Teaching Philosophy
Every child is a musician and my ultimate goal is to foster the natural musicality of every student. Rather than teaching children to be good students, I believe in training students to become good artists in their own right, capable of expressing their individual musical interpretations. In practice, I attempt to construct a solid technical foundation for my students, methodically building up each individual technique from their most fundamental elements and applying them to increasingly complex musical situations.
To me, technique to a musician is what vocabulary is to writers. Technique does not only expand a musician's capabilities, but also expands the range of a musician's imagination. The ultimate goal of developing technique is to allow students to find their own musical voice and express themselves more fully. At the same time, I have the strong belief that engaging in musical activity can influence how a child interacts with the world. Through music, I want to give