How To Practice Ševčik Op. 8 Without Feeling Like a Zombie

Posted on June 1, 2021July 31, 2021 by Inna Langerman

I have a confession to make – I never really practiced anything by Ševčik growing up. Almost my entire playing career I stayed away from his etude books. The handful of instances I gave Ševčik a chance turned into really grueling, boring, and mind-numbing practice sessions. I felt (and sounded) like a zombie going through sequence after sequence of shifting. Before long, the Ševčik books were out of sight and out of mind for good.

It’s no wonder I had such a miserable time – most students practice Ševčik incorrectly and go on autopilot, which can stunt musical and technical growth. Only recently, after more than 2 decades of playing the violin I really began learning how to approach Ševčik in a strategic way.

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What Do Poker and Orchestral Auditions Have In Common?

Posted on May 15, 2021May 15, 2021 by Inna Langerman

“You must make the best decision you can…The last player left standing at the end of the final round of betting takes the pot.”

Poker and orchestral auditions…really?? We’re talking about gambling vs spending months in the practice room, preparing diligently for one of the toughest job “interviews” ever. I never expected to find so many parallels between these two seemingly unrelated subjects. Psychologist turned pro poker player Maria Konnikova shares some deep insights in her bestseller The Biggest Bluff.

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What Distinguishes Top Performers?

Posted on April 15, 2021July 31, 2021 by Inna Langerman

There’s no doubt that mastery of a musical instrument requires many, many hours of practice over a long period of time. The 10,000-hour rule, which states that it takes roughly 10 years, or 10,000 hours to achieve expertise in a field, became a quite popular and generic metric; however, it doesn’t explain how out of a group of people working toward the same goal over the same period of time, some individuals accomplish more and get further. In order to understand this, it’s better to dive deep into Anders Ericsson’s concept of deliberate practice.

What promotes practice to be deliberate (i.e. – structured, methodical, strategic)? Are there any other factors that help certain players stand out? Here are five key ingredients that distinguish top performers.

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5 Quick Left Hand Warmups

Posted on April 1, 2021July 31, 2021 by Inna Langerman

Do you ever feel like after years (or even decades) of practicing scales and arpeggios, your left hand is STILL playing April Fools jokes on you (except…more than once a year)? Yep, me too. By the way, if you can’t relate at all, we need to talk because I have LOTS of questions! Anyway, last year I made an important tweak in my warm-up routine. It became a real game changer for me in the sense that my left hand suddenly felt more consistent and effortless. Continue reading “5 Quick Left Hand Warmups” →

5 Tips for Left Hand Frame

Posted on March 14, 2021July 31, 2021 by Inna Langerman

The left hand frame is one of those fundamentals on the violin and viola that’s important to constantly maintain (and/or improve) over the course of our playing years. While I created this guide to primarily help players with smaller hands, most of the concepts here are still applicable for everyone. The primary goals are:

to create a reliable hand position, in which all fingers can drop on the string with comfort and consistencyand
to overcome challenges of the stretch in first (and half) position, where the half steps are furthest apart.

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When Goals and Routines No Longer Work…

Posted on March 1, 2021July 31, 2021 by Inna Langerman

Routines are a great way to help us stick to a practice schedule and build up discipline, especially during times when there are no externally-driven deadlines (such as performances or lessons). But do you ever feel that a seemingly reliable practice routine holds you back sometimes? Perhaps after a while of following a schedule you hit a plateau, and practice starts to feel like a waste of time. And what about instances when something important comes up in your life and it no longer makes sense to stick to the plan? Routines have their time and place, but I think it’s equally important to recognize when it’s time to stray away from their rigidity.

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The Benefits of Practicing ‘In Public’

Posted on February 15, 2021February 15, 2021 by Inna Langerman

“Why do people post videos of their works ‘in progress’ and not wait until they’re ready for performance?”

This is an excellent question and an important topic that musicians are discussing more frequently on social media. Here are a few reasons why I share my own works in progress and how it benefits the musical and personal growth for both myself and my musical community.

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The #1 Tip for Reliable Spiccato

Posted on February 15, 2021July 31, 2021 by Inna Langerman

People often ask me how to play off the string well. I hear questions like:

What should the hand be doing?
Do I need a special bow hold?
Should my fingers or wrist be doing some special motions?
What part of the arm does the motion for spiccato come from?

Even with the added variable of height, playing off the string is less complicated than many of us make it out to be. I used to ask myself these same questions when learning this technique. Eventually this over-complicated things and I just ended up getting stuck.

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5 Quick Bow Warm-ups

Posted on February 1, 2021July 31, 2021 by Inna Langerman

Do you ever have days when your body needs a longer time than usual to warm up when you start practicing? Perhaps there are moments when one hand is ready much sooner than the other. I know that on certain days my bow arm needs a LOT of extra time to “wake up” at the start of my first practice session. On other occasions, I feel like I’m accomplishing very little during my 20-min-long scale routine. Whenever I sense that it will be one of “those” days, I like to change up the entire fundamental routine. If you tend to experience something similar, are short on time, and/or just want to have a productive “bow day,” kick off your session with the following 5 bow exercises.

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4 Principles of Natural Laws for Musicians

Posted on February 1, 2021July 31, 2021 by Inna Langerman

“Stress happens when the mind resists what is.” – Dan Millman

This quote jumped out and caught my attention as I was flipping through some books on sports psychology at the Barnes & Noble Cafe in Union Square. It was the middle of a busy audition season and I was fighting against my long history of performance anxiety and self-doubt.

I stared at this sentence and repeated the words over and over in my mind. “Of course! It’s so obvious,” I thought. Except it was anything but obvious in the spur of the moment. Instinctively, the fight or flight response had me “push away” nerves and “act tough” when placed in a stressful situation. My mind would try to resist the nerves, which in turn only created more stress, setting off a vicious, endless cycle. As the saying goes, resistance makes stronger. “Trying” to achieve something only creates a bigger obstacle by making the task at hand more challenging than it already is.

The concept about the relationship between the mind and stress can help us understand the first of the four principles of natural laws, as explained by world champion gymnast, martial artist, and author Dan Millman in his book Body Mind Mastery. Here’s a short summary of these principles and some of their roles in musical growth.

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