The holidays are once again upon us, and if you're still shopping for that special musician in your life, here are several ideas for the musician who may already have everything...


​1. I <3 Scales Shirt

2. Manhasset Music Stand

If you've been living with a folding stand at home, the holidays can be a great time to upgrade to a nicer, more "permanent" home stand. They even come in extra tall, for extra tall people, and if you do a little shopping around, they also come in different colors.

3. A Wittner Metronome

Yes, Google has a metronome, but practicing away from your internet connection is likely better for your focus. Getting a traditional mechanical metronome can be a great upgrade for your home practice space. Seeing the metronome arm swing back and forth also helps musicians visualize the beat in a way that an electronic metronome may not. Plus, they come in fun colors and even animal shapes, which are a great way to make practicing with the metronome more fun.

4. A Silk Violin Bag
Wrapping your instrument in silk feels decadent while adding an extra layer of protection inside the case from bumps, scratches, and the elements. CarmenBruna on Etsy has gorgeous designs - I have the Carnival de Venezia one myself and adore it.

5. Rest Day Hoodie.
The shirt says it all. For those all important rest days.
​

6. Merch Representing Women Composers

Two of my favorites include the Boulanger Initiative's t-shirts, posters, stickers, and ornaments on Etsy as well as DoReMi Design Shop's wide array of merch including t-shirt's, sweatshirts, an Amy Beach beach towel, and more!

7. A Baroque bow?
Gifting instruments and bows is usually a no, but ask your musician's teacher (if they have one) or themselves if they would be interested in one. For students, I'd recommend this for students who are studying the Vivaldi concertos in Suzuki Book 4 or more advanced. It's a great way to experiment with bowings and to get a feel for what the composers intended. 

8. Books!

Books are a wonderful way to learn more about the musical world and immerse yourself in the history, lives, science, and music of it all. I've curated a Bookshop.org wishlist with some of my favorite titles for musicians of all ages. Please note that this list includes books for very young children as well as adults; please do your own research to select something age-appropriate!

This fall, it's time to prepare for District and Regional Orchestra auditions here in Northern Virginia. Then, All-State auditions for some. And finally in the spring, the several excellent youth orchestras in our area will hold auditions.
For many, the sight of audition excerpts, with all those tricky notes, makes the heart jump and the stomach clench. The panic can throw you into mindless repetition, with the physical and mental struggles increasing steadily as the stress builds toward audition day.

However, a calmer and more measured approach will likely yield better preparation, both in terms of playing and mental state. Consider the following audition preparation approaches and perspectives before you continue (or start) your preparations:

1. Excerpts are music.
Consider the bigger musical picture: the composer didn’t write this excerpt to make your life miserable and to set you up for harsh judgements from other people. The composer wrote a piece of music - and for more instruments than the first violins! The first step in audition preparation is to gather recordings of the *entire* piece from which the excerpt is taken. Then, make yourself a playlist and listen to it constantly through your audition preparation. Find the moment in the track where your excerpt starts, and write it down on the sheet music, so you can skip straight to it for some deliberate active listening when first learning the excerpt.


2. Practice how you want to feel in the audition room.
You are practicing your mindset every time you practice. If you’re feeling stressed, frustrated, and tense every time you practice your audition music, then you are practicing feeling stressed, frustrated, and tense. Choose practice strategies that allow you to play with confidence. Use calming strategies such as deep breathing, focusing on releasing muscles, and saying affirmations. In other words, practice feeling how you want to feel when playing music. If you catch yourself in a negative thought spiral or feeling upset, put the instrument down. Give yourself a break, take care of your mental health, and come back to practice when you can approach the music from a calmer perspective. You can choose how you think and how you feel. Simply saying "How would I feel if I felt calm? How would it feel if I felt confident with every note?" and then feeling that way in your head and your body can make a huge difference.


3. Practice skills, not just the notes.
Often, especially with intermediate students, an audition may require a difficult technique that the student hasn’t yet mastered (see my other blog on what to consider when choosing an audition…). The instinct may be to just play that tough part over and over again. Instead, isolate the skill. Identify all the skills needed to play each excerpt. Is it doing spiccato on string crossings? Playing in an unfamiliar high position? Reading ledger lines? Shifting? Whatever the skill is, work with your teacher to design a practice routine that has you developing that skill in multiple contexts. Start with the physical motions needed to do each technique, starting with simple exercises and eventually including etudes and scales. This may feel like you are wasting time by not playing the excerpt itself. But you will be pleasantly surprised at how much more comfortable the excerpts can feel over time if you truly build the skill and thoroughly understand how to do it - not just play "that hard part" over and over again. 

