Heightened pulse. Sweaty hands. Shallow breath. Serious gaze. Anxious thoughts… Almost every musician has encountered some form of nerves or the “butterflies” before a performance. Some may even wrestle with a Glossophobia: the fear of social situations in which one is watched or judged by others (also known as “Stage Fright”). When encountering stressful situations, […]
Let’s get to know CSM’s Folk Instruments! Today’s instrument is the Bowed Psaltery – a super cool stringed instrument dating back to the 12th Century! What is a bowed psaltery? The bowed psaltery is a hollow-bodied, triangle-shaped wooden instrument set with a series of metal strings threaded through metal string pins. Bowed psalteries come in […]
How good is your memory? Are you gifted with the ability to see or hear something once and recall forever? For most musicians, even those highly trained and advanced in their specialties, overcoming forgetfulness is a part of the lifelong battle we face in daily practice. The search for perfection is elusive, yet most strive […]
Ask any seasoned music teacher what they view as one of the most critical elements for success in music lesson and the words “motivation” and “practice” will move to the top of the list. As the old saying goes, “the teacher opens the door, but the student must walk through it”. In a time where […]
The month of December marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. Great concerts and celebrations of this composer’s music had been scheduled around the world, but due to the global pandemic, these concerts have been postponed indefinitely. Instead of the sublime music of Beethoven filling concert stages and symphony halls across […]