#viola

Craig Birchfield

How to keep kids practicing through the summer

The sun is out and the clouds are gone. Hooray! This is the summertime creed of Oregon kids who have to run between raindrops for most of...

Craig Birchfield

The Infamous Violin Shaped Object

I had a call from a young lady the other day. She was having trouble keeping her brand new violin in tune. I asked if we had sold it to...

Craig Birchfield

Important String Player Resources in Greater Portland

Here in the greater Portland metro area we have some excellent resources for string players. I will also list some links to the best of...

Craig Birchfield

Pain is Not Gain (Part 2) Tips for Playing Pain Free 1/29/2014

I am finally getting around to keeping my promise about doing the second part of this article. I covered shoulder rests and chin rests in...

Craig Birchfield

12/3/2013 Pain Is Not Gain – Part One

My wife used to be a dental assistant. Most of the dentists that she worked for tried to minimize the discomfort of their patients as...

Craig Birchfield

9/26/2013 The Jet Airplane Analogy

I may have already mentioned this analogy in an earlier posting but I want to give you the full treatment here. I try to tell this story...

Craig Birchfield

3/5/2013 Know Thy Instrument

I hate black boxes – gleaming silver whatchamacallits that are covered with little invisible question marks. I like to know what is going...

Craig Birchfield

1/26/2013 Time Has Come Today

Professor Steven Hawkin proved mathematically that when the Universe began so did time. That is pretty interesting when you think about...