If an audition requires multiple complex skills that are not yet developed, consider taking a pass on this audition. The wrong audition at the wrong time, especially in the case of a young student, can cause regression, not progression, of the student’s skills. It can also potentially lead to performance injury, and it can cause a severe reduction in the student’s confidence and love for music.


4. Stay slower, longer.
Multiple conductors and adjudicators have told me through the years that they would rather hear an excerpt played cleanly, under tempo, than something sloppy and struggling at full tempo. So, even though you may hear a very fast recording, or see a high metronome marking on the excerpt, play at the tempo that you can play with full awareness of your body while listening to yourself, and put in as many layers of musical detail as you can. Leave nothing to chance - practice with a metronome on a daily basis and be in charge of your tempo. Avoid blindly playing whatever tempo happens to come out of your fingers and bow on any given day. 
Wait to increase tempo until you are confident and can play fluently at your current tempo. This might look like staying at half tempo for a couple weeks, then staying at three-quarters tempo for a few more weeks. Depending on what "full" tempo is, you may need a couple weeks to a month to build up to it. Also consider: have you ever played that fast before? Can you play that fast without tensing? 
And, if it comes down to it, opt to play under tempo in the audition rather than too fast. Being able to maintain a steady, controlled tempo will help you stand out in an audition!


5. Practice auditioning.
Playing the violin is one thing. Taking an audition is another. Learning the notes is only half the battle. The skill of staying present and focused in an audition is exactly that: a skill. If you only practice alone in your room, you won’t be ready when it comes time to audition. 

Find out as much information as you can about the audition format - online or in-person? Recorded or live? Screen or no screen? Then, once you can play the audition material (even at a slow tempo), do mock auditions for yourself. Practice waiting in the hallway, walking into a room, putting your music on the stand, getting into playing position, and playing the first note. You can also use visualization to practice this. Sit and imagine yourself going through the entire audition process, from arrival at the audition site to walking into the audition room and playing each element.

Practice starting right away when you put the instrument into playing position. Often students make several sounds as they try to find the starting note, or they half-heartedly start the excerpt and then restart with a stronger sound. You don’t have the luxury of this time in the audition room. Train yourself to find your playing stance confidently, find the first note with the most efficient movements possible, and play right away. 

The video camera is your best friend during this audition preparation process. Record your mock auditions. Not only will the footage give you important information about the accuracy of your playing, you will also be able to observe how your body reacts when you are nervous - look for tensed muscles, locked knees, shallow breathing, any old habits that return in your technique. The more aware you are, the more you will be able to connect to your body in the moment and make any adjustments you need.

Some final thoughts:
You have control over three things: your preparation, how you play, and how you process the result. You have no control over how everyone else auditioning plays, how other people behave on audition day or the final result. Audition day is exactly that - one day. The judges make quick decisions based on a snapshot of each candidate’s playing. It is by no means a complete or holistic picture. I’ve been accepted based on auditions that I felt were my worst playing and rejected based on auditions that I thought were my best. It’s all relative to how many people audition and how they play in the room. Any time spent speculating about the results is time taken away from caring for ourselves and growing as musicians. 

Immediately after the audition (perhaps even before the results are posted), plan something to celebrate your effort and the end of the preparation process. Get your favorite food for dinner, treat yourself to a new book or movie over the weekend, or even take a day off of practicing and do something relaxing and restorative for yourself. 
​
This perspective is important for parents and teachers, too - both during and after the audition process. Acknowledge and praise your child, your student or yourself for the time, the preparation, and the effort exhibited. Emphasize this over the result, whether the result is positive or negative. This will help your child or student have a perspective on the experience beyond "Accepted/Rejected." It’s important to affirm the effort, to frame the audition as only one part of a longer musical journey. Let your child, student or yourself know: you are valued, seen, and loved exactly as you are, just for being yourself - not connected to any audition result. This attitude will make you or your student more able to "win" an audition with grace and perspective, and more resilient in the face of a negative result, to try again another day.

Remember what happens in your lesson. 

Your lesson is the core of your musical education. The key to making the swiftest progress is remembering everything your teacher teaches you and integrating it into your own musicianship as completely as possible. So, my second suggested New Year’s Intention is to commit yourself to finding effective strategies to help you remember every detail from your lesson.

First, I’ll clue you in to the important information your teacher is communicating during your lesson. Then, I’ll offer several strategies for retaining that information – you can choose which strategies to try, based on your own knowledge of how you learn best. If one strategy doesn't seem like the right fit, that's okay! Try a different one (or a combination) for the next lesson, until you find what works for you.

