The Violin Geek Podcast

Grow Your Ears - Listen Deeper

Have you had the experience of suddenly hearing something in a recording, or about your playing that you never noticed before? Could the secret to becoming a better music

Getting Business Savvy with David Cutler

What if "doing the music thing" didn't conjure subsisting on ramen and scrounging together rent money from a few random gigs and students, but finding a "path to remarkab

Audition Preparation Tips

What scale or excerpt should you choose to audition with? What should you do if all the excerpts are either too difficult and others too easy? When you have limited time

All About Études

What are études? Should you be playing them? Where do they fit into your practice routine, especially also considering a scale and arpeggio practice? Which ones should yo

Choose the Best Strings for Your Instrument

Ever wondered what strings might help your instrument sound warmer? Brighter? Louder? Softer? Should you try gut strings? Is there a difference between synthetic and comp

Play Faster (not just for violinists!)

Can't quite get up to tempo? Starting to wonder if you even "have what it takes" to keep up with an ensemble? In this episode, host Laurel Thomsen demystifies one of the

Your Violin Questions

In this episode, host Laurel Thomsen answers your violin questions, including about strings, rosin, the instrument she plays, how to get dust out of your instrument, the

Recovery Practice

We know we can't stop to fix mistakes during a performance, so why don't we ever seem to spend time in the practice room practicing how to recover? In this episode, host

Pitch versus Tone

Beginning students, but even the more advanced among us, often struggle with pitch (intonation) and tone. Troubleshooting sounds we'd like to improve can be especially fr

"Weaving musical worlds into one" - a conversation with Jazz violinist and composer Meg Okura

In this episode we speak with Tokyo born, New York based Jazz violinist and composer about her new album, "Lingering," with pianist Kevin Hayes, how her conversion to Jud

Shifting Technique Deep Dive

What is shifting? How do we make our shifts more accurate and clean? If we're just beginning and not ready to learn how to shift yet, what can we do to ensure we'll be re

Play More Musically

Many of us were drawn to play the violin, viola, or cello because we'd heard playing that brought us to tears, filled us with joy, or expressed a feeling that we couldn't

Getting comfortable with Uncomfort: Tools for Overcoming Performance Anxiety

It's frustrating and disheartening when all our preparation in the practice room doesn't make it out onto the stage. Instead of presenting the polished piece we've been p

"Make Great Music with Ease" - a chat with violinist and Art of Freedom Method creator Jennifer Roig-Francolí

Happy New Year! We want our music making journey to be positive and comfortable, so we can express ourselves with freedom. Listen in as I chat with Jennifer Roig-Francolí

Finding a comfortable and effective chin and shoulder rest

It's holiday time! Why not give the gift of comfort to yourself, your child, or your student, with a more suitable chin or shoulder rest! In this episode, violinist/violi

Music Careers, Part 3

In this last installment of her Music Careers series, violinist/violist, teacher, and host Laurel Thomsen explores music careers that are more "behind the scenes," as wel

Russian versus American Music Education - a conversation with Russian violinist and educator Michael Dvoskin

In this episode we enjoy a fascinating conversation with Russian born violinist and educator Michael Dvoskin about the differences between violin training in Russia versu

Making Time for Music: a chat with violinist Julia Reddy

Today we speak with violinist, educator, and Violin Class podcast creator and host Julia Reddy about making time for practice. We discuss how to ramp back up after a hiat

Finding our voice, from Classical strings to Hot Jazz - A chat with violinist Gabe Terracciano

Today we chat with Grammy-nominated violinist Gabe Terracciano, who's expanding the range of the violin as a member of the Turtle Island String Quartet and the Hot Toddie

Rediscovering Baroque Bows - a chat with historical bowmaker Ralph Ashmead

The bow is a string player's primary "tool for tone," but like any tool, sometimes we need more than one to get the job done. In this episode we speak with historical bow