chamber music practice Archives

A Chamber Music Concert is Worth a Thousand Words — by Thomas Rosenberg

One of the goals of good teaching is assisting students to develop into interesting, compelling and communicative artists. Of course, there are many influences that create artistic musicians and many of them can be discussed and demonstrated in lessons. However, one of the factors that I believe is extremely important is also one that cannot actually happen in a lesson. For it to get done, you must often rely on the parents of your students or, for collegiate students, the student themselves. That factor is getting students to attend concerts to hear and watch professional and artistic musicians performing “live." Imagine the difference it would make to students who love sports if they could not see great athletes performing. It is relatively easy to see a basketball game, baseball game, tennis match, football game, gymnastic or swim meet, [...]

By Thomas Rosenberg|2024-02-19T13:26:03-05:00March 20th, 2016|Categories: Chamber Music, In the Practice Room, Self Discovery, Teaching|Tags: chamber music, thomas rosenberg, chamber music practice|

The Viola and 2nd Violin (The Unsung Heroes of Chamber Music Groups!) – by Tom Rosenberg

When violinists are asked what part they prefer to play in chamber music, there are often just two answers. I wish more often that there were three common answers, but more on that later. Some like to feel like they are the star, and so they want to play 1st violin. Others are either unwilling or unable to take on the 1st violin part which often features the most virtuosic part writing in the strings and so they choose 2nd violin. The irony in that decision is that playing 2nd violin well in a chamber ensemble requires a skill set that is in many ways more difficult than what the 1st violin is required to do. And, it is very different than in orchestra, where the individual player can and often should blend into the section. [...]

By Thomas Rosenberg|2021-07-19T02:30:41-04:00February 17th, 2016|Categories: Chamber Music, In the Practice Room, Teaching|Tags: thomas rosenberg, chamber music practice, cellobello, chamber music, CelloBlog|

Developing Musicianship Through Chamber Music — by Thomas Rosenberg

In a typical private instrumental lesson, until a student has reached a fairly high technical level, much of the time in a lesson is spent on issues such as good hand positions, intonation, tone production, fingerings and bowings, and the development of technique in both hands through scales, etudes, etc. The choice of a solo piece or pieces is usually connected to these same issues. Musicianship is hopefully discussed, and hopefully in some detail. But, the fact remains that it is unlikely issues of musicianship will dominate the lesson time. One of the great benefits of having students play chamber music is that it helps them become better musicians faster. A good, well matched chamber music group with a good coach will push forward the abilities a student has already developed and enable them to be able [...]

By Thomas Rosenberg|2024-05-13T13:32:51-04:00January 8th, 2016|Categories: Artistic Vision, Chamber Music, High School Blogs, In the Practice Room|Tags: chamber music, thomas rosenberg, chamber music practice|