“Do you use any technology or apps to help you practice?”
The Violin Channel recently caught up with 30+ of the world’s top string players to find out …
German-Japanese Concert Violinist, Arabella Steinbacher:
“Sometimes a metronome app … and when I need to look at scores on tour, I like to use the new ‘Henle’ app”
VC Artist Violinist, Ray Chen:
“I use an iPad to replace my sheet music, both on stage and in the practice room … it actually has allowed me to become a better musician because now there’s no excuse for ‘not having the orchestral score’ … when you literally carry around an entire library with you”
VC Artist Cellist, Kian Soltani:
“I use the voice memo app a lot to record myself practicing and to record my rehearsals … and of course a metronome app”
VC Artist Dover Quartet Violist, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt:
“I love practicing with the ‘Tempo’ metronome app … and also use ‘Tunable’ for when I want to practice intonation with a drone”
VC Artist Violinist, Benjamin Beilman:
“I love using my iPad and ‘ForScore’ with a bluetooth foot pedal to read from the full score … so much is available on ‘IMSLP’ … it also makes the suitcase considerably lighter”
VC Rising Star, Kevin Miura:
“I use ‘Humiditrak’ and ‘ForScore’ … Humiditrak comes with a sensor that goes in your case to monitor temperature and humidity … it even sends notifications to your phone if either of them are outside the safe range”
VC Young Artist Violinist, Fedor Rudin:
“I have started using the ‘MusicJournal’ app … it keeps a record of how long and what you’ve practiced over days, weeks, months and years”
VC Young Artist Violinist, Nathan Meltzer:
“I always use the metronome app … and to record parts of my practice sessions I use my iPhone, a ‘Tascam iM2’ microphone and a wireless speaker to listen back”
VC Young Artist Violinist, Timothy Chooi:
Israeli-born Cellist, Matt Haimovitz:
“I use my iPad Pro always … I mark up the score with my finger or a stylus using ‘ForScore'”
British Violinist, Chloe Hanslip:
“I use the ‘The Metronome by Soundbrenner’ app on my phone for when I need to do that type of practice … but when it comes to planning practice I’m more of a pen and paper person“
Russian-born Violinist, Dmitry Sitkovetsky:
“I love the fact that I don’t have to carry my PC and CDs with me anymore … I have all my playlists on ‘Spotify’ these days … but I still use sheet music and a pencil with eraser – the old style”
VC Young Artist Violinist, Marc Bouchkov:
“I recently downloaded the ‘Soundbrenner’ metronome app … it’s absolutely brilliant … sometimes I also use ‘Cleartune’ – when I fear my ears are perhaps letting me down”
VC Rising Star Violinist, Yesong Sophie Lee:
“I use a metronome app, a recording app to hear myself back … and ‘Cleartune’ – which is a pretty clever tuning app”
Korean-American Violinist and New England Conservatory faculty member, Soovin Kim:
“‘Cleartune’ and ‘Tempo’ apps … and video recording doesn’t hurt!“
Colburn School of Music Violin Professor and Co-Director of String Chamber Music, Martin Beaver:
“I have a tuner app and a metronome app on my mobile phone … both of which I use frequently in my own practice – as well as in lessons and chamber music coachings”
American Violinist, Stephanie Chase:
“I have a metronome app that I often use, and when I am playing at low pitch I will use a tuning app to hear the “A” … when I am first learning a work, I may listen to a couple of recorded performances on ‘YouTube’ to get an idea of how tempi sound”
VC Artist Violinist, Stefan Jackiw:
“Does surfing ‘Reddit’ while practicing count? … I use a metronome on my iPhone but that’s about it“
Dutch Violinist, Noa Wildschut:
“I often record myself with my phone – so I can listen more carefully to myself”
VC Artist Violinist, Paul Huang:
“Besides a tuning app and a metronome app, that’s about it”
VC Young Artist Cellist, Aurélien Pascal:
“Just an iPhone metronome app”
Ariel Quartet Violist, Jan Grüning:
“The Metronome app of course … and most importantly perhaps the recording device and the tuning app to find my A of the day – at times a challenging task for us violists …”
VC Artist Violinist, Jennifer Pike:
“I have a metronome app on my phone … but just for reference”
VC Young Artist Violist, Timothy Ridout:
“Just the metronome and tuning app on my phone … my viola is very temperamental in different climates and I always need assistance in finding a good A“
Australian Funster, TwoSet Violinist, Eddy ‘Shreddy’ Chen:
“Just a tuner and metronome …”
Australian Funster, TwoSet Violinist, Brett ‘Bang’ Yang:
“Nope. Nothing. Nada. Negative … “
American Violinist, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg:
“Absolutely not!”
Kronberg Academy Pedagogue & Violinist, Mihaela Martin:
“No, I don’t use any technological tools … just my ears and good concentration”
