Selected Content from the October 1902 Edition of The Etude

The Making of an Artist. A Talk With Mark Hambourg.

BY WILLIAM ARMSTRONG.   A Broad View of Life. THE individuality of Mark Hambourg is as pronounced in his manner as it is in his view of things musical. Excitable, emotional, absorbed completely in his work during a performance, and… Read More




This Department.

It seems advisable, at this time, however, to say a few words regarding the aims and general purpose of the violin department. Its chief aims are to stimulate thought, to put earnest students in possession of facts which, too often, are encountered only along the hard road of experience, and to relieve amateurs of many fallacies and misconceptions. Its general purpose is to be entertaining and instructive, to combine interesting information with serious pedagogical effort. Read More

“Strads”—Vintage of 1716.

During the past twelve months or more [the writer] has been the recipient of many anxious inquiries regarding the probable genuineness of instruments possessed by the writers of these letters—instruments described by their owners with a pathetic devotion to details of varnish and structure, and, in most cases, naïvely offered to him at the price of valuable real estate. Read More

The Rode Studies.

This is one of Rode’s most admirable studies for wrist and forearm development. It should be played at the upper part of the bow, and the pupil should not attempt to play it rapidly until much careful work has been done in a slow tempo. The difficulties for the left hand are easily understood by most players, and their mastery requires only the usual toil and persistence. But it is quite a different matter with the right arm. The average student’s attention is riveted on the wrist, and the important work of loosening the elbow receives either little or no attention. Read More

Concentration: How May It Be Acquired?

The young student is constantly exhorted to concentrate his mind upon his work. He reads: “Two hours of concentrated practice accomplish more than four with the mind wandering.” And, again: “Concentrate your mind upon the matter in hand during every… Read More

Wait Until Ready To Teach.

…the student of music who enters the profession before his studies are completed has only two courses open to him: Either he must go through life in the lowest ranks of the profession,—the musical hewer of wood and drawer of water,—receiving the poorest prices for his work, or else he must try to carry on his studies in addition to doing his professional work. Read More