What scale or excerpt should you choose to audition with? What should you do if all the excerpts are either too difficult and others too easy? When you have limited time to prepare the material, where should you put your focus for the most pay off? ...
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Category: musician tips
If your arms get tired or even sore after playing for a little while, you feel like a droopy bow arm is leading to trouble keeping a good tone, or you're working harder than you probably should just keeping your instrument up, this video is for you! ...
Posted on: | Category: musician tips
Many of us were drawn to play the violin, viola, or cello because we'd heard playing that brought us to tears, filled us with joy, or expressed a feeling that we couldn't even describe with words. Truly, there seems to be no limit to the emotions and ...
Why do performers in some situations stand, while others sit? And is it better to sit or stand when we practice?
Traditionally, violin and viola soloists stand, but sit as ensemble members. Standing helps the audience identify the soloist and ...
Exploration
Posted on: | Category: musician tipsBetween many method books now including play-along tracks, or just wanting to play along with our favorite albums, or videos we find on YouTube, once we've practiced along with a range of pre-recorded tracks and accompaniments, eventually we come across ...
People are starting to hit the road again, but what does this mean for our instruments? In this episode of the Violin Geek Podcast, I'm sharing tips for safely getting your instrument ...
Musician Tips
Posted on: | Category: musician tipsIn my latest article for Strings magazine I researched six popular music notation software programs and apps. The article is out now in the July/August print edition, and also online through the link below (I love that Strings also embedded videos ...
Awareness and humor
Posted on: | Category: musician tipsWith my first email address in the early 2000s came an inbox full of musician scams. The "opportunities" seem to come in waves. Sometimes I'll get five in a month. Other times, they'll forget about me for five years.
The premise of ...
Posted on: | Category: musician tips
While there are many options for free sheet music online, giving us near instant gratification when we hear a melody we love on a movie or TV show or hear our teacher mention that we’ll be trying a new concerto or sonata soon, it’s usually worth it ...
Please email me 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 me, in-person or online via Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom.
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Laurel ThomsenViolin, 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.”
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.”