Learn new techniques and deepen your musical skills

This DVD takes a common sense approach to rhythmic mastery by isolating the ‘rhythm muscle’ from the ‘pitch muscle’ and ‘pumping up’ the former before pairing it with the latter…It will benefit players of any age or ability level who want to hone their rhythmic skills, either to move into the alternative styles with confidence, or just to ‘tone’ their mental/physical rhythmic muscles!

– American String Teacher Journal

Here’s another hit from Julie Lyonn Lieberman—does she ever miss? Her tips here are as solid and basic as rhythm itself. This rhythmic primer for violinists, violists, and cellists offers rhythmic warm-up games, over two dozen rhythmic ear-training exercises, rhythmic skills such as wows, pings, and the placement of slurs, inflections, and slices of silence. She talks about the best type of and use of a metronome. She demonstrates four or five methods of executing continuous up bows. She examines how to enter, sustain, and complete a note with subtlety or emphasis—nothing escapes her.

This video is well organized and meticulous in detail. The ever-graceful Lieberman is a pleasure to watch, listen to, ponder, and mimic.

– Fiddler Magazine

Very informative DVD and easy to follow instructions. Great for the beginning violin player who wants to learn different bowing techniques. — Verified Amazon.com customer

Wow, this is a must have for all violin, viola, cello players. This is just the sort of information I've been needing! I'm rhythm challenged, and have had some difficulty learning to use a metronome. Julie starts out by explaining how to use the metronome, and how each note fits between ticks and on ticks. She goes into wonderful detail on building on rhythms, and exercises you can do to practice.

Anything by her is wonderful. She has an excellent DVD on the ergonomics of using your instrument that is also a must have. — Vicki Richards

This was such a new way to approach the study of rhythm on the violin. Actually Ms. Lieberman got to the essence of how we function rhythmically without having a bow in our hands. Rhythmic training begins before, during and after developing a bow hold. How we train the brain was addressed.

I enjoyed the progression of information. Her clear speaking is a plus in this educational recording and the cordial presentation helps welcome those new to the concepts. At first I wondered why I wasn't playing from a chart or score at the beginning of the DVD. Then I realized that core information was being given regarding how we develop our every rhythmic sensibility in playing. The call and response portions provided enough interaction, similar to a live lesson.

I will be incorporating many of the materials into my teaching and playing. So many helpful suggestions were included that I'll have plenty of material to digest and disseminate for and with my students. I appreciated the musical interludes between chapters as they demonstrated some of the many varieties of rhythmic playing available but underutilized by most string players.

After decades of playing and teaching this was a fascinating and relevant body of information that I think no string teacher, professional or student should be without!

Ms. Lieberman is known to be an authority in many aspects of World, American and "Alternative" styles and I hope she continues to supply those of us on a narrower path with these insightful and educational resources. — R.W., String Teacher

Lieberman’s goal is to help musicians create the most beautiful sounds imaginable as effortlessly as possible. — Music Educators Journal

The Vocal Aerobics DVD absolutely blew me away; it speaks in a visual language, with relevant analogies, with excellent examples and actors, and the exercises are on point. What a wonderful production, thank you!  — Marius Miklea

I am really grateful I came across your DVD, I call it the "missing link". I have been singing for 15 years and have been looking for a DVD like yours since I begun to understand how the voice works. I would like to thank you for giving me the chance to delve into the knowledge of approaching the voice from a physical point of view. This DVD is a source of invaluable information for all singers; especially singers wanting to explore the true frontiers of the voice. — Athanasios Karapanos

Dear Ms. Lieberman, I just finished working with your new DVD. I am very excited about it because I immediately noticed an improvement in my voice and find that I am singing with greater freedom. - David C.

Ms. Lieberman is a very, very gifted teacher. She is also an excellent researcher and scholar. Her approach to playing and teaching healthy, is backed up by solid medical and kinesiological facts, and further supported by a true world view of philosophy and healing. — Janet Jensen, PH.D., Director, National String Workshop

I like this tape, and I think it is a valuable addition to our teaching literature. It is a good resource for teachers and their pupils. — STRINGS Magazine

This video can be a very helpful way to evaluate and improve the physical characteristics of your playing as well as make you more aware of your mind and body working as one. — Fiddler Magazine

Lieberman presents an ergonomic approach to playing violin and viola in this instructional video. Lieberman’s goal is to help musicians create the most beautiful sounds imaginable as effortlessly as possible. — Music Educators Journal

… Lieberman presents a wealth of information to help performers, teachers, and students arrive at a set-up which takes into account their body type, corrects any harmful physical habits, and results in a relaxed, natural solution. This is accomplished by determining the optimum playing position for each individual within the four planes: vertical (shoulder/jaw/head), horizontal, angle (scroll height), and tilt. Equipment is then chosen to support that optimum position and fill in any gaps. Lieberman gives wonderful tips for doing “detective work” to determine where tension exists, what is causing it, then choosing exercises and, in some cases, different equipment to balance the playing position, support good posture, and eliminate tension. Great emphasis is placed on having a dynamic, not static, set-up that can be tweaked to adjust for minor changes (weight gain/loss, different clothing, etc.) and establishing a natural relationship between the hands, arms, shoulders, head, and the instrument. All the basic types of shoulder rests, chin rests, and additional accessories which can customize the fit are discussed, as well as how to utilize their particular features to adjust for specific anatomical situations. No single solution is advocated. The viewer is encouraged to investigate all possibilities in order to arrive at the best solution for their own or their students’ needs, and then to remain constantly alert to any changes that would necessitate an adjustment of the set-up to maintain pain-free, relaxed, agile performance. — American String Teachers Journal

Violin and Viola Ergonomics is the most comprehensive single resource I have seen on this topic. Along with The Violin in Motion, it opens the door to a world of possibilities for teachers and players of all levels, providing concepts and tools for individualized and evolving solutions. With the help of these DVDs, we can now realize the potential for a lifetime of freedom and ease with our instruments. — Garrett Fischbach Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Mannes College of Music

Julie, I thought that your [Violin and Viola Ergonomics] workshop was so startlingly original, so large in its scope and informed in its detail that I was very taken. To put it another way, it seemed to me that you have put the pieces together in a way that no one else has, and sonofagun, THEY FIT! — Dr. Phillip Coonce Inventor, Don't Fret

Lieberman covers a lot of territory not just in the world but on the instrument — four essential bow control techniques, ten approaches to rhythmizing the bow, stylizing vibrato, working with chords, ten approaches to ornamentation, and much more. However, what struck me in the end was how inspirational her approach is. Balance reigns here, as evidenced in her emphasis on principles rather than rules. I admire and respect what she has achieved in these videos and enthusiastically recommend them both. — Hollis Taylor, Fiddler Magazine

These videos will offer new ways to perform contemporary music with ease …The videos are highly recommended for all string players with a flair for seeking out new music stylistic directions and horizons.”
 — Dr. John Kuzmich, Jazz Education Journal

The strength of Lieberman’s approach is her willingness to explore choices…. Lieberman provides useful exercises to emphasize awareness and freedom of movement… —The STRAD