Left in tears ...

This soloist was left in tears after an emotional performance of ‘Schindler’s List’

By Classic FM London

Schindler's list - John Williams - NL orchestra

04:49

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This musician thought she might never be able to play her instrument again, but then she made it through this heart-wrenching performance of ‘Schindler’s List’.

Cor anglais player Davida Scheffers has a painful neuromuscular condition which disrupted her career as a musician.

Despite her fear that she might never be able to play with a professional orchestra again, Davida’s dream was to play with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra.

And last year, she managed it.

In a performance with the orchestra, Davida managed to play the entire cor anglais solo from John Williams’ Schindler’s List, before bursting into tears during Simone Lamsma’s solo on violin.

It was a powerful moment that affected both the audience and orchestra. Look out for Davida’s daughter in the audience, who had just turned 18 that day.

Well done, Davida – what a remarkable achievement!

Arthur Rubinstein - Beethoven Piano Concerto No.3 Op.37

Brains of jazz and classical musicians ...

... work differently, study reveals

By CLASSIC FM, London

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The brain activity of jazz musicians is substantially different from that of classical musicians, even when they're playing the same piece of music.

A study published by the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS), has found that musicians who work in the two fields demonstrate substantially different brain activity, even when they're playing the same music. 

The research could help explain why musicians seem to excel in one or other style, and not usually in both.

The study outlines two steps in playing the piano: what the pianist is going to play – meaning the keys they press – and how they are going to play – which fingers they should use.

Classical pianists tend to focus on the second step – the 'how'. This means their focus is on technique and the personal expression they add to the piece. 

Jazz pianists on the other hand focus on the ‘what’, meaning they are always prepared to improvise and adapt the notes they're playing.

The study included 30 professional pianists, half of whom were jazz players and half of whom were classical. 

Both groups were shown a hand playing a sequence of chords on a screen. The sequence was scattered with mistakes in harmonies and fingering. The pianists had to imitate the hand movements and react to the irregularities, while their brain signals were recorded with sensors on their head.

The study found that different processes occurred in the brains of the jazz and classical pianists. In particular, the jazz pianists' brains began re-planning sooner than the classical pianists' brains. 

The study found the classical pianists concentrated on the fingering and technique of their playing, while the jazz pianists were more prepared to change the notes they played to improvise and adapt their playing to create unexpected harmonies.

“In the jazz pianists we found neural evidence for this flexibility in planning harmonies when playing the piano”, says researcher Roberta Bianco. 

“When we asked them to play a harmonically unexpected chord within a standard chord progression, their brains started to re-plan the actions faster than classical pianists. Accordingly, they were better able to react and continue their performance.”

However, the classical pianists performed better than the jazz group when it came to following unusual fingering. Their brains showed more awareness of the fingering, and as a result they made fewer errors while playing.

The researchers concluded that switching between jazz and classical styles of music can be a challenge, even for musicians with decades of experience.

They quoted jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, who was once asked in an interview whether he’d like to do a concert where he would play both jazz and classical music: “No, that's hilarious,” he said. “It’s [because of] the circuitry. Your system demands different circuitry for either of those two things.”

Find out more about the study here.

Für Elise - Jazz Piano

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Princesses of Violin: Bésame Mucho

Six things musicians should be doing on social media in 2018

By ClassicFM, London

By Maddy Shaw Roberts

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Whether you’re a long-time aspiring musician or you’re looking to kickstart your career in music this year, here are some tips on how to succeed from the best musicians on the Internet.

1. Be yourself

It’s a lot easier said than done, but the truer you are to yourself, the greater chance you have at being an online music sensation.

“So many people are trying to be someone else or emulate someone else’s lifestyle on social media and it’s refreshing when you find a person who is completely and honestly themselves,” says Chloe Trevor, a violinist with 146,000 followers on Instagram. “There is only one you – let the world see you shine!”

