Wisdom

Nov 8, 2009

Mailbag: Violin Pickups and Acoustic Vs. Electric?

Posted by Thom in All, Blog, Mailbag, Wisdom 1 comment

The other day I was answering a question in my inbox, and I felt that many of these questions that you are asking can help other people universally! I got permission to re-post some of the most recent questions here. I would like to make you all aware of a privacy policy I just put [...]


Sep 18, 2009

Put The Glass Down! (Getting Around Frustrations)

Posted by Thom in All, Blog, Mastery, Teaching, Wisdom 2 comments

I was teaching one of my students and noticed he had a habit of tensing up and making noise on his instrument every time he had made a mistake. Sometimes he would lose control in his playing, and he would respond by ultimately losing control of his temper! I used to do this myself at [...]


Mar 16, 2009

Bonus Lesson: Keep all the Fingers Down? (Question Response)

Posted by Thom in All, Lessons, Mastery, Wisdom 6 comments

Hello! I get a lot of comments and questions on this site, and I do my best to answer all of them directly on the comments. Sometimes, however, questions come up that I have come across in the past in teaching but didn’t think to address on this site. This is one such question: Nicola [...]


Jan 24, 2008

10 + 1 More Ways to Improve Your Playing

Posted by Thom in All, Mastery, Wisdom 3 comments

In the beginning of the month I wrote a post called “10 Ways to Improve Your Playing.” It was so popular that I decided to write about 10 + 1 more ways! This list I feel in some ways dives a little bit deeper than the last, though that doesn’t mean the first list isn’t [...]


Jan 10, 2008

10 Ways to Improve Your Playing

Posted by Thom in All, Mastery, Wisdom 4 comments

No matter what your instrument, the keys to success stay consistent. Here are 10 simple ways to improve your playing!


Jan 10, 2008

Using The Three Minute Rule To Rocket Your Skills

Posted by Thom in All, Mastery, Teaching, Wisdom 1 comment

As stated in the classroom analogy, it is difficult to efficiently process multiple sources of information and consciously retain all of it. It is for this reason that we learn to split concepts and techniques in their practice. Aside from your normal routine of running through music and scales, take the time to skyrocket your [...]


Jan 9, 2008

The Classroom Analogy

Posted by Thom in All, Lessons, Teaching, Wisdom No comments

Imagine that you are sitting in a classroom. What would it be like if your math teacher was up in front teaching you advanced algebra, your English teacher to your right was covering MLA format, your history teacher to your left was discussing the origin of religion, and your gym teacher behind you was whistling [...]