Teaching

So here we are at the end of the school year!  I am in the process of teaching my last week of lessons, and once I hold my end of year recital, I will be saying farewell to my students for the summer months.  I know that many of my students will take the summer […]

What do you hear when you are playing your violin?  Interestingly, I have been reminded recently of the fact that not all of my students listen carefully to what they are doing.  Whether you are working on a solo piece or playing in a group, it is important to use your ears. Often in lessons […]

For several years I ran a fiddle camp and hired many other instructors.  It was interested to hear what their opinions were when it comes to learning by ear vs. learning from sheet music.  It is a very divisive topic among fiddlers! As with everything, there are pros and cons with both methods! Reading Sheet […]

A couple weekends ago I was rehearsing with Symphony NB.  At many points during the rehearsal, you could hear the sound of many pencils being put down on music stands as we all added markings to our music.  I once had a teacher tell me that the difference between professionals and amateurs is not that […]

The last couple of months I have been teaching a group adult fiddle class.  As part of the class, I have been offering a single private lesson to each student.  It has been really interesting to see what they are struggling with, and it all comes back to the same thing…  When you are learning […]

I have recently started teaching a group of adults to fiddle.  One of my students came to me ready to quit after 3 lessons.  This raised the question in my mind of what it takes to learn the fiddle.  I think in some ways it is harder for an adult to learn to fiddle because […]

Recently a student of mine was getting very frustrated because she was working really hard, practicing regularly, and felt that she was not improving. I have been through this many times over the past 20 years. We all think that progress should be a smooth curve, like the image I have included here. It is […]

Memorization has been a hot topic recently on music blogs. I love playing music from memory! I feel more confident, prepared, and also feel more freedom if I am not having to read sheet music. Having said that, the situation is key. By this I mean that I usually perform solo repertoire and fiddle tunes […]