Archive for the "Music Lessons" Category
“Please Stop Telling Me I’m Talented”
What is Talent? If you are skilled in one area or another you’ve probably had people tell you you’re so talented! This idea certainly gets thrown about in the world of music frequently, but I believe it is often given more credit than it is due. By definition, talent is the natural aptitude or […]
Why a student may lose their love for music…
I recently came across this post that outlines a parent’s regret at enrolling their son in violin lessons. After seeing an innate love for music and interest in playing the violin they began lessons. After several years this student became disinterested in music and didn’t even want to play around with the instrument anymore. The mother says: […]
How Expectations Contribute to Student Success
THE SITUATION: I think we can safely say that if you have a young student who begins lessons kicking and screaming (either literally or figuratively) because they don’t want to be there the chance for success is low. This of course has nothing to do with ability or aptitude. If a student expects they aren’t […]
Is Your Teaching Business Successful?
I recently ran across this blog post on Facebook: Running a Successful Teaching Business Means Not Losing Students Go read the article if you want, it’s not long. If you don’t want to read it, it basically talks about how to organize your lessons so that you can keep up with what each student is doing […]
Relating Finger Placement to the Notes on The Staff
Many students encounter difficulty with music reading, and knowing where to find the notes they see on the staff on their instrument. While this is a common problem, I believe it’s one that can be easily addressed! Let me first list some ways that I believe do not help address this problem (and can actually contribute to […]
Bowing Smoothly at Every Level
Bowing smoothly and evenly is a skill students at all levels must conquer. Obviously this skill needs to be taught to beginning students, but I have also encountered intermediate and advanced students that lack the foundational knowledge of correct bow usage. I believe that tone production, specifically that of a smooth bow, is often what […]
Fill Your Studio with Marketing Strategies for Music Teachers
January is the perfect time to target those children (or adults!) who received a new violin for Christmas, or maybe inspire those individuals who have made a New Year’s resolution to dust off that old violin in the closet and get some lessons! I’m positive that you will find new and creative ways to fill […]
The Most Significant Part of Learning and Teaching Music
This question was posed to me recently: “What in your experience has defined the most significant part of learning and teaching music?” What a broad, but also important question to ask ourselves as teachers! There are probably many things that we consider important in our role as teacher, and many things we consider it […]
Is Your Student Ready for Intermediate Rep.?
We have the most control over the progress of our students when we start them from the very beginning. However, sometimes along the way we may encounter a student who seems to have missed out on an important aspect of their training despite our best efforts, or we may have students come to us from […]
What are Your Favorite Go-to Beginner Books?
Since my book, The Beginning Violinist: A Companion Book for Children and Adults is meant to be used in conjunction with other beginning rep. I’m always looking for good materials to use with my students. I waded through some materials this fall, but unfortunately didn’t find any additional beginning rep. I liked. I’d love to […]