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Tips for a new teacher

 
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jordan8201
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Joined: 02 Jul 2008
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:57 pm    Post subject: Tips for a new teacher Reply with quote

Hello! I took lessons for about a year some time ago and played approximately another year on my own. I have recently begun working again on my own, going through some old books I had used before. I am progressing quickly now working through different positions.

Recently several people in my church asked if I would be willing to teach their children to play. I put this off for some time, but finally gave in. In the past two months the group has grown to 9 ranging in age from 5-18. I am not charging much because I know I am not nearly as qualified as other teachers. This has caused me to work extra hard in my own practice. I also bought viola recently as well so that I could teach that as well. Learning the alto clef is going well so far. So this brings me to a few questions:

1)I am taking my students through the Essential Elements books. At what should point should I add other books to these, and what books would be recommended at that level?

2)I never completed all 4 Essential Elements books, so aside from finishing that, what books would you recommend for me to starting working on myself. I have a scale book and a positions book that I was working on when I stopped lessons, but I only went a few pages into it.

3) Should I teach any theory other than that included in these books? I know there are advanced theory books out there, but I am not sure if it is normal for violin teachers to teach this.

Thank you very much! I appreciate any input!

Jedidiah
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gmautner
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Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:43 pm    Post subject: I like the Suzuki method Reply with quote

Hi,
I am no expert and have never taught violin, but as a student I can give you my opinion on what I find helpful in the learning process.
In my opinion, the Suzuki method has been a great alternative to learn violin. I will try to describe here how I understand this method:
The Suzuki method consists of 10 volumes (or books) and it includes well known pieces as well as tonalization exercises throughout. Each piece provides a good amount of fingerings which makes life a lot easier while learning. Each book also includes portions of text that explains the intention of the exercises and give tips to enhance them. Tonalization exercise are highly promoted and recommended for practicing before starting to practice the songs and should be practiced in a daily basis. Another aspect of the Suzuki method is developing listening skills. The student is encouraged to listen to the recordings of the pieces he/she is practicing, and a CD is available for each book. Knowing the piece makes it a lot easier. Also, the student is required to memorize each piece as he/she progresses. Going through each book generally takes a while but it is worth the practice.
The level of difficulty and skills increase each time and the student only goes to the next book until he/she has mastered it. Each piece requires the student not to just play the notes but trying to make the piece alive by focusing on important aspects like slurs, staccatos, dynamics, rhythm etc.
I'm still learning with this method and I have friends that are more advanced than myself that have learned successfully with this method as well.
Hope this helps,
Gabriel
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LSOviolinist
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Joined: 21 Jun 2008
Posts: 42
Location: Los Angeles, California/Boston, Massachusetts/New York, New York

PostPosted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:57 pm    Post subject: Teaching tips Reply with quote

Well, for starters, it would be good to get a general feel for the different teaching techniques and books. Just like gmautner said, there is the suzuki method. This method goes through books and uses cd's, however most teachers who use this have gone through Suzuki training and have been acknowledged by their program, nevertheless you can still teach it. The way I prefer to teach is using numerous books and techniques, because in most cases, where one book fails, another succeeds. I would recommend moving with each of your students skills and weaknesses then changing the lesson to fit them, instead of changing your students to meet the lesson. If they are beginners, then I would stay with one book so they can build up there base.
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mshikibu
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wasn't going to respond to this, but in good conscience, I must: I have to say that I think someone who has taken lessons for a year, and played for a year -- I wonder if they're really qualified to teach. It takes about five years to begin to get into the violin; what do you have to teach, I wonder?

Personally, I think it's a disaster for you, and for your perspective students. I have students who have studied with me five or six years; they are not qualified to teach until they finish at least an undergraduate degree in music (or comparable experience) , and/or take some Suzuki training (which you can do at age 16.) For fiddlers, no degree is necessary, but a great deal of fiddling with other aural-tradition musicians, would be.

I don't mean to be hurtful, but you need a great deal more training than you have before you can in good conscience, hang up a shingle and begin teaching anyone. At minimum, the teacher needs to be able to play the instrument, themselves. Honestly, the odds of anyone being able to play the instrument well in two years time is pretty much zilch.

See:

Violin/Viola FAQ
29. How long will it take me to get really good at the violin?
http://beststudentviolins.com/PedagogyTech.html#29

This question is one of the most "frequently asked" of any. It takes about five years to get into the violin, and that is with a good teacher and a great deal of work. Ten years, however, seems to be the normative time that it takes to master any skill. See the materials, below, borrowed, (waiting to get permission), from Peter Norvig's Teach Yourself Programming in Ten Years

Researchers Bloom (1985), Bryan & Harter (1899)*, Hayes (1989), Simmon & Chase (1973)** have shown it takes about ten years to develop expertise in any of a wide variety of areas, including chess playing, music composition, telegraph operation, painting, piano playing, swimming, tennis, and research in neuropsychology and topology. There appear to be no real shortcuts: even Mozart, who was a musical prodigy at age 4, took 13 more years before he began to produce world-class music.

In another genre, the Beatles seemed to burst onto the scene with a string of #1 hits and an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. But they had been playing small clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg since 1957, and while they had mass appeal early on, their first great critical success, Sgt. Peppers, was released in 1967.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) thought it took longer than ten years: "Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at a lesser price." And Chaucer (1340-1400) complained "the lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne." Hippocrates (c. 400BC) is known for the excerpt "ars longa, vita brevis", which is part of the longer quotation "Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile", which in English renders as "Life is short, [the] craft long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgment difficult." Although in Latin, ars can mean either art or craft, in the original Greek the word "techne" can only mean "skill", not "art".

* Bryan, W.L. & Harter, N. "Studies on the telegraphic language: The acquisition of a hierarchy of habits. Psychology Review, 1899, 8, 345-375
** Chase, William G. & Simon, Herbert A. "Perception in Chess", Cognitive Psychology, 1973, 4, 55-81.
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