Show & Talent, presented by AUSTA VIC is an opportunity to learn about Australian makers of educational resources especially made for string teachers and students. Meet the creators in this forum-style event, with a designated Q&A after each presenter.

Show & Talent #1 features the work of Frances Gall & Simon Veitch, from Twofold Media who will present their platform violinbowtechnique.com and also Nicole LoBartolo, who is the writer and creator of the ViolinTime series .

This session will be presented online, and is FREE to attend. Booking essential to receive Zoom link.

• 7.30 Twofold Media
• 7.50 Q&A With Simon & Frances
• 8.00 ViolinTime
• 8.30 Q&A with Nicole LoBartolo

THIS IS A FREE AUSTA VIC EVENT – BOOKING IS REQUIRED TO RECEIVE ZOOM LINK

Bookings & Enquiries via Trybooking HERE

Twofold Media – Frances Gall & Simon Veitch

https://twofold.com.au

Frances and Simon began Twofold Media in 1996 to develop and publish music education resources using digital video technology. We named our company Twofold as there are two of us and we combine our different skills and interests. Frances is a string musician and teacher and has been an AUSTA member for decades and attended many wonderful AUSTA conferences. Simon is a computer systems engineer with experience in sound engineering, photography, and graphic design. He invented a music synthesizer played in space by the motion of dancers which was used at Expo 88 and at overseas music festivals. All of our experiences have combined in interesting ways and helped with this fascinating music education and technology journey we are on.

We worked with our authors, Robert Wakely and Fintan Murphy, to publish their teaching techniques on video, delivered initially on ‘interactive multimedia CDROM’, then on DVDROM, and now streamed on the internet and available by subscription.

The sites are:  violinbowtechnique.com & sevcikvariations.com

In learning to play a string instrument, you often need to view the player from different angles, so a lot of thought goes into finding the best most visually descriptive shot for filming each particular video. Then the text is written and edited to be as clear as possible, and we include a score whenever that’s needed.

A major point of difference between the content of Twofold’s websites and the many string-teaching videos now found on YouTube and Facebook is the structure – our content is carefully organized and comprehensive. The chapters and topics of our titles provide a guide to your learning and make it easy and natural to return to a topic and understand the logic of the development. Plus of course the quality of Fintan Murphy’s excellent teaching points and thoughtful introductions for each topic!

• violinbowtechnique.com – A comprehensively descriptive site with technique for left-hand and bowing, and is suitable for viola and violin players, with all scores in alto and treble clefs.
• sevcikvariations.com  – ”Ševčík Variations – transformative for any string player“ (Laurie Scott, University of Texas). All 40 bowing variations in Opus 3 are demonstrated, with teaching points by Fintan, helpful links to violinbowtechnique.com and featuring Fintan’s students Dindin and Dandan Wang, who have just been accepted into the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia.

Violintime – Nicole LoBartolo

www.violintime.com

Violin Time and Viola Time Book 1 are comprehensive beginner books. They begin with learning posture and then open string bowing, focusing on playing with a lovely tone and using the whole bow.

Fingers are introduced, beginning with the 3rd and a range of exciting pieces take students on a journey through different keys and finger patterns. 

Scales are included in a logical fashion throughout the book, with pieces using the new finger patterns learned. Bow strokes such as: detache, legato, and staccato are covered in an engaging manner with lovely repertoire.

Each piece has a corresponding video tutorial and some pieces have a fun backing track accessible from the Online tutorials page/backing tracks. These are demonstrated on the violin (Nicole LoBartolo), with piano accompaniment (Jane MacDermott).

Violin Time Book 2 and Viola Time Book 2 focus on developing shifting in a variety of keys, and vibrato. The method used to teach shifting is the ‘lift, glide, and press’ method so that students learn to shift silently between positions. 1st – 3rd position is the first position change covered, then 1st – 2nd position, then later between positions and up to 4th and 5th position.

Students will love the beautiful range of music composed for the purpose of shifting. The styles range from tango, to etude, to waltz, to duets. The keys become more challenging as the book progresses, and each piece has a scale and exercise and resources such as finger charts and online videos to help guide the students practice. Vibrato is introduced and the books feature wonderful exercises to help develop a secure arm vibrato.

The string time books are shorter versions of the original Violin Time and Viola Time book 1. They are perfect for a school string program as they are shorter, and less expensive. They are only available in hardcopy, however, students still have access to all of the online tutorials which are accessible via the website.

Pedagogically here is the flow of the book:

They begin with pizzicato on the open strings, then bow hold exercises, followed by an emphasis on learning to play open strings (beginning on D, then A, then G, then E or C) with smooth whole bows.

Bowing divisions on open strings are then introduced using whole bows for crotchets, half bows for quavers in either the LH or UH of the bow. 

Students are always encouraged to sing in fixed pitch before playing the pieces.

The pieces are in memorable patterns so that the emphasis can be on singing in fixed pitch, then memorising, then playing with attention to their tone by watching their bowing strokes and remembering lovely posture.

The 3rd finger (violin and viola) and 4th finger (cello) is introduced first. This is to begin teaching the student the correct hand shape from their very first ‘fingered’ note. Followed by the other fingers – (violin and viola- 3rd, 2nd, 1st); cello (4th, 3rd, 1st).

Bowing speeds are then introduced as are articulation markings.

Each page has a ‘Point for Parents’ section with relevant theory, practise strategies, and helpful tips!