Beginner Tip #1: How to Hold the Bow
The bow hold can vary and still be "good" just depending on the style, but here is a basic starting point that is good for any style of music. Please let me know if it makes sense or not and send along any questions that come up when you try it. If you don't have a...
Original "Hot Violinist" Video Reposted
My heart skipped a beat when I heard that "The Hot Violinist" which features the full length performance of The Kiss and just passed 900,000 views was removed from YouTube. But now it's back! It was a little sad to see it go (so close to a million!), but I can't...
How to Play Last of The Mohicans Theme!
Attention fiddlers! This will get you started on the ornamentation needed to play this tune: I will soon be posting the follow up Parts 2-4 as well as some beginner tips, so hop on over to the YouTube channel to subscribe if you don't wanna miss one. If you still need...
Interview with Traveling Seamstress, Hannah Alvarez
I met a new friend at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. She's a brilliant costume designer and is keeping a blog about her adventures. She did a nice write up and about my band and my travels: http://lacewingcostumes.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/the-hot-violinist/ Go...
How to let music flow through you
Jordi Wave, thank you for the kind and thoughtful comment: "From inside, this is the secret It is clear that the music flows in you." I wanted to respond because I feel like I am on to a little secret of how to connect with music in a way that will help listeners to...