This card seems pretty obvious to me but can be easily forgotten during stressful times. In the midst of severe anxiety, one may have the tendency to isolate which is not a good thing to do for many reasons. Our friends and family love and care about us. In the

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The violin has an enormous ability to create myriad sounds by varying timbre and dynamic level as well as accessing its four octave range. The bow can produce long pure tones, minute percussive hits, and everything in between. There are many examples of imitating animal sounds in the violin repertoire.

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I know what it feels like to be swept up in perfectionism. As I’m writing this post, a category 5 hurricane is making landfall in Louisiana. The feeling of collective breath holding is palpable. However, the image for this card could be sunlight breaking through clouds after a storm has

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While working on dynamic contrast with students, I find there is a leap that takes place when they realize there is more than just forte vs. piano. However, establishing the outer reaches of their dynamic range is a good starting point. I work with my students quite a bit on

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One lesson, one idea. I’m not sure this is a direct quote from Shinichi Suzuki but it was something I learned in my first longterm teacher training course. It definitely helped me organize lessons around a single concept. I found that it took the pressure off to make a 30

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Violinists are upper body athletes. Hands and arms are in constant motion to produce sonorous tones and beautiful music. Shoulders fall open from the spine like a large library dictionary waiting patiently on its long-legged platform. Arms hanging from these shoulders raise and lower to move fingers up and down

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At times it feels like my sound just evaporates. I have also noticed this with some of my students. Attitude or belief system concerning one’s abilities can definitely influence one’s sound. There is also shyness or questioning of one’s competence about a particular piece of music that can play a

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In case you are not a musician, intonation refers to the process of playing musical tones in tune. You still may not understand what this means. It is also possible that you understand the concept of musical notes, tones, or pitches, but may not feel as though you have actually

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What does laying the groundwork mean? Friends asked what bees and flowers have to do with manifesting dreams. Visualized during a shamanic journey, what struck me was the miracle of bees feeding on flower nectar, flower pollen sticking to the small hairs on their legs, fertilizing new life as they

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Now at the halfway point in featuring my cards, I am writing today not really sure anyone is reading my blog. If you are reading it, please leave me a short comment attached to this post or on Facebook (@violincards, @ViolinistLindaBeers). I also want to bring to your attention that

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