Information Your Teacher Is Giving You In Your Lesson 

1. What is happening
The first type of information to remember from your lesson is each separate activity your teacher has you do, from warm-up exercises to etudes to repertoire. Carefully note what the activity is, which number or page in the book it is, and how much of it your teacher wants you to learn. I once had a student learn the wrong movement of a Bach partita because they didn’t remember the titles of the movements I had assigned. The first step is to have a clear, accurate "to-do" list for your practicing.

2. How it is taught
How your teacher introduces information to you is how you should practice. If your teacher explains something in a step-by-step way, learn all of the steps, and then go through them at home in the same order. For example, I have several steps that I ask beginning violinists to go through in order to get the violin in the proper playing position. I want them to go through those same steps in that same order at home – not skip to the part where the violin is on their shoulder.

3. How much to work on
Sometimes, a teacher will introduce a small amount of material, like a preview spot for a new piece, and only want you to learn that amount. Sometimes, they might only go over the first line of an etude in detail and then ask you to learn the entire study. Pay attention to what you are assigned, and if you are in doubt, ask for clarification!​

4. ​What speed things should go
I think my number one frustration with myself and my students is that we tend to play way too fast before we are ready for it. As a teacher, I’m trying to do better at assigning metronome markings for everything, so there can be no confusion about speed. But, students and parents can notice in a lesson – what speed is the teacher demonstrating? What speed do they have the student play in the lesson? Chances are, this is not an exaggerated speed for the sake of the lesson. If I demonstrate something slowly in a lesson, I want my student to practice it that slowly at home – and play it that slowly at the next lesson. You should never play faster than your teacher has assigned! Choose a speed where you can be totally aware of every element of your musicianship and play with a high-quality sound. No teacher will ever assign you to play something fast and sloppy.

5. Posture adjustments
Posture is crucial, because how easily and efficiently we move our body directly affects our sound. We can’t sound beautiful with horrible posture. Your teacher may remind you about your posture in several different ways during your lesson. Pay attention to how they remind you and what they correct – and then make every effort to make those corrections at home. Some different ways I adjust posture in a lesson include:

• Asking a student to find their posture before they start playing.
• Verbally reminding a student to keep a tall violin (or a straight wrist, or balanced feet)
• Physically moving a student’s hands or arms to the correct place while they’re playing.
• Pointing to the part of the technique that needs to be corrected while they’re playing, or making a gesture to remind them to keep the violin in position

​6. “We’ll do this next time.”
Sometimes, despite a teacher’s best intentions, you might not get to everything in a lesson. If a teacher says “We’ll do this next time,” remember it and make sure to practice it so you are prepared to play it in your next lesson.

7. Attitude/mindset adjustments
These can be some of the hardest changes to make, but some of the most impactful for long-lasting progress. For example, does your teacher ask you to take a deep breath when you’re feeling frustrated or stressed? Do they remind you that being a musician is more than what chair you sit in in orchestra? Maybe they give you an insight for a new way to approach group class or a studio recital. These are also things to process, remember, and integrate into how you approach music. What if you really tried to take a deep breath in and out every time you started to feel a little overwhelmed? What if you truly focused on the beauty of your playing and tried not to wonder where you would be sitting in orchestra? At your next lesson, notice if your teacher offers any attitude or mindset suggestions, and try to make those adjustments just like you would improve your intonation.
 
Strategies for Remembering What Happens in Your Lesson

1. Don’t rely on your teacher’s notes.  
Your teacher has a lot of jobs to do during your lesson! They need to completely observe and listen to your playing. They need to notice what you have improved and what still needs improvement. They need to consider the best way to explain something for your personality and learning style. They need to decide what practice strategies to assign you. They have to think about what to assign you next, and how much of it. They need to notice cues you’re giving them about how you are feeling and if you’re learning what they’re teaching. They need to keep an eye on the clock to make sure they pace your lesson well. I give each of my students a practice chart in their lessons where I write down their basic assignments, but it’s by no means a detailed record of everything that has happened.   
The student (and parent) need to have their own, detailed record of each lesson that they refer to regularly as part of practice in order to make the best progress.

2. The parent takes notes during the lesson (for younger students).
Using the means of their choosing, the parent should pay careful attention to everything that is happening during the lesson and take notes. If both parents are sharing music parent practice duties at home, these notes should be made easily accessible by both parents and referred to before each practice session.  At the very least, the parent observing the lesson should be fully engaged, not distracted  or on their phone (unless they're using the phone for note-taking), so that they can help remind their child about what happened in the lesson at home.

