Are you motivated to practice violin every day? I’m going to guess not, and that’s because I’m also not motivated to practice every day. The same goes for most people that I’ve met, whether they’re professional musicians, amateur musicians, or… Read More »How To Overcome Not Feeling Motivated To Practice
As a violin teacher, one of my top priorities is that my beginner students learn to produce a resonant tone quality. A few weeks ago, while listening to a seven-year-old student play, I found myself offering various reminders. “Straight bow!”… Read More »7 Ways To Improve Tone Quality For Beginner Violinists
Suzuki Violin Book 1 imparts the essential techniques and musical concepts needed to prepare students for more advanced violin playing. In this article, I’ll explain my main pedagogical takeaways for each piece in Suzuki Violin Volume 1. Each piece systematically… Read More »How to Practice Every Piece in Suzuki Violin Book 1
Pre-Twinkle pieces are bite-sized exercises for young beginner violin students, and they are a key chapter in my teaching curriculum. Once a violin student has graduated from the box violin to a real violin, it’s time to learn pieces of… Read More »How To Cultivate Strong Violin Technique With Pre-Twinkle Pieces (My 5 Favorites)
When parents contact me to sign their children up for violin lessons, one of the first things I explain is that their child will be starting lessons with a cardboard box violin rather than a real violin. This often comes… Read More »The Box Violin: Why It’s Important
If you are a parent of a child who has just started Suzuki lessons, you might have a lot of questions. “How long will we be working on Twinkles?” “Is my child learning faster or slower than other students?” “When… Read More »Top 5 Books To Educate and Empower Suzuki Parents
If you’re a parent looking for violin lessons for your kids, you may also be wondering how you can help your child get the most out of those lessons. In the past decade of my career teaching violin lessons for… Read More »Learning Violin: A Family Endeavor
Can online violin lessons really work? I was skeptical, too. In fact, at the beginning of my teaching career, I was perplexed with the idea of online teaching. How would I be able to teach detailed concepts and techniques through… Read More »How To Make Online Violin Lessons Worthwhile
You have probably already suspected that learning the violin is different for adults versus children. Over my years of teaching students of all ages, I have become particularly attuned to the struggles encountered in adult violin lessons. Helping my adult… Read More »Adult Violin Lessons: How To Persevere Through Common Obstacles
Whether you are taking music lessons remotely or in person, there are some pieces of equipment that can help you set up for success. Some of these recommendations apply to all music students no matter their instrument. Others are more… Read More »Set Up For Successful Music Lessons
