Cheryl D.

My students should expect a fun and relaxing experience as they get to know their new violin and bow. We will first learn all the parts of the violin and bow, how to care for them and keep them safe. We'll talk a little bit about the history of the instrument and its use in modern day music making. Next, we'll talk about you... share some background information on your academic and extracurricular activities, and your musical knowledge.. If you have not learned basic music theory ( names of notes, scales, rhythm, reading sheet music, etc..) then I will start you off with some basic lessons on music notation and reading, with additional homework from Book One of the Fletcher Theory Papers. That way, you can get up to speed quickly. While this learning process is underway, we will begin work with the violin and bow. I will teach you the proper position for standing and holding the violin and the bow. You'll learn how to properly move the bow across the violin's open strings ( E_A_D_G) so that you produce a rich, beautiful tone with every stroke. This is the absolute most important part of everything you will ever learn! It takes a few weeks to master, but once you do, you will have the technical skills necessary to prepare you to play any type of music you can dream of! The first violin method book we will use is Book One of the "A Tune A Day" series by C. Paul Herfurth. ( All study books are available on ) You will play the pupil parts and I will play the teacher’s-we’ll play duets! We’ll work on one lesson each week, from the book. During this period, in Lessons 1-6, we will focus on maintaining proper position of the left hand on the violin and proper bowing technique with the right hand (finger placement on the frog and making sure you are guiding the bow across the strings correctly). Moving into our second month, we will pick up speed. Lessons 7-14 will focus on learning proper placement of the first three left hand fingers on the fingerboard (yay, no more open strings!), more complicated right hand bowing patterns using a variety of rhythms. You’ll also learn to play your very first musical scales and, finally, get to perform your very first solo piece – a proud moment. Indeed! Lessons 15-25 finishes off the first six months with the introduction of the left hand’s fourth (pinky) finger on the fingerboard on all the strings (it’s trickier than you think), work with all five tones on all four strings, more scale work, more duets and learning many more popular tunes. Remember to bring a notebook to all lesson, so you or your parents can take notes, write down assignments for home study and keep up with your progress.