Viola Lessons South

Instruments: Piano, Violin, Cello, Viola

I have been teaching since my freshman year of college! My teaching career began with a program called "A Gift for Music" Which brought strings education to Title 1 schools. From there I have guided many young musicians through their journey across multiple instruments. Some of which have been offered music scholarships to four-year universities. My number one priority with all of my students is building a solid foundation of fundamentals from which they will be prepared to tackle some of the most difficult repertoire in their discipline Read More

Instruments: Piano, Violin, Cello, Viola, Double Bass, Music

I use the Belwin Mills and String Builder books, also Klengel Technical Studies as well as Harvey S Whistler Position Books. Selected repertoire as the student advances. For beginning adults I try to determine exactly what they are wanting to achieve by starting an instrument at this point in life. For the beginner I determine what kind of talent they have and how to proceed with lessons. Learning an instrument is hard - and practice time at home is essential and must be consistent to progress. Read More

Instruments: Violin, Viola

For other students, on the other hand, my focus may lie on the historical and contextual elements of the repertoire, with special attention to composer's’ markings and their consequent effects on the student’s choice of phrasing, sound and vibrato. While I believe that a solid practice routine that combines basics and scales is vital for the constant improvement of the player’s overall skills, technical issues regarding bow distribution, smooth string crossing, shifting, left-hand articulation, vibrato, and tone production may also be dealt with in accordance to the repertoire. Read More

Instruments: Violin, Viola, Fiddle

I am extremely flexible as a teacher. For every skill, there are a multitude of ways to learn that skill. There is no need to slug away for months at a solo or exercise that doesnt match your personal interests or learning style. Playing should be stimulating and fun, and I am passionate about finding different ways to make learning music appealing to all sorts of people, whatever your musical needs are. Read More

Instruments: Piano, Violin, Cello, Viola, Electric Violin

For my beginning students, I typically start with either Essential Elements 2000 for strings or Sound Innovations. Both books give younger students a grasp on the fundamentals of technique. As they grow I then introduce solo repertoire by using the Suzuki Books but also like to add a fiddle book. Sometimes students gradually go either to fiddle or to classical. I try and encourage what they are more comfortable with. For adults, I try to find out what genre of music they enjoy and try to gauge their ability level with a couple playing evaluations. Read More