So if like Chloe, you’re feeling poorly and want to post a video of yourself playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in a unicorn onesie, you should definitely do it.

2. Talk to your audience

French Instagram violinist Esther Abrami advises to “help your followers to enter your musical world”. Your social media followers love to watch performance videos, but remember that most of your followers won’t have a degree in music.

10 reasons you should take up a musical instrument

Esther encourages aspiring musicians to “interact with your audience, explain to them the story behind the piece you are playing or introduce them to a new piece of music… it isn’t often people can enter the intimate world of a musician so when they do, they love it!”

Here’s a comparison video Esther did recently, asking her audience about the difference in sound between two violin bows:

Can you hear the difference between a $500 and $160,000 bow?

Credit: Esther Abrami

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3. Be patient

“Look at social media as a tool for documentation, not as a way to get famous overnight,” says Drew Alexander Forde (thatviolakid). Whatever platform you’re using, use it as a way of documenting your progress, rather than putting pressure on yourself to get thousands of new followers overnight.

“It takes 30 years to be considered an ‘emerging artist’, says Drew. “Be patient and simply strive to become 1% better every day!”

4. Post content that makes you happy

“Post content that inspires you,” advises Chloe Trevor. “You will appear more authentic if you post content that motivates you rather than trying to post what you think the general public will like. Work hard, keep your standards high, post what you love and people will take notice.”

21-year-old Esther Abrami has amassed over 100,000 followers on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube thanks to her positive, fun videos. “Forget possible criticism or self-doubt,” she says. “Happiness is contagious and the joy you put in whilst filming your videos will spread to your followers when they watch it.”

In the case of this video, joy = newborn kittens.

Esther Abrami plays Mendelssohn

This violinist played Mendelssohn to a litter of sleepy newborn kittens.

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5. Don’t be afraid to post ‘imperfect’ content

As tempting as it is to use social media as a way to post about the happiest 10% of your life, as a musician this isn’t always the best way to gain followers.

Sara Ferrández is a Spanish violist on Instagram, who says she finds it “inspiring” when other musicians share their practice time or their live concerts. 

“There is always some magic in the ‘real thing’ because almost nobody can sound daily like a CD recording right? I like to show things as natural as they are, and share my bad days of practising as well because it happens to all of us musicians.”

Don’t forget, the more followers you get, the more influential you become – and younger musicians will find it helpful to watch how you practise for that 10/10 performance of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto you gave last week.

6. Dare to be different 

“Life will always set walls of disruptions and it's up to you to break it by creating your own hunting ground,” says Brett from the internet sensation duo, Two Set Violin, whose 200,000 followers on Facebook follow their hilariously geeky videos.

Flautist Ariana Piknjač has found Instagram fame with her multi-tracked flute videos. She advises up-and-coming musicians to “listen to your gut feeling, intuition however you like to call it. If you feel like sharing a collaboration of an arrangement playing the overture to Mozart’s The Marriage Of Figaro with a trumpet player and you play the xylophone, WHY NOT?”

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“Play what you think feels right at that moment. If you feel like doing a classical cover of an Eminem song, go right ahead! When you believe and whole-heartedly feel your work, trust me, people will too.”

Here’s a multi-tracked video Ariana did for Halloween last year, using a flute and two alto flutes. It got 14,000 views:

Now you’re ready to be an online music sensation, read our top 10 tips to help you practise more effectively.

Which instrument were you born to play?

Quiz: Which instrument were you born to play?

By ClassicFM, London

2K

Forget about the instrument you already play, or the one you’ve always dreamed of playing – which musical instrument were you born to play?

Musician stereotypes: we’ve heard them all. Terrifyingly tall double bass players, sympathy-inducing violists and silent yet mysterious drummers... these stereotypes are inescapable in the classical music world.

So we’ve made this quiz, so that they will live forever on the Internet.

Quiz: Can we guess which instrument you play in just 9 questions?

Answer the following questions, and find out which instrument you were born to play.

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