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.

Violin: Pro Tip List: 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.

Viola: Pro Tip List: 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.

Oboe: Pro Tip List: 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.

Bassoon: Pro Tip List: 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.

Trumpet: Pro Tip List: 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