The Violin Tips Practice Guide created by Ivo Stankov, a violin professor at Junior Guildhall, is an online practice handbook covering over 160 aspects of violin playing. The guide is split up into three sections – How to Play, How to Practise, and How to Perform – and has nine chapters. Throughout the guide, Stankov employs a three-point practice system that he invented. There are also 40 YouTube videos and a Facebook page. It is intended for intermediate and advanced students and teachers.
In the preface, Stankov states that ‘the aim of the guide is to tackle head-on the challenges of organising and structuring practising.’ The guide is not a replacement for a teacher, but a reminder of what is learnt in a lesson. To bring focus and efficiency to practice, Stankov created his three-point method: description, action, and result. By description, he means understanding what needs to be done; for example, understanding that there are four elbow levels corresponding to each string for string crossing. Action is the actual doing of the task, and result is memorising and securing the action. I welcome this practice method because it emphasises an active and focused mind.
The How to Play section of the website is abundant with information on topics ranging from shifting to vibrato to various bow strokes. The How to Practise section includes several useful pages including how to use singing to practise, and an explanation of muscle memory. The How to Perform section has pages on the technical and artistic aspects of performing. When you click on a topic, a PDF appears with a chart that divides the skill into the three-point method. While the website is streamlined and user friendly, the PDFs almost remind me of a kitchen appliance manual. However, Stankov uses colours and bold font to emphasise key words, extremely helpful to keep focused and retain information.
As I read through the topics and tips, I want to print out several of the PDFs for my students, and even for myself. One such page that caught my eye was on attitude and core skills, in which words such as ‘positivity’, ‘patience’, ‘concentration’, and ‘open-mindedness’ pop out. While many of the pages have accompanying YouTube videos, there are none for the posture section, which I feel is needed. Overall, I would recommend this website to teachers and students for its wealth of information and emphasis on finding focus and efficiency in practice.