3. Take videos of crucial learning points. 
Ask your teacher if you can take a video of them demonstrating the correct posture, or a new exercise. Having the video to refer to at home will save time and leave no doubt in your mind what the right thing to do is.  

4. Take outline notes in your lesson, then add full details afterwards.
Students can get a notebook designated for lesson notes and keep it with a pencil on the stand. As the lesson progresses, they write down each topic being covered and a few key words to trigger their memories afterward. Leave space after each topic. Then, whether it’s in the hallway outside the studio, in the car, or as soon as they walk through the door at home, they sit and fill in every detail that they remember from the lesson.

5. Video the entire lesson, then watch back and take notes.
This is the most thorough and complete way to remember what happens in your lessons, and leaves the student and teacher free to fully engage in the lesson without worrying about writing anything down. Take responsibility for bringing your own device (or memory card for your teacher’s camera, if they have one available to you) to your lesson. You should view the lesson either immediately after your lesson or first thing the next day before you practice, taking detailed notes as you go. This is especially effective for aural learners, because they can actually hear what their teacher said a second time.

6. Have a reflective conversation in the car on the way home.
Talking through a lesson immediately afterward can both help a student remember what happened as well as process through any emotions they have about it. This is effective whether the parent sits in the lesson or not – the goal is to help lead the student through the lesson and to organize their memories.

Suggested questions for this conversation include:

• What was your favorite thing you learned today?
• What did you improve on the most from your last lesson?
• Can you list everything you did today in the lesson?
• Did your teacher remind you about your posture at all?
• How did they ask you to practice that?
• Did you learn any new ways to listen to your sound?
• Did your teacher suggest any new ways to think about music?
• What do you want to improve on for next lesson? What practice strategies will you use?
• What new material did your teacher give you to learn?

Please notice that none of my suggested questions include “Did you get a new piece?” So much of music is about the process, and we want students to have the goal of playing everything beautifully, at high level. If a student only defines a successful lesson as one in which they ‘checked off’ a piece and received a new one, then they are bound to be frustrated most of the time! Parents can help create a growth-centered, process-oriented mindset by guiding their child’s attention to the process after a lesson, rather than the ‘result’ of getting a new piece. The goal is the creation of a child who loves music and who lets music make their heart more beautiful. Making sure that all previous goals have been met and that growth is happening is essential before moving on to new repertoire. And, asking about new material broadens the mindset of both the student and the parent. New could mean a new exercise to develop finger flexibility, or a new way to practice a difficult passage. New could mean a new etude to build technical skills outside of the repertoire. New could be a new way to think about your sound. Try very hard to avoid narrowly defining a successful lesson as one in which you "finish" one piece and are assigned a new one.

7. Refer to your lesson notes at the beginning of each practice session. 
​Whichever strategy you’ve used to remember your lesson, it’s important to remind yourself of key points every time you practice. Read through your notes before you start practicing, so you know your practice aligns with what you learned in your lesson. Also, read through your notes and think about how your week of practice has gone before your next lesson so you can be prepared!  

I would LOVE to hear if any of these strategies make a difference in your lesson experience and music learning - or if you have other strategies that you find helpful! Please leave a comment or send me a message through the contact form to let me know how it goes!
​

Over the years, I've come to find New Year's resolutions less-than-effective and often anxiety- and perfection-producing for me. So, I've stopped doing them. If I'm feeling inspired, however, I will sometimes set a New Year's intention, and find that this gives me both more focus and more freedom to make needed changes in my life. Resolutions tend to be all-or-nothing commitments, and in the face of failing to follow through on our resolutions, we often end up doing nothing. Intentions are much broader. There can be many actions or decisions one can take to follow an intention, and this increases our chances of making a lasting change.

Resolution vs. Intention:

Resolution: I will go to the gym every day.
This resolution comes from a good place - the desire to improve one's health - but it's a very specific action. Therefore, if one has a busy day, gets sick, or has anything else prevent them from going to the gym, even for one day, the person has failed at their resolution. That sense of failure makes it much easier to give up on one's resolution.

Intention: I will honor my body.
This intention comes from the same desire as the resolution, but it offers many more ways a person can fulfill it. On a day-to-day basis, if the person asks themselves, "How can I honor my body today?" they may get many different answers. Some days, it may be going to the gym. Others, it may be going for a ten-minute walk outside at lunch to enjoy the weather. And some days, it might mean laying on the couch and giving oneself the permission to rest. All of these different actions fulfill the intention, and will hopefully lead to an overall healthier life.

