Episode 107: back to basics with cellist Gabriel Schwabe

In our quest for virtuosic brilliance and flair in our music making, as string players, sometimes we forget that coming back to basics is important for solving many problems in our playing and performance. Many people to get distracted by the complexities of a particular obstacle, or perhaps try and tackle too many problems at once, leading to a sensory overload. Or perhaps overcoming challenges in string playing is so overwhelming and anxiety-inducing that you don’t know where to start! Here to chat with online editor Davina in this episode is cellist Gabriel Schwabe, who is also a cello professor in Cologne and Maastricht. He advocates an awareness or ‘scanning’ of one’s playing and set-up, to pinpoint simple ways to solve problems and unlock one’s playing potential. He shares his favourite strategies, provides a few examples of how basic things have helped his playing and his students, as well as some useful exercises to stay on top of his playing. Read Gabriel's Q&A on Bridge's 'Oration' Cello Concerto and his listening guide on the piece. Check out thestrad.com for the latest news, articles and reviews on all things to do with string playing. Register and

You can listen to Episode 107: back to basics with cellist Gabriel Schwabe online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 107: back to basics with cellist Gabriel Schwabe is an episode from The Strad Podcast by The Strad.

This episode is 23:02 long.

This episode was published on Feb 1, 2024.

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