Lorenzo Raval Violin Studio

Some Friday morning Mozart.

How do you put on a shoulder rest? How do you teach your students to do it?

Now that many students are returning to their music lessons and classes, I thought of sharing my tips for putting on a shoulder rest securely and quickly. If they can put it on in less than three seconds and never worry about it falling off, that would be a win-win!

I’ve often found that this skill tends to be overlooked and simply left to chance, but I believe that teaching how to properly and quickly put on a shoulder rest will give students a newfound coordination and facility around their instrument, avoid damage to the violin, and save time in the lesson and in orchestra rehearsal.

Students, I hope you find this enhances your experience; Teachers, I hope you find this tip useful!

Note: I don’t include information on adjusting the fit of your shoulder rest - I leave that to the student’s individual teacher.

Edwin Grasse: Wellenspiel (Waves at Play) - I decided to learn this piece this week while on vacation. Appropriate time for me to examine issues of left hand action, articulation and smoothness of shifting while encouraging overall ease. The goal: to make the left hand disappear and focus on the singing quality of the bow. Can you find the spots where my left hand seized up? Still I think I managed to make some progress. Note: the piece is in C Major.

Fingerboard Tapes: this is a short video on how I apply fingerboard tapes on my students’ instruments, based on the measurements and proportions of the string; and how tapes, if applied in the right places, can promote a balanced and open left hand.

The Five Finger Motions of the Right Hand - essential exercises for every violinist!

Bow Arm Balance and String Levels: The second of two short videos on how I teach my students a very important, fundamental concept to setting up their best, balanced bow arms!

Square Position: The first of two short videos on how I teach my students a very important, fundamental concept to setting up their best, balanced bow arms!

Last December, Seiko played a great performance of the 3rd movement of Vivaldi's A minor Concerto at Community Music School!

Learning this piece took a lot of hard work, patience and discipline over many weeks on her part, and she enjoyed the results of her diligent practicing. She also displayed some important "stick-to-it-iveness" skills, which come in handy when things don't go quite as planned onstage.

From Community Music School YouTube Premiere Recital, December 2020

This was from a YouTube Premiere recital at Community Music School last December - I'm so proud of Haley! She showed so much growth learning the Accolay Concerto, displaying a diligent, patient and inquiring mind. She is now starting to display an ability to paint her sound with different shades and colors, and her facility is better and better.

Seiko's first run through from memory of the Vivaldi A minor Concerto 3rd movement! I'm incredibly proud of the strides she's made in just a few weeks, particularly her grasp of 2nd and 3rd position, the improvements in her bow direction and straightness, and the facility and coordination in the running passages. Importantly, I'm proud to see that it makes her happy to experience the results of her practicing, and that when she succeeds, she wants to keep working and building on her progress.

Not quite close to perfect yet, but for her hard work, patience and grit, applause very well deserved!

Steady improvement by Seiko after a couple weeks of practice! Tackling the tricky second page of Vivaldi's A minor Concerto, 3rd movement. Much more coordinated and confident in fi*****ng patterns and navigating the first three positions!

Haley working on vibrato exercises. Vibrato is such a complex skill, involving the smallest muscles in our hands and fingers and requiring such coordination and minimal tension, that perhaps the most important ingredient in learning it is...patience!

Seiko is displaying such grit and focus! Practicing rhythms in the tricky second page of Vivaldi's A minor Concerto 3rd movement helps with coordination and facility.

Lesson with Seiko on the 3rd movement of Vivaldi's Concerto in A minor. Talking about using martelé and rhythms and the Finger, Bow and Go idea to practice this tricky passage.