How can I keep learning my instrument until I see my teacher again? Should I take online lessons? What kind of music knowledge can I study easily at home, by myself? Many adult amateurs struggle with these questions in the current situation. MUSEDU has looked at suitable ways for self-tutored music learning. We will start this little series with the topic “music theory”. There are a number of useful, high-quality online seminars available free-of-charge! You can find some of them in our links section. The full article is available in the German version.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, all exhibitions, concerts and live events for Beethoven’s anniversary have been cancelled for the time being. We hope that we will soon be able to enjoy all these again in “real life”. Until then, a number of libraries and other institutions are showing their collections of Beethoven’s original letters, compositions and other interesting items in online exhibitions or videos. The full article with all relevant links can be found in the German version.

How quickly things can change. A few days ago, we still enjoyed wonderful orchestral music in a full concert hall – the COVID-19 crisis seemed far away. Now it affects us all and most of us are spending our days at home. These are difficult times especially for those working in the arts, musicians and freelancers. There are several local initiatives to help them. And there are a few things that music and culture lovers can do to support local artists, bands or orchestras. Read the full article in German.

The Wiener Konzerthaus offers a unique kind of orchestral concert experience: At “Im Klang”, the audience sits right next to the musicians and is surrounded by the sound of different instruments. In early March 2020, we had the opportunity to enjoy one of these events, featuring Sergei Rachmaninow’s Symphonic Dances, played by the Wiener Symphoniker conducted by Lahav Shani. Read the full report in German language.

(Photo credit: Rupert Steiner)

“The pianist’s life is, by necessity, lonely” writes pianist and blogger Frances Wilson in the magazine Interlude. Of course, also as amateurs, we need to spend a lot of time at our instruments – in solitude. This is how we practice our pieces. But luckily, we also have a lot of opportunities to play with others. We just need to seek them actively. Hobby musicians based in Vienna, Austria, have plenty of choices! A list of local piano/music activities can be found in our links section. The full article, which looks at the Vienna Piano Meetup group in more detail, can be found in the German version.

Recently, I participated in a workshop held by Johann-Gottfried Schmidt, to build my own clavichord together with fellow amateur musicians in Vienna. It was great fun, but also hard work – and really rewarding to build a historical instrument from scratch within only a week. Read my full report in German.

The streets and buildings in the center of Vienna recount stories of famous musicians and composers of the past… While visiting Vienna, take some time and explore the locations where they used to live and work! WienTourismus, the official tourist office, makes this easy with free guides and tour maps for download on its website.

MUSEDU had a closer look at some of these musical city walks – you can find the full article in the German version.

This is the aim of the German music blog „Lauschzeichen“. According to pianist and blogger Elisabeth Hahn, classical music should not live in the ivory tower. On the contrary, it is closely linked with current topics of our real world, like the situation of women at university music departments. (Available in German only).