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24 Years
Since We Started
41,456+
Happy Customers
10,769
Cities with Students
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Teachers in Network
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Here are just a few of the many teachers offering Violin lessons in San Francisco . Whether you are looking for beginner guitar lessons for your kids, or are an adult wanting to improve your skills, the instructors in our network are ready to help you now!
Instruments: Violin Viola
I am a passionate, motivated, and detailed instructor who loves to work with students of all ages, backgrounds, and levels. I am currently completing my bachelor degree for Violin Performance at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. I absolutely love chamber music and I have had the honor of competing and placing in the prestigious Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in 2019. I have also had many opportunities to perform including alongside the Alexander String Quartet as part of the San Francisco Performances. Read More
Instruments: Piano Guitar Violin
I like to start by teaching all of the students music theory before we play any instruments. In the real world, you cannot read a book properly if you do not know the "ABC's". I strongly believe the same goes with music. Once we learn the fundamentals of music theory, learning songs, and other instruments will become a lot easier. Once we have the music theory settled down, we will play books. Read More
Instruments: Violin Viola
For beginning students, we always start with how to hold the instrument, parts of the instrument and string names, and then begin playing open strings. This may take a few lessons. Placing the left hand fingers is usually the last step before playing an A scale and then Twinkle. Setting a foundation is more important than going quickly, so many of my students spend a number of months on Twinkle before starting to move more quickly with Lightly Row. Read More
Instruments: Violin Viola
I used to use the Suzuki method but mostly I used formal classical method. Although, I always fit my lessons depending of each student's needs and/or requests. Personally I like the classical method because I also teach my students music theory if needed as well as historical facts to understand the music better. I have also thaught the El Sistema method from Venezuela which basically teaches students the feeling of playing music phisically. Read More
Instruments: Piano Voice Violin Cello Viola Ukulele Recorder Music Acoustic Guitar
My teaching experience comes from my experiences and lessons from my previous private teachers. During my 10 years of lessons I learned that importance of a regularly maintained practice schedule leads to the most effective practice sessions. I try to encourage students of all ages to seek out music that they find enjoyable and I do what i can to shape my lessons to make learning the music exciting. I try to anticipate a students need. Read More
Instruments: Violin
I love kids and since I am on the younger side of most violin teachers, I believe I have an advantage of connecting with the students more. When there is a nurturing bond between a teacher and a student, it allows the student to connect more and be more responsive throughout their lesson. One of my teaching styles is making the lesson fun by making jokes, connecting the music to their favorite type of music. Read More
Instruments: Violin Cello Viola Electric Violin Music
For beginning students who are children, I typically start with Hal Leonard's Essential Elements. Once the student has progressed to have a grasp of the fundamentals, I will begin to introduce solo repertoire appropriate for their first recital performance. For adults, I try to find out what the student is interested in, and guide my instruction accordingly to keep the lessons engaging and fun, no matter their ability level. Any learning repertoire can be incorporated into lessons depending on the students playing level. Read More
Instruments: Clarinet
Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
Since at least medieval times. My last name, Harper, is an occupational name for a harp player on the medieval court, an important position that was often hereditary.
If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
If I wasn't a musician, I would most likely have studied computer science and engineering in college, with a focus on physics and astronomy. I do a lot of amateur observational astronomy and astrophotography in my free time and also have learned basic programming skills in Python and Java.
What is your dream piece to perform and why?
I would love to perform Jackdaw for Bass Clarinet and Tape by Wayne Siegel. It is such a cool piece, but extremely challenging to do well. Among other things I am an amateur birder in my free time, so the piece combines multiple areas of interest.
What does a normal practice session look like for you?
I begin with long tones and other fundamental excercises that focus on scales, intervals, sound production, and articulation. Depending on how long I have to practice, I do this for between 5-30 minutes. My goal is to both warm up my mouth and hands to be reinforcing good habits while also giving myself time to get focused and anxious to make music. After this, I will take out the 32 Etudes & 40 Studies by Cyrille Rose. At this point, I have studied each of these etudes multiple times, but I refer to them to remind myself of the good habits that I learned along the way, while also working to improve phrasing and critical thinking in my playing. Only at this point, after both my warmup and etudes, will I begin to work on repertoire for auditions and performances as well as my personal interests.
If you have a Music Degree, what is it in (Performance, Education, Musicology, Theory, Composition, etc) and why did you choose that degree?
I have a Bachelor of Music in Clarinet Performance degree from Temple University. I am currently working towards a Master of Music in Clarinet Performance degree at Carnegie Mellon University. I chose this degree because my main goal as a musician is to achieve a high level of mastery and knowledge of the clarinet, and this degree allows me to focus the most time on this goal. I believe that having a high level of mastery on the instrument is valuable not only for performing, but teaching as well.
Do you use specific teaching methods or books? (Ex: Alfred, Bastion, Suzuki, Hal Leonard) Why did you choose them if you did?
My curriculum is student-centric, meaning that lessons look different for each person. This is to prioritize meeting the specific needs of each student and adapting to how they learn best. Some books that I am likely to reference are the Rubank method books for beginners and the 32 Etudes & 40 Studies by Cyrille Rose for more advanced students. I use these books because I have personally played through these books cover to cover and am confident in their educational value to students.
24 Years
Since We Started
41,456+
Happy Customers
10,769
Cities with Students
3,123
Teachers in Network
Trusted as the industry leader, for over 21 years the teachers in our network have been providing Violin lessons in San Francisco to students of all ages and abilities.
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