Valentina Jotovic

2 min read

Singers, Take Care of Your Instrument in Spring! (By Voice Teacher Eileen Cooper)

It’s that wonderful time of year again, when sunshine beckons flowers and people alike to come revel in its warmth. The air is fresh, colors come alive; the whole world seems to be filled with song. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the time of...

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2 min read

Music Practice: Smart, Not Hard! Or, The "Pen Game" (By Richard Woo)

I don’t necessarily believe in going through mindless repetitions when practicing music (see my last blog, Stop Practicing, Start Playing!), but...

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2 min read

The Quality of "Piano" (By Joe Pinto)

Dynamics. We all know the markings: pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff. As young musicians we are taught that pp means to play at the softest level while ff means...

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1 min read

Who Cares that what I’m Playing is a V7 Chord? (By Brandon Eldredge)

Many beginning students of music may wonder what learning theory has anything to do with learning to play the piano, and still others wonder how it...

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2 min read

Drum Lessons or Video Games? (By Dave Cifelli)

I spend a lot of time awake late into the night, as my jobs as a drum teacher and professional musician usually don’t require me to wake up too early...

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2 min read

Finding Your Own Voice (By Eileen Cooper)

“Frank Sinatra! Pavarotti! Lady Gaga! Kristin Chenoweth! Justin Beiber!” When I meet new students, I always make a point of asking who their favorite...

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3 min read

The Violin in My Life, Part 2 (By Russell Hoffmann)

What was I influenced by? I have no idea – sure, my father took violin lessons with John Krauss as a junior or senior in high school only because...

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1 min read

The Violin in My Life, Part 1 (By Russell Hoffmann)

According to my parents, I began to express interest in the violin at age six. In those days there were no "Suzuki" type programs to send me to, nor...

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1 min read

From Musikgarten to Kindergarten (By Neha Gohil)

It has been hard for me to believe that my first baby is actually in Kindergarten, let alone half way through her first year of elementary school....

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