I am absolutely in love with Schradieck Book 1 of “The School of Violin Technics” for my intermediate violin and viola students. It is perfect for developing left hand finger strength, and precision in rhythmic articulation. Etude #4 is fabulous for developing relaxed bow wrist movement. I also use it to train students to ignore repeated notes and identify, (and silently hear), the musical line. This is great preparation for among many other works, the Bach solo sonatas and partitas. The Schradieck studies then proceed to guide students from 2nd – 7th position. The studies are challenging, in such a way that students discover they are definitively unable to sight-read them at their lessons, and so they are more inclined to do their daily work. And over time, students seem to really enjoy all this tricky passage work. It’s fun to see how delighted they are upon finding how completely their hard work is rewarded, as they discover similar passages throughout the concerto and orchestral literature. ​

It’s Anime week at Princeton Violin and Viola Studio. With gray weather outside and long days inside, it’s time for some creative escape to round out our challenging technical work. My inspiration is a wonderful (and virtuosic!) recording of the main theme of Miyazaki’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” in an arrangement by Shadow Tenshii on YouTube. Interested students are picking up the tune by ear, or with the notes, and trying it out. The sheet music slides by on the YouTube video to help them out.

Some students are composing and/or improvising their own Anime themes as well. I look forward to hearing them!

Here’s the YouTube link of “Howl’s Moving Castle” for you to enjoy as well!

Happy 2021!

Amy Wulfman