In this blog and the next, I will offer two suggestions for New Year's Intentions for violinists, violin students, and parents of violin students, as well as share my own for myself as a teacher.

Intention Number 1: Enjoy music as a family. 
While I wasn't someone who started violin at a super young age, music was a huge part of my family's life. We had special music that we listened to whenever we went to get the Christmas tree or decorated for the holidays. Certain albums were reserved for family car rides. My dad would tell me stories about soldiers marching down our street while listening to Prokofiev's Lt. Kije Suite. I remember one time when I was studying the solar system in elementary school, and my parents and I listened to Gustav Holst's The Planets, while recreating the solar system in model form in our living room.  We would frequently watch Great Performances on PBS, or go to live concerts. Our cat was named after my father's favorite jazz singer, Cleo Laine. Regardless of what my own activities and interests were, music was a central part of my family, and I think it's this family enjoyment of music that led me to want to play the violin.

So often, I see situations where violin is very clearly An Activity. Parents are committed to getting their children to lessons on time, to encouraging them to practice, to attending their child's recitals...and then it stops. Outside of the child's activities, music isn't something that is enjoyed in the family. Violin can even become something that is highly stressful, especially if competitions and auditions are involved, and it can be limited to the narrow box of something to achieve honors in, but not to enjoy. If your love of music is linked to your achievement in the field, you are in for a long and unhappy road. Regardless of whether you're first chair or last, or what concerto you're playing, or whether you play an instrument at all, music itself can be a a positive force for good for you and your family. 

Here are some suggestions for incorporating music into your family life:

• Find a concert to go to as a special family outing.
• Find a recording of a concert, or a musical, for your next family movie night.
• For parents: explore the musical world away from the recordings of your child's pieces. Find music that you enjoy listening to, and give yourself time to let music be something you connect with - not just something you have to remind your children to practice!
• Put music on during family dinner. Alternate who gets to choose the music, and talk about what you hear, and what you like.
• Every once in awhile, instead of a regular practice session, have the musicians in the house play for each other in an informal home concert or jam session. Make a rule: positive compliments only! Listen for something that you enjoy about the other's playing, and reserve constructive criticism for a formal practice session. 
• Play music together - ask your teacher to help you find an easy piece that can be played together, have non-musician family members clap a beat or rhythm along with musicians while they play, or sing along to a favorite song. 

How are you enjoying music in your family this week? Let me know in the comments below!

'Tis the season, and choosing a gift that supports the special violinist in your life can be challenging! I present you with this gift guide filled with practical suggestions at every price point, drawn from my experience as a violinist and as a violin teacher.

Stocking Stuffers
As a child, I remember always looking forward to the new CD that I would get in my Christmas stocking! (I also remember the first CD I ever received, shortly after we got a CD player for the first time...) These days, an iTunes gift card or gifting a digital album would be a great way to give a violinist music.

Some other violin accessories that would be great stocking stuffers are:
Rosin
Dampit or case humidifier
Pencils (special pencils for writing on music make a great gift - I recommend Palomino Blackwing Pencils or Magic Writer Pencils)
Pencil holder for music stand
Metronome/tuner combination (One of my favorite brands is Intelli)

Essential Supplies

• Strings
• Sheet music
• Music stand
• Gift certificate to the violinist's preferred violin shop for repairs/bow rehairs

Maintaining a violin takes a lot of equipment throughout the year, and the gift of strings, the next round of sheet music or method books asked for by the teacher, or a gift certificate to the violinist's favorite violin shop that they can use toward bow rehairs or repairs can make a fantastic gift. A durable music stand for home practice (such as a Manhasset) can be a welcome upgrade from a folding stand; likewise, for the violinist on the go, a trusty and compact folding stand for gigs and travel can make a wonderful gift.

A word of warning: Violin strings are NOT created equal, and each different brand of strings will sound different on each violin. If you're purchasing strings, please consult with your violinist, their parent, or their teacher about the right brand!

On a similar note, consider asking the violinist, their parent, or their teacher before purchasing sheet music for them - or give them a gift certificate to a sheet music supplier such as Sharmusic.com or their local sheet music shop. I still remember how disappointed I was when we bought a book that said "Star Wars" and "violin," when I was 10 years old and still in Suzuki Book 2...only to find that the Imperial March was written in D-flat major! It was frustrating and challenging to play. 

Listening Equipment
One of the most important part of any violinist's life is listening to music, and upgrading the equipment they listen to can be a special and valuable gift. Headphones or a speaker system can be transformative in the way you hear music. Good headphones can also contribute to protecting hearing - avoid ear buds or anything that goes directly in the ear. Choose noise-canceling headphones that fit over the ear and will reduce noise around the listener so that the volume of the music can be softer.

