Shar Music Blog

The applause has ended; your instrument is back in the case, it's time to celebrate! You practiced hard, you played beautifully, and the music was a delight. Let’s celebrate with a very special, fruity, bubbly and delicious drink. The pineapple mimosa is…

You’ve practiced hard and tension has a habit of mounting. Treat yourself to this warm, frothy, chamomile latte to help you sleep the night before your performance, or enjoy it just before you begin to warm up back stage. Take the time to breathe before…

For our second recipe, we chose a simple tea that is delicious, healthy, and easy enough to make any time of day to refresh your practice. This classic infusion of ginger, lemon, and honey has been called a detox tea and a natural caffeine-free tonic for…

Spring is recital season! Getting through your most important performances, believe it or not, requires more than just practice. Proper nutrition, rest, and mental and emotional wellness are key factors in maximizing the effectiveness of your hard work.…

Five years ago SHAR asked people to send in their #caseconfessions photos, showing everything in your case except the instrument and bow - old rosin and cleaning cloths, tuners, random toys, photos, and whatever else you need with you and your instrument…

About a decade ago, perhaps in a masterclass during my undergrad as a violin performance major, I recall the discussion of what was required to be a violinist in the 21st Century. Something about the very wide range of technique needed to perform today's…

It's a scenario every beginner or intermediate string player finds themselves in at some point: either a string broke, the metal winding is unraveling, or they've simply decided better strings will make them finally sound like Anne-Sophie Mutter. I can…

“. . . a master violin is an accumulation of many small steps, each carried out with painstaking care”

~ Rainer W. Leonhardt, Master Violin Maker, Mittenwald, Germany

While Cremona, Italy, is generally accepted as the birthplace of the violin, instruments by the great Cremonese makers quickly found themselves in the hands of skilled German craftsmen, who happened to live in a geographic and economic sweet-spot for…

The history of the violin is a bit like the evolution of a migratory species. It didn't come about all in one place or all at one time; various factors influenced it's changes over centuries, and in many ways we are still writing the violin's history…