Violin Lessons in North College Park, WA

Instruments: Violin Viola

I am not Suzuki certified but I utilize the early Suzuki violin books for repertoire; that being said, I always take the requests of students into account meaning it is important to me that students are learning music they are excited about learning. For beginners who are new to music as a whole, I employ volumes 1 and 2 of "I Can Read Music" to get students learning both pitch and rhythm in easy, digestible, sections. Read More

Instruments: Violin

For beginning students, I typically start with the Essential Elements method book, which introduces the fundamentals in a way that is friendly to all learners, easy to understand, and interesting. Once the students has an understanding of the fundamentals, we will typically move on to Suzuki Book One, supplemented with various other exercises. At this stage, the student is able to give their first recital performance. For intermediate or more experienced students, I will typically find out what the student is interested in and provide solo repertoire based on their interests. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin Viola Mandolin Recorder Electric Violin Fiddle

I use Samuel Applebaum's String Builderbooks 1 and 2 as my beginning texts and his Scales for Strings, Early Etudes, and First Position Etudes (especially for viola) before moving into First Etudes by Whistler/Hummel for violin and then the Wohlfahrt/Aiquoni Foundation Studies, books 1 and 2, Mazas, and advanced etudes such as Kreutzer and Campagnoli for both violin and viola. Beginners useConcertTunesbooks 1 and 2 by Dale Brubaker for first (immediate) solosthat reinforce note reading and other instruction. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola Electric Violin Fiddle

I approach each student as an individual. Some students take things slow and steady, while others I can barely fit enough into their weekly lessons to keep them happy, and either way is just fine. My ultimate goal as a teacher is to make myself obsolete - I aim to teach my students how to learn, how to be critics of themselves for more effective practice time, and eventually, how to either need a teacher that can take them to more advanced levels, or to play without a teacher. Read More

Instruments: Voice Violin

For all beginner students, I begin with the Essential Elements books. Once fingering and bowing have been introduced, I begin incorporating level-appropriate scales. These etudes and scales are vital for learning the technique necessary for more advanced pieces. Once the student has completed the first Essential Elements book, we then select a piece for them to play, and keep this as our main focus while continuing to work on scales and etudes. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin

So I set out on a journey to answer those questions. I devoted my life to learning music, moved to Bellingham to study music and composition at WWU, studying the science and art of playing music with emotion, and writing music that makes my audience feel what I want them to feel. In-between now and then, my music career took a lot of twists and turns, ups and downs, and ins and outs. Read More