[3][9] After the October Revolution the family moved back to Vilnius, and then to Warsaw, before obtaining visas and leaving for the United States in 1921.

As a teenager, tendinitis affected her bow arm, attributed to childhood malnutrition, and resulted in her giving up the violin.

[12][13] Rockmore made orchestral appearances in New York and Philadelphia and went on coast-to-coast tours with Paul Robeson, but it was not until 1977 that she released a commercial recording called The Art of the Theremin.

[9] Although her health had been in rapid decline for almost a year, she declared her determination to live to see the birth of her great-grandniece, who was born just two days before her death.

[citation needed] She had extremely precise, rapid control of her movements, important in playing an instrument that depends on the performer's motion and proximity rather than touch.

She developed a unique technique for playing the instrument, including a fingering system that allowed her to perform accurately fast passages and large note leaps without the more familiar portamento, or glide, on theremin.

[15] She also discovered that she could achieve a steadier tone and control the vibrato by keeping the tips of her right-hand thumb and forefinger in contact.