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. […]
Category: Teaching
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Perhaps due to my classical training, I feel best about lessons that include technique, such as scales, as well as learning pieces. Here is a conversation that often occurs as […]
Hearing yourself play any instrument is kind of like hearing recordings of your own voice. It is terrifying, but one of the best things you can do to improve your […]
Periodically I come up against the same dilemma: it feels like everyone else in the world is progressing really quickly, in whatever way, and like I am moving very slowly. […]
You have been practicing really hard, you have been making progress, and now things seem to be getting worse instead of better. It feels like nothing is working and like […]