Let’s Play
New Jersey Symphony musicians share pro tips for budding instrumentalists of all ages.
Violin
Learn from the New Jersey Symphony’s Brennan Sweet
New Jersey Symphony Associate Concertmaster Brennan Sweet shares pro tips for beginning violin players. Learn about posture, hand positions, string crossings, warm-up exercises, tuning, keeping the beat, taking care of your instrument, bowing techniques and shifting.
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Violin: Pro Tip List
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00:54 – Posture
01:48 – Hand Positions
04:10 – String Crossings
05:43 – Warm-up Exercises
09:02 – Tuning
15:04 – Keeping the Beat
16:07 – Taking Care of Your Instrument
19:09 – Bowing Techniques
25:29 – Positioning the Left Hand
26:33 – Shifting
31:20 – Performance: Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins
BRENNAN SWEET violin
CHRISTINE SWEET cello
ALLISON FRANZETTI harpsichord
Viola
Learn from the New Jersey Symphony’s Christine Terhune
New Jersey Symphony violist Christine Terhune shares pro tips for beginning viola players. Learn about posture, hand positions, holding the viola, string crossings, shifting and vibrato.
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Viola: Pro Tip List
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01:40 – Posture
02:33 – Positioning the Left Hand
04:48 – Positioning the Right Hand
10:03 – Holding the Viola
12:00 – String Crossings
13:51 – Shifting
21:54 – Vibrato
Oboe
Learn from the New Jersey Symphony’s Andrew Adelson
The New Jersey Symphony’s Andrew Adelson shares pro tips for beginning oboists. Learn about the instrument, reeds, embouchure, articulation and more.
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Oboe: Pro Tip List
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01:27 – The Oboe Reed
03:10 – Embouchure
04:54 – Putting the Reed in Your Mouth
07:11 – Making a Sound on the Reed Alone
07:54 – Articulation
09:15 – The Names of the Parts of the Oboe
09:55 – Assembling the Oboe
12:40 – Putting the Reed in the Oboe
13:39 – Staying Motivated
15:31 – Playing Along to Make a Duet
16:07 – Keep Making Music
Bassoon
Learn from the New Jersey Symphony’s Mark Timmerman
New Jersey Symphony bassoonist Mark Timmerman shares pro tips for beginning bassoon players. Learn about assembling the bassoon, proper position, articulation and more.
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Bassoon: Pro Tip List
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03:06 – Assembling the Bassoon
05:20 – Proper Position
07:01 – Hand Positions
09:24 – Articulation
10:53 – Performance: Bach Bourée
11:48 – Putting the Bassoon Away
Trumpet
Learn from the New Jersey Symphony’s Anderson Romero
New Jersey Symphony Assistant Principal Trumpet Anderson Romero shares pro tips for beginning trumpet players. Learn about the instruments of the trumpet family, posture, embouchure, articulation, tone quality, breathing and warmup exercises and more.
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Trumpet: Pro Tip List
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01:58 – A Few Instruments of the Trumpet Family
08:29 – Mutes
10:34 – A Few Tips for Posture
12:37 – Tips for a Proper Embouchure
13:40 – Breathing Exercises
15:42 – Warmup and Daily Routine Exercises
20:53 – Flow Studies
24:12 – Flexibility
25:07 – Articulations
28:20 – Tone Quality
29:04 – Practicing While Social Distancing
30:08 – Music That Inspires You
31:00 – Closing Thoughts