My personal favorite brand is Bose, and I love my noise-canceling headphones (which were a Christmas gift a few years ago!). I love that I can hear all the voices in a string quartet. On my list for the future is a set of speakers for home listening.

The Big Gift

• ​Violin
• Bow
• Case

Violins, bows, and the cases to protect them are massive investments and purchases to be seriously and carefully considered. Whenever it came time to upgrade my instrument, my parents considered that my birthday and Christmas present combined for that year. I would still get a few small other gifts, but that was the big one. I think one year, my mom even moved my violin case under the tree on Christmas morning. 

So, if you're a parent and you are considering an upgrade for your child's violin, talk to your teacher for advice about a purchase and consider making it a Christmas gift. If you're another relative or friend wanting to contribute to gifting a violin or bow to a violinist you love, please talk to them or their parent first. Never, ever purchase a violin without the violinist - choosing an instrument is an important and special process, and they should try out the instrument and receive their teacher's approval before you purchase it. And remember, cheap instruments on the internet are never a good deal. It can cost more than what you pay for the instrument to get it functional. Amazon is not a reliable source for fine instruments and bows, nor is Ebay.

If you are looking at a big investment ($2,000 or more), the best thing to do might be to put a sum of money in a Certificate of Deposit or another interest-generating account in the violinist's name for a couple of years, and then they have that money when they are purchasing their first full-size, or to put toward the purchase of a step-up or professional instrument. 

Cases are another option for a gift for which the giver should consult the violinist. Consider how heavy the case is, how often the violinist travels, how many bow holders they need inside the case, and if a waterproof exterior makes sense. I know that waterproofing was high on my list of requirements when I attended school in northeast Ohio. Also, ask a reputable luthier their opinion on high quality cases - what brands do they most often have to fix in the shop? I remember case shopping and being disappointed when the case that looked the most stylish was also one of the ones with the least reliable latches, according to the luthier I was working with. 

The moral of the story is this: holiday gifts are a wonderful way to make sure the violinist in your life has all the accessories, supplies and instruments they need to be successful throughout the year - but for the big ticket items, consult with the professionals, especially their teacher, first. 

It's mid-May, and here in northern Virginia, it seems like everyone is in a million places at once - myself, my students, their parents, their school teachers...it's time for standardized testing, end-of-the-school-year events, final orchestra concerts, final recitals. I've been noticing a lot of my students seeming tired, distracted, and just DONE when they come into their lessons. 

Here are some strategies I'm trying with my students (and myself) this week to help combat end-of-the-year stress and tension.

1. Start with a deep breath. Let yourself be where you are - your lesson, class, at home, the car. Take in a deep breath and let it out to help focus your attention in the present moment.

2. Start lessons and practicing with physical warmups and SLOW, deliberate movements. Take a few minutes to focus on your basic technique. Let your body settle into sync with your instrument instead of just launching into your piece.

3. Prioritize. Decide what the MOST important things are to you this season, and give them your all. For everything that is less important, find a little time each day to devote to your assignments so you can maintain your skills/pass the test/complete your work, but let it go from your mental load for the rest of the time.

4. Be compassionate to yourself. You can't do everything equally well. Celebrate yourself for your strengths, and recognize those things you truly love that you're doing well. Try not to beat yourself up for the other things. Recognize that you're doing the best you can.

5. Be compassionate to others. Everyone is stressed. Everyone is busy. Your busy-ness/stress isn't more important than someone else's - not to them - so don't use it as an excuse. Communicate clearly with your teachers, coworkers, friends, and family. Take a deep breath before you respond to something. Realize that everyone is tired and stressed right now, and be someone who make someone else's day better, not worse.

6. Create a 10-minute Practice Plan. Practicing an hour every day might not be possible when you're finishing up end-of-the-year projects and studying for exams. Pick one warmup for each hand, a few spots in your recital piece, and plan to run through your piece every day. This will help you stay fresh and maintain your skills. (Note: You can't cram performance prep - your body can't handle it!)

7. Reflect on the progress you've made. Think back to the beginning of the school year and how you played then, and compare to how you played now. What are things that have improved about your playing? What are things you've learned about how to practice effectively? What have you learned about yourself? Take a few minutes to jot these accomplishments down and to savor the feeling of progress. (Bonus: Write three goals for your summer and look ahead, just a little).

