November 2025 Dip Your Toes In: Practical Eclectic Styles Skills for the Classical Musician bySBO+ Contributor November 25, 2025
The Richmond Symphony Announces Two Appointments to its Leadership Team byMike Lawson September 19, 2022 0 The Richmond Symphony has announced two new appointments to its leadership team; the Symphony welcomes Jennifer Arnold as its new...
What Makes an Orchestral Musician an Effective and Sensitive Section Player? byMike Lawson June 6, 2019 0 As I am a very moody individual (by anyone’s standards), ensemble rehearsals have always been both a challenging and a...
Bowing: ‘How Do I Play the Dot?’ byMike Lawson May 8, 2019 0 I’m writing this article about what the “dot” means in music (and the many ways to play it).
A Musician’s Guide to Recording Bowed Instruments byMike Lawson April 10, 2019 0 I would like to provide a general outline for how to go about recording the kinds of things string players,...
The Value of Auditions: Musician Wellness and Ensemble Health byMike Lawson January 10, 2019 0 Too often, this profession breeds unhealthy behavior cultivated by frustrations and factors outside of our control, coupled with inconsistencies in...
Muscle Memory and Marking Your Music byMike Lawson December 4, 2018 0 As many of my students know, I am quite fond of the phrase: “Your muscles don’t know wrong from right....
Why Do We Make Music? byMike Lawson November 4, 2018 0 Why do we make music? What motivates a person to invest so much time and energy in music (as musical...
Disaster Avoidance/Prevention: Help Your Students Successfully Enter the Gigging Arena byMike Lawson October 2, 2018 0 I would like to thank my longtime friend and talented cellist for collaboration on this article; many of our growing...
An Alternative Approach Guide for String Teachers byMike Lawson August 30, 2018 0 And in the beginning, there was safety in open strings. In whatever activity you prefer, use a progression in which...
Embracing Students Who Stop Practicing: An Alternative Approach byMike Lawson August 4, 2018 0 Not much about playing the violin came naturally to me - but music did, very much so. One of the...
Surviving the Slow Months: Summers and the Private Lesson Studio byMike Lawson July 16, 2018 0 Let’s address some of the most common reasons that student levels plummet during the summer months and discuss some tips...
How You Make A Difference: Orchestral Educators Focusing on the Individual byMike Lawson June 8, 2018 0 Education, whether of an institutional nature or otherwise, can take many forms.