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Do you:
- have technical issues you want to master?
- pieces needing polish, or a performance or audition to prepare for?
- want a second opinion about where to focus your energy and valuable practice time for the most pay ...
Flying back to California this afternoon I’m reflecting on my first Western Canada tour with Manitoba singer-songwriter Dan Frechette - 35 shows and five weeks, across four provinces!
We have been fortunate to have some “back by popular demand” ...
I hope you will enjoy these six original songs as much as I enjoyed recording them. I had the great pleasure of working with Joe Weed at Highland Studios in Los Gatos, CA and bringing in many awesome players to help bring these compositions to a new ...
Some of you have been enjoying our overdubs on Facebook, while others are finding us at shows around California. Yes, we’ve finally met and are half way through tour!
Some highlights have included playing Mandolino Waltz, our first overdub, ...
Improvising and listening go hand in hand, so don't separate them! I understand, but am still always a bit surprised when I hear an improviser running up and down the fingerboard, disregarding the phrasing (and sometimes tempo) of the group, articulation ...
Ok, we did the HOW. Now it's WHAT should you practice? In this episode Laurel Thomsen offers a range of elements you might need to add to your practice ...
Join Laurel Thomsen and special guest Dr. Noa Kageyama, the Performance Psychology Professor at Julliard, for a talk on learning to become not just a better player, but a better performer. If you want to develop a successful pre-performance routine, ...
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!
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.”