The Violin Geek Podcast

Join Laurel Thomsen and a special guest - gypsy minstrel violinist, Maesyn, for a chat about how to overflow your life with abundant creative inspiration. Feeling down about your playing or wondering how to get back that spark you first felt for playing? Listen in as Maesyn offers surprising solutions. Please visit Maesyn at https://maesynmusic.com , on Facebook, YouTube, and on Twitter. To learn...

As basic as it might seem, beginners and more advanced players alike can struggle with how to find appropriate tempos for practice and performance. In this episode, violinist Laurel Thomsen walks listeners through finding perfect tempos every time and discusses a few of the more tricky situations, like what to do when the time signature or tempo itself changes mid way through a piece. To learn mor...

Join Laurel Thomsen and a special guest - fiddler and string teacher Lauren Rioux, for a chat about string teaching in the modern era. Lauren offers tips for keeping students engaged, teaching harmony, how to support a student's exploration of various genres, and ultimately, to empower the student with the gift of music. Please visit Lauren Rioux at www.laurenrioux.com , on Facebook, YouTube, and...

Join Laurel Thomsen and special guest artist and educator, Christian Howes, for a discussion on fostering creativity, the three key factors to consider for great improvisation chops, how creating set parameters for improvisation can open a world of possibilities, and how diving deep into the structures and processes of music can help you get "pumped up" about playing, whether you play Jazz, classi...

Join Laurel Thomsen and special guest, the awesome fiddler Laura Cortese, as they discuss performing, learning to transmit meaning and emotion to an audience, tips for creating a groove, and how to sing and play fiddle at the same time. Hear Laura's tune "Perfect Tuesday's" from her Acoustic Project album, and be sure to check her out at https://thisislauracortese.com , on Facebook, and on Twitter...

Nine ways, other than more practice, to sound better now! To learn more about Laurel, please visit www.laurelthomsen.com To check out photos, musings, video links, and to see updates about Laurel's educational materials and performances, visit "Laurel Thomsen Music" on Facebook and share your support with a "Like". Want to offer a comment or have a question answered on the podcast? Send Laurel an...

Whether you've been playing for months or years, the cause of jitters, sputters, and tremor type sounds in your sustained bow strokes can be so elusive they're among the most annoying and frustrating issues a string player will ever encounter. In this episode, violinist, string teacher, and author Laurel Thomsen gets down to bow basics and covers a variety of suggestions that may be just what you...

Learn to adjust your fingerings to harmonize perfectly with open string drones, be they in fiddle tunes or presented as "easy" double stops in classical pieces, after all, not all fingerings are made equal when dealing with the complex harmonic series' of violin family instruments! To learn more about Laurel, please visit www.laurelthomsen.com To check out photos, musings, video links, and to see...

Learn to use sympathetic vibrations to clue you in for perfect intonation. "It's a pretty cool technique!" ~LT To learn more about Laurel please visit www.laurelthomsen.com Check out photos, musings, and video links, and see updates about Laurel's educational materials and performances through "Laurel Thomsen Music" on Facebook. Want to offer a comment or have your question answered on the podcast...

Welcome to episode 50 (coming in at exactly 50 min. no less!). Today musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen offers a guided warmup series for body and brain. If you experience tension or pain when you play, want to improve your playing posture or posture in general, or want to experience more focus and energy while you play and practice, this one's for you! To learn more about Laurel please visit www.lau...

Learn to tune your violin or viola in the professional classical way, just like symphony members do world wide. To learn more about Laurel please visit www.laurelthomsen.com Want updates about Laurel's educational material and performances? Just search Laurel Thomsen Music on Facebook and consider offering your support with a "like". Want to have your question answered on the podcast? Send Laurel...

Sometimes changing your mental approach is all it takes to find the courage to dive deep, address the challenges, and take your playing to the next level. Join musician, educator, and author Laurel Thomsen as she explores a powerful quote taken from mandolinist Mike Marshall. To learn more about Laurel please visit www.laurelthomsen.com Want updates about Laurel's educational material and performa...

