Community and language in string teaching
We have a tremendous responsibility toward the community to be loving and caring toward our students' perceptions, experiences and needs.
A hypothetical, historical, energetic journey of a violin
A conceptualization of the path of energy involved in the transformation of a violin, something I wrote in 2016 as part of a course on Energy with Eann Patterson in a MOOC at the University of Liverpool. Thanks to Cheri Noble for reminding me of this! I have deliberately composed this looking at the journey …
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Fun lessons
As string teachers, it's always great to reflect on our teaching practices from the point of view of someone in the student role. Take this little quiz to consider how fun from a student's point of view might impact our teaching.
Tone III
There is another aspect to tone that heavily influences and even overshadows the previous two essays. As a string teacher advocate, I will now focus on how we can nudge ourselves into becoming better teachers by becoming aware of the tone in our life. There is a way in which we go about our day-to-day …
Tone – Part I
Tone: a massively important element of what we teach and learn in violin, viola, cello, and doublebass
The Myth of Violin Fragility & A True Confession
I am going to tell you the truth. The fragility of violins is something of a myth. Of course, violins will be broken if you drop them on a tile floor or if something heavy like a car or a human smashes down on top of them. Really there are myriad ways to damage a …
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Why Validate String Students?
Advice for string teachers about why we should validate students. Full article available in the quarterly e-zine a Museletter.
Why join the wait list for the Royal String Teacher Association?
Why join the RSTA wait list? String teachers around the world have fun staying up to date on how to improve our teaching and the business side of teaching in the 21st century, with and without tech, give and receive support and have access to our resources 24/7. Get a free listening activity to use with students now, and be on the list to receive notifications for when the doors to membership open.
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Sponge Blog
Did you know our students are sponges? Students absorb a lot from us, not only the instrumental technique and musicality we wish to help them master. They also tend to soak up our energy level, open-mindedness and capacity for joy and enthusiasm, or the contrary. This is one of the reasons it is so incredibly …
ON LISTENING
December 27, 2017 When someone outside the profession of string music education learns that I am a violin teacher, there is often a reaction of “oh you must be so patient, to listen to all the mistakes” or something similar. Perhaps there is a tiny measure of truth in that, but it isn’t like you’d …
