All practice needs to be planned. This includes planning when to practise performing, when to develop new skills and when to solve problems. In general …read more
Planning & Practice
Dotted Rhythms and Groups of Four
In the practice breaks, analyse your performance of the notes you just played. Repeat if necessary. Plan and prepare the next group of notes. Use …read more
Combined Bowings with Practice Breaks
Use a metronome to practise with different groupings, as shown here. This is the beginning of a three-octave G Major scale, with Galamanian-style added notes. …read more
Practice Breaks in Bach Partita
Aim to move smoothly to the new string during the practice break. Use the break to monitor right-arm levels during string crossing. It’s important that …read more
Collé in Bach E Major Prelude
Bowings like collé, which start with beginning clicks, are good for practising intonation and articulation. Collé is also a good practice bowing because the right …read more
Martelé on Kreutzer No.7
In this excerpt from Kreutzer’s “Study No.7” Fintan uses practice breaks and the martelé stroke to improve whole-arm string crossing. Three martelé strokes per note, …read more
Spiccato with Three Bows per Note
Firstly, Fintan plays with three bows per note, to get the spiccato stroke clear and even. Secondly, he inserts a practice break between groups of …read more
Bow Out the Rhythm of Long Notes
‘Bowing out’ the subdivisions can be helpful to improve rhythm for both left and right hands. We often subdivide in our mental practice by singing …read more
Legato & Staccato
Play a passage on just the open strings to check that you know what your right arm is doing. Try writing out the open-string version …read more
Pulsing during Sustained Bow
Practise letting the bowhair sink into the string in all parts of the bow. This will improve your tone production in slow melodic passages. You …read more