What a wonderfully inspiring conference of string teachers just finished at the 2012 ASTA Convention in Atlanta, Georgia! I got to meet so many wonderful, dedicated teachers and attend phenomenal sessions by Mark Rudoff and Martha Gershefski. Back into playing and  teaching now, getting ready for the Philmore Ensemble May 5 concert, the end-of-the-year student recitals, and the upcoming Summer String Program. Playing Grutzmacher Etude No. 8 today, I marveled at the brilliance of the man. He finished his somewhat-grueling trill etude with a couple lines of natural harmonics! You have to play it to believe it, but he really was on to something how he was working the left hand.
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New Releases 03/08/2012
 
Getting ready for the upcoming ASTA Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, where we will be hosting an exhibit. Stop by  booth 810 and say hi!

We are releasing a number of new cello technique books today: Half Position for the Cello, Double Stop Etudes for the Cello, Book One, Octave Shifts for the Cello, Book Three, Scale Studies for the Third Octave for the Cello, Book One, and Thirds in Thumb Position for the Cello, Preparatory Studies. The preparatory studies for thirds in thumb position is one of my favorite new books: a method to teach double stop thirds on the cello before they occur in the repertoire.

New violin technique book releases are The A-String Book for Violin, Playing the Violin, Book Two, Serial Shifting for the Violin, and new viola technique releases are Finger Exercises for the Viola, Book One, Serial Shifting for the Viola, and Third Position for the Viola, Book One.

Happy studying!
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Double Stop Beginnings for the Cello is the first of several double stop books for beginning and intermediate cellists to be published this year. Double Stop Etudes and Double Stop Shifting are coming soon. Cellists can use these books to develop left-hand strength and accuracy. I am excited that these studies are now available!
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Working on editing Thumb Position Studies for the Cello, Books 2-14. As there are 14 books in the "Thumb Studies" series, and only Book One is published, I'm finding the idea of editing the rest somewhat daunting! It's fun to continuously play through the books, though, and as long as I don't think about how large the task is, it's quite a pleasant way to spend some time before I teach.
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New Books! 12/20/2011
 
So excited about the release of Trill Studies for the Cello, Book One, Thirds in Thumb Position for the Cello, Book Two, and Finger Exercises for the Violin, Book One! Celebrating with a free shipping sale through January 15. Upcoming books include Scale Studies for the Third Octave for the Cello, Tenths for the Cello, Book Two, and Half Position for the Cello.
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