Selecting a Violin Teacher for an 8 y.o.

Subject: Selecting a Violin Teacher for an 8 y.o.
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 23 Sep 01 - 01:48 AM

Howdy,

I would kindly appreciate some advice.
The kid, at 8 has selected her instrument, and will begin violin with the public schools.

I KNOW how to select a piano/organ/trumpet/woodwind teacher for high school and adults...but I am clueless about how to connect with the "right" private lesson violin teacher for a child....

I look foreward to your sincere suggestions.

Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Selecting a Violin Teacher for an 8 y.o.
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 23 Sep 01 - 01:58 AM

Witch city are you in?

Subject: RE: Selecting a Violin Teacher for an 8 y.o.
From: Wyrd Sister
Date: 23 Sep 01 - 02:16 PM

My daughter started at much the same age. Not for nothing was the instrument known as 'the vile din' Advice: someone she can get along with, and someone sympathetic to the sort of music she likes to play/listen to/find out about

Subject: RE: Selecting a Violin Teacher for an 8 y.o.
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 23 Sep 01 - 04:17 PM

I'm outside of Phoenix, AZ

Brillant John, in answering that question - I have also answered my own.

A music major from the university!!!

~ will be young
~ reasonable
~ available
~ able to relate to the child

And most importantly, provide, in a one-on-one setting, the crucial foundations for a lifetime of pleasure.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Selecting a Violin Teacher for an 8 y.o.
From: GUEST,fretless (at work)
Date: 24 Sep 01 - 09:33 AM

Gargoyle,

Wyrd Sister and you have it right: the personality mix of teacher (patient, nurturing, appealing and enthusiastic) and student are the essential firsts.

Then you might want to think about the sort of music you want your daughter to play. My own d. started Suzuki cello at around age 8 with a wonderful teacher (actually, teachers since we moved to another city in her second year of lessons). Suzuki is oriented toward classical, but it is a great foundation for music/performance in general, and after a year of Suzuki my daughter picked up fiddle on her own because Old Timey was the music played most often around our house and because I got her a 1/2 size violin which I made available but didn't force into the Suzuki/cello practice time.

Web page for the Suzuki association doesn't list violin teachers in Phoenix (http://www.suzukiassociation.org), but the list is not at all complete.

Subject: RE: Selecting a Violin Teacher for an 8 y.o.
From: GUEST,fretless (at work)
Date: 24 Sep 01 - 09:43 AM

And here's a thread from '99 on teaching an 8 year old to play fiddle...http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=11003#79349

Subject: RE: Selecting a Violin Teacher for an 8 y.o.
From: JenEllen
Date: 24 Sep 01 - 10:27 AM

Well, same as anything else, I'd say check references. Does this person have other students? What do their parents think of the teaching? Would you be able to sit-in on a lesson and check them out.
Silly, but in keeping a teacher for the long haul, it would be good to sit with your daughter and talk about how this will fit into her life. What kind of committment is she willing to make? Then find a teacher that embodies that same 'play-ethic'.
~J