rather than “how fast we can move onto the next song or level.” Violin/viola is one of the hardest (but most beautiful!) instruments to play. In my experience, the learning process becomes very frustrating for students long term if we don’t prioritize technique from the beginning.

Technique

There are so many elements that go into violin/viola playing: correct posture, balancing the instrument on your shoulder, left hand position, bow hold, bow placement, etc. In order to master these things, I initially teach my students to learn by ear. If your eyes are glued to your music, then you can’t use them as a tool to work on technique. Having a good ear is also important because it is the number one tool for good violin/viola playing. The ability to listen and analyze your own sound is a skill that I want all of my students to take away from their lessons. Being able to learn by ear will also set you up to play anything you want on the violin/viola in the future! I also teach music theory and sight-reading, but it will be done separately from solo curriculum.

Practice

Let’s dedicate five minutes at the end of each lesson to review what we have learned and write out our “to-do” list. This ensures you know exactly what to practice. The goal is to develop conscious practicing habits instead of trying to fill an hour with auto-pilot, unfocused playing. For young students, the best results are produced if the parents help guide their child through their daily practice sessions. Each practice session should mimic the lesson we had that week. If you opt to have your lesson recorded, your lesson video will be automatically uploaded to the chat for your review.