Should you try to save time by jumping into the hardest section of a piece you are practicing? Probably not. Just like for athletes, a short warm-up gets your body and mind ready for a more productive practice session. Here are some suggestions for how to start. 1. Open Strings Play some open strings with long full bows. Use a good bow hold and move your bow at a right angle to the strings. Focus on creating a full ringing sound. Watch your arm, hand, and bow position, and ma

This is a time of year when many potential new orchestra students asking themselves: Should I sign up for orchestra at school next year? What instrument should I choose? To help answer these questions, last spring we shared a post on choosing a stringed instrument. It has received many views, and so we are providing a quick link to that post below. https://www.orchestramentor.org/post/how-to-choose-an-instrument-for-orchestra

In our last post, the question was, how do you play something like this? In this post, the question becomes, how do you play something like this? (Image source: https://violinspiration.com/violin-double-stops/ ) We are now looking at three notes at once (called a “triple stop”) and four notes at once (called a “quadruple stop”). When you look at a violin or cello bridge (the piece of wood that holds up the strings), you’ll notice that it forms an arch—it’s not flat. With

In an orchestra setting, usually you are asked to play one note at time. But how do you play something like this? It’s two notes at once, which string musicians call a “double stop.” In some solo pieces, you may be asked to play three or even four notes at once – called “triple stops” and “quadruple stops.” Three or more notes usually form a “chord” like a G-major chord or an A-minor chord. (Music theorists will say that just two notes “suggest” a chord but that you need thre

Orchestra is not just about technique, practice, and repetition. You get to have fun playing great music with friends! Here are a few of our favorite holiday orchestral pieces. There are lots of different arrangements available. Some are a little more at the intermediate level, but many high school and youth orchestras get to perform these. 1. Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson https://youtu.be/DZ98oN9LN98?si=t7hsYeaoHKa7Qejb 2. A Christmas Festival by Leroy Anderson https://you