Posted on: | Category: encouragement
One of my violin students shared this inspirational message with me today. Though the day to day activities of an aviation technician are obviously quite different from a ...
The Violin Geek Blog Tips, insight, and inspiration since 2007.
Use the search bar to sort posts by category or keyword. If you're enjoying a topic, you can also click categories listed below, or the tags listed at the top of a post to organize a new list of posts with the same categories and/or tags. Enjoy!
- christmas music
- encouragement
- fitness
- gear review
- improvisation
- insight
- inspiration
- instrument tips
- interview
- intonation
- music
- music business
- musician tips
- music theory
- new album
- online lessons
- pedogogy
- performance tips
- practice tips
- recording tips
- repertoire
- stories
- student tips
- teaching tips
- technique tips
- update
- visualization
Category: encouragement
Posted on: | Category: encouragement
Darker days can lead to darker thoughts. It’s usually this time of year that I start to see more of my students struggling with negative thoughts about their playing and progress and I wear the hat of the cheer leader and therapist a bit more often ...
Please email Laurel at laurel@laurelthomsen.com if you have a violin, viola, fiddle, music biz, or practice related question you’d like answered in the blog or on a podcast, have a story or insight to share, or if you’d like to inquire about violin, viola, or fiddle lessons with Laurel, in-person or via Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom.
The Violin Geek Blog is a free resource and always will be. We also don't sell advertising, meaning that what you read is a labor of love. If you'd like to support Laurel Thomsen's efforts and help ensure they continue, please consider making a donation. Thanks for your support!
Laurel Thomsen Violin, Viola, Vocals Performance, Instruction, Recording Based in Santa Cruz, California
"After the Fire" - released January 21, 2022!
We began recording this album in late July 2020, under California’s Covid–19 stay-at-home order, in Dan’s Bonny Doon home studio, The Shed. We were wrapping up by mid-August, but then a heatwave and extremely unusual lightning storm sparked a fast-moving forest fire. Completed after our evacuation to the safe haven of a friend’s home, After the Fire marks the end of an era and a fresh start; Dan’s little studio burned the morning after he’d rescued the rough tracks, studio equipment, and a range of instruments we play, yet rarely have the space to bring with us on the road. Highlighting them on this album helped us feel the joy of performing again and to know that despite the setbacks of the past year, our music will thrive in new ways.
Each song portrays a facet of the journey from setback to reclaimed hope - finding faith in the possibility of LOVE in “Make Me Come Alive,” HOME in “Beale Street,” COMMUNITY in “Together Again” and “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong,” and one’s own STRENGTH and FORTITUDE in “If A Wave” and “Hey, It’ll Be OK.”