​“Is that a violin?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Oh, that’s so cool! Are you still in school?”
“No, I’m a professional musician.”
“Can you actually make a living doing that?”
“Yes. I play in a professional string quartet, a professional orchestra, and I teach.”
“Oh, you teach…” [sigh of disappointment]

The above conversation is typical of many that I’ve had with strangers, simply because I happen to have my violin with me. Now, I love violin. I love what I do. And I love to talk (and, obviously, write) about it. But, I’m not always in a mood to discuss work, or whether or not I’m making a living if I’m, say, in the grocery store, or at a train station, or walking down the street.

I know that many people aren’t used to talking to musicians, so I try to be kind - I know that most people really do mean well and are genuinely curious, though perhaps they don't go about it in the best way. Despite how well-meaning someone is, as a friend of mine says, "Communication is the message received." 

 I offer, therefore, some suggestions and guidelines for talking to that person you see with an instrument case.

1.  It is never okay to talk to someone - especially someone you have just met, or who you don’t know well - about how much money they make. It’s also not okay to make assumptions about how much they make based on the age they appear, how they’re dressing, or if they have an instrument case. So, don’t. Don’t ask them if they’re making a living. Don’t ask them how they make money. Don’t ask them IF they make money. (If you’re genuinely concerned and want to help this person, see my tips for how to financially support musicians in Part 1).

2. Here are some good questions you can ask to learn more about a musician to start a good conversation (that doesn't even obliquely reference how they make money).

• What kind of music do you play?
• Are you working on any cool projects right now?
• What kind of music do you like to listen to?
• What’s your favorite performance you’ve ever done?
• How can I learn more about what you do?

3.  Please don’t be disappointed or assume that we’re not good musicians/performers if we tell you that we teach. First, just about every musician teaches in some capacity. We love what we do and believe it has an amazing effect on our world - and we want to pass that on to the next generation! Second, it can be harder to teach Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to a class of four-year-olds than to play the Brahms Violin Concerto. Trust me, I’ve done both.

4. If we ask you questions about you, please tell us about you and your life/work! At least for me, I love hearing how people live their lives, and having a two-way conversation makes me feel like we’re doing just that - having a conversation. Sometimes, when people ask me rapid fire questions about what I do and if I make money at it, I feel like I’m at a job interview, or like people are more interested in me as That Different Freakish Musician, not a human being like they are.

Thanks for reading this! I hope some of my ideas were helpful, and I hope you’ll find ways to support the arts in whatever ways seem right for you.

Right after I graduated from music school, I noticed a shift in the conversations I was having with people. When asked what I do, I used to say, "I'm a master's student at the Peabody Conservatory." Which, you know, is very prestigious, and people were always suitably impressed when I gave that answer. Five years ago, overnight, instead of being a graduate student at a great school, I became that cliche of cliches: an unemployed free-lance musician. In the Washington, DC area, where a favorite opening line at social events is, "So, what do you do?", this wasn't as well-received.

In the last five years, I've had countless conversations with strangers who have noticed my violin case and whose curiosity has led them to ask what I play, and what I do. This is all fine. But then for some reason, an astonishing number of people decided that it was perfectly appropriate to comment on whether or not it's possible to make a living as a musician. I've gotten this from strangers in train stations, checkers at the grocery store, and even very well-meaning fellow parishioners at my church who seemed very concerned about the feasibility of my succeeding as a professional musician. 

Here's the thing, and I feel like this goes for any fellow human you meet: It's really rude to ask people how much money they make. It's also rude to make assumptions about someone's state of employment based on their appearance - their age, what they're wearing, or if they have an instrument on their back. It is never okay to ask someone if they're making a living doing the job that they've just told you they do (or that you've just seen them do).

Being a musician is a real job. We provide services (our performances, our playing, our teaching, our time), and for these we are paid. It's basic economics. Now, since most of us are hired on a contract basis or work as entrepreneurs, we tend to lack things like employer-provided health insurance, sick days, parental leave, etc, but still. Our work is real work. 

(Side note: I am not disputing that it is, in fact, incredibly challenging to make a living as a professional musician. It takes a lot of long hours of preparation, and a lot of work, and if one wants to make enough money to pay rent and other bills - don't get me started on student loans! - the concept of work-life balance basically gets thrown out the window. I know exactly how hard it is to be a professional musician. I just think that when I'm making small talk with strangers, I shouldn't constantly be questioned about it or have people make judgements about me when they don't know me).

If you're one of the millions of lovely people in the world who love music, who love the people who make and teach music, and who want to support us musicians in what we do, here's a practical list of actions and ways that you can directly help musicians - in the financial sense. 