Don't know the difference between Urtext, fascimile, and interpretive sheet music editions? In this episode musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen sheds light on the pros and cons of each type of edition, common publishing companies within each family, and which needs of a student or performer could be best served by each type. To learn more about Laurel please visit www.laurelthomsen.com Want updates ab...

Today we cover a listener question about fingerings for the Giga, or Gigue, from J.S. Bach's Violin Partita #2. Using this piece as an example, musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen gives guidelines for choosing good fingerings - those that facilitate clarity, phrasing, and interpretive flow. A version of the Gigue with Laurel's recommended fingerings and bowings can be found on her site, www.laurelthom...

Happy New Year! Dust off that old sheet music and make time to review your old repertoire. In this episode violinist/teacher Laurel Thomsen gives 5 reasons to make review a regular part of your practice in 2012. To learn more about Laurel and her performing, teaching, and writing, please visit www.laurelthomsen.com To check out photos, musings, video links, and get updates about Laurel's education...

Learn a simple way to master repertoire and techniques faster and more fluently. Musician/teacher/author and self-proclaimed violin geek Laurel Thomsen shares a practice technique she says has allowed her to learn complicated techniques in a third the time. It's all about focus and setting up the right conditions for your brain to learn. So, don't just slog away on your fiddle while your mind is e...

In today's episode violinist/violist Laurel Thomsen offers advice on how to prepare, market, and perform for weddings and other events. Whether you want to contribute to the special day of friends and family members, make some extra cash on the side, or start a whole new business, learn what it takes to be successful. To learn more about Laurel and her performing, teaching, and writing, please vis...

(Formerly the Violin & Viola Practice Power Podcast) In this episode violinist/violist and string teacher Laurel Thomsen updates her earlier podcast of the same name with further method book/video info for the beginning student or teacher of beginning students. To learn more about Laurel and her performing, teaching, and writing, please visit www.laurelthomsen.com To check out photos, musings,...

If your 4th finger just doesn't seem as secure and strong as your other three you've come to the right place! Musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen instructs how to isolate the origin of the most effective finger motion and practice strengthening your fourth finger through tapping and trills. To learn more about Laurel and her performing, teaching, and writing, please visit www.laurelthomsen.com To chec...

In this episode musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen shares an improvisation she recorded that came about quite by accident. If you want to "get out of your head" and get creative, as she found, try an alternate tuning! Enjoy! To learn more about Laurel and her performing, teaching, and writing, please visit www.laurelthomsen.com To check out photos, musings, video links, and get updates about Laurel's...

So what's "audiation" and what does it mean for your musicianship? In this episode musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen discusses how learning to audiate (the ability to make meaning out of the sounds of music, similarly to how we find meaning in the sounds of language), allows us to become fluent in music. This opens us up to being able to play "by ear", recall and notate music previously heard, impro...

In the Practice Tidbits series musician/teacher laurel Thomsen gives you specific tips for technical issues. Today, learn common phrase, passage, and piece ending issues and how to clean them up. To learn more about Laurel and her performing, teaching, and writing, please visit www.laurelthomsen.com To check out photos, musings, video links, and get updates about Laurel's educational materials and...

Do you fear making mistakes? Well, start making them! Sound strange? Listen and musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen will explain the benefits of making a practice of making mistakes. To learn more about Laurel and her performing, teaching, and writing, please visit www.laurelthomsen.com To check out photos, musings, video links, and get updates about Laurel's educational materials and performances, vi...

Today's Rhythm Trainer episode focuses on dotted rhythms, triplets, and syncopation. Musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen demonstrates how to subdivide each note value and guides you in practicing playing each figure with a metronome. If you're pretty solid with the basic quarter notes and eight notes, but need help when it comes to more unusual rhythms and note values this might be just the thing for...

In this episode musician/teacher Laurel Thomsen chats with Sam Brown, drummer and creator of the "Self Hypnosis for Musicians" CD and "Musicians Hypnosis" iPhone app. Do you want to get over stage fright, learn faster, feel more creative when you play, tap into "the zone"? We chat about how hypnosis/hypnotherapy can help musicians and Sam has been kind enough to start listeners off with a complime...