Welcome! I'm glad you found me and I hope you'll enjoy my musings, tips, updates, and insights.

Please use the search bar below to sort posts by category or keyword. If you're enjoying a topic, you can also click categories listed below, or the tags listed at the top of a post to organize a new list of posts with the same categories and/or tags. Happy reading!

Posted on: | Category:

Welcome to Part 1 of a series of interviews featuring fiddlers from Canada! Canadian fiddle music is a strong tradition and pulls from a wide variety of cultural heritages. This first episode shares an interview with dynamic fiddler, composer, and ...

Posted on: | Category:

It was such an honor and pleasure to open for The Wailin' Jennys over the weekend up in Grass Valley. The audience was so supportive (and thunderous!) and the Jennys were so kind and put on a very inspiring show. Above is one of our songs from the ...

Posted on: | Category:

I received this message from a fellow string teacher recently. It’s the BIG question isn’t it!?

In my experience, it’s worth taking some time to ask questions about the student’s day to day schedule and practice set-up at home. Sometimes it’s ...

Posted on: | Category:

This time next month it will be six years since I started offering violin, viola, fiddle, and cello lessons via Skype, FaceTime, and Zoom, and shortly thereafter realizing the world, quite literally, was opening up to me. I’ve since toured all over ...

Posted on: | Category:

Thanks to the help of 72 Kickstarter supporters who pledged their support in December, the first shipment of my latest album with Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Frechette arrived in the mail ahead of us as ...

Please email me at laurel@laurelthomsen.com if you have a violin, viola, fiddle, music biz, or practice related question you’d like answered in the blog or on a podcast, have a story or insight to share, or if you’d like to inquire about violin, viola, or fiddle lessons with me, in-person or online via Skype, FaceTime, or Zoom.

The Violin Geek Blog is a free resource and always will be. We also don't sell advertising, meaning that everything you read has been a labor of love. If you'd like to support my efforts and help ensure they continue, please consider making a donation. Thanks for your support!


Laurel Thomsen

Violin, Viola, Vocals
Performance, Instruction, Recording

Based in Santa Cruz, California

Site by Laurel Thomsen
Photography by Michelle Magdalena

laurel@laurelthomsen.com
831-224-0913
Skype: laurelthomsen

Become a VIP fan!

Join my periodic newsletter and be the first to learn about her adventures, music, tour dates, and new recordings. On occasion I'll also offer mailing list only downloads and discounts.
© 1996-2024 Laurel Thomsen, Email me