News & features

worst things about playing the violin

The 10 worst things about playing the violin

Musical instrument instruction diagrams

Musical instrument instruction diagrams: get to know your instrument

kid's amazing violin progress

Watch the incredible progress of a tiny kid violinist over her first two years of learning

philip glass violin concerto no. 1

Here’s why Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto No. 1 is the best concerto of the last 50 years

musician every day tips

10 extremely simple things musicians can do every day to make life a little easier

broken e-string violin

This clip captures the sheer horror of an E-string snapping halfway through a live radio broadcast

Ava Pakiam

Your inspiration for the day: watch this 6 year old play Kreisler

Videos

paganini caprice on flute

Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 performed on FLUTE sounds utterly righteous

Paganini

Sarasate violin Hildegarde Fesneau

Virtuosic Sarasate violin music, played with a TINY bow

Winston Churchill cigar box violin rectangle

Violin made from Winston Churchill’s cigar box to be auctioned

Videos

worst things to happen to a classical musician

The 13 worst things to happen to a classical musician

Habanera ping pong

This violinist can play Habanera one-handed while bouncing a ping pong ball in time to the music

ysaye violin sonata 3

This frankly terrifying solo violin piece is surely one of the hardest ever written

Charles Barren violin at Dartington

Need some inspiration to keep playing? Here’s a 96-year-old violinist playing Massenet’s Méditation from Thaïs

Ivry Gitlis concert at 93

This 93-year-old violinist is proof that music never ages and never leaves you

violin drop

When your conductor gets a little too close to your priceless 17th century violin…

Fedor Rudin montreal competition

Competition violinist: ‘musicians should be competitive with themselves, not with other people’