1. Go to a live concert. We need audiences. Even more, we need audiences who buy tickets. Also, attending a live concert is an incredibly special and wonderful experience. I think being a professional musician has made me appreciate being in the audience even more. Shut down your screens for an evening, turn off your work brain, and come let an artist take you into their world for a couple hours. 

2. Buy a music album. There are more streaming services than ever, many of them free. If you want to support musicians, buy an album. The high level of skill it took to create the music on it, the cost and maintenance of the instruments they're performing on, not to mention the skill and equipment of the audio engineers needed to record and mix the album - this all cost money, much more than the $9.99 it's tempting to avoid paying on iTunes because you can stream it on YouTube for free. 

3. Become a regular contributor to the arts organizations in your community, such as performing arts centers, community music schools, the arts programs in your public schools, or PBS. These organizations run on generous community donations. They want to provide you with great arts experiences - which all cost money to do. 

(If you'd like to support two organizations that would directly impact me, I'd recommend making donations to Mason Community Arts Academy or the Tyson-McLean Orchestra!)

4. Seek out and listen to local artists. If there's a cool live band playing in the bar you and your friends go to, pick up their card, find their website, and buy an album. If you love the singer/songwriter playing in your favorite coffee shop, make sure to leave them a tip - and again, go find them on the web and support them!

5. Always pay an artist's full performance fee when hiring them for your event. Ask them what their rate is, up front, and then sign the contract, abide by the contract, and pay them on time. Related: Never ask your friends/family to play for your wedding for free. If you love their music THAT much, hopefully you love them enough to pay them their full fee. Now, it's always a nice gesture if your friend/relative says, "I couldn't possibly take your money - please, accept my music as your wedding gift" - but don't assume that they will play for free. Also, they might just want to celebrate you - and not spend the party doing what they do for work.

Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 of this new blog series, which will talk about ways to support musicians besides giving money, and suggestions for how to engage musicians in conversation without sounding like you're asking for their resume.

I have a confession to make. I binge-watched all of Season 2 of The Crown this winter break. I've seen The Last Jedi twice. I road tripped to West Virginia and spent time in the mountains with friends. I took multiple days away from the violin.

And now it's a new year, and I have several big concerts coming in the next few months, plus my personal goal of learning the Brahms Violin Concerto by my 30th birthday (a mere 9 months away)...and it's time to get back into shape.

So, on the off-chance that any of you out there also had an actual *break* from the violin over the holidays, here are some ideas that I'll be using in my practice over the next few weeks as I get back into performance shape.

1. Honor Your Body
Musicians are athletes. Like any skill, your muscle memory - and your stamina - will diminish after even a couple days off. I'll be dividing my practice into shorter chunks (20 - 30 mins at a time) and take plenty of breaks as I build back up. I will also be careful to stretch both before and after I practice to help my muscles release and recover. 

Be realistic with your expectations. You won't be able to play as much as you were able to before the break - set your goals lower, and give yourself time to build up. NEVER continue playing if you're experiencing even the tiniest bit of pain.

2. Review Is Your Friend
Rather than giving into the excitement/panic of having a stack of new music to learn, I've spent a couple days reviewing basic exercises, finger patterns, etudes, and scales. Give yourself a day or two just to reconnect with the instrument before launching into new repertoire. Try a chunk of practice time playing all the scales you know, or pick two review etudes and pick different parts of your technique to focus on.

3. Warm Up Your Mind and Ear
Even when you take a break from playing, it's always good to listen to recordings of your current and future repertoire. On my road trip home from West Virginia, I listened to a playlist of all my solo, orchestra, and quartet music coming up in the next six months. It meant that my brain and ear already had the pieces going before I attempted to pick up my instrument at home. Try putting recordings on in the car, in the background while you do chores, homework, or email. Have music in your mind before you start the day's practice.

4. Be Honest With Yourself (And Your Teacher!)
You have every right to take a break from violin (so long as you don't have an important performance or audition coming up!). It's important to rest, relax, and enjoy the non-musical parts of your life too. Don't try to launch back into practicing like the break never happened - and don't try to bluff your way through your first lesson with your teacher after a holiday. Believe me, I can tell when a student hasn't practiced. Starting from a place of honesty and openness about where you are in your playing will give you and your teacher the opportunity to start fresh. 

5. Make a Plan and Stick to It
All breaks (no matter how wonderful and deserved!) must come to an end for the ambitious violinist. Regular, consistent practice is a must if you want to succeed and make progress. Create a plan for how many days a week you need to practice, and for how long each day - and then do it! Ask your teacher to help you make a list of goals and/or practice strategies if you need ideas.

Happy 2018, and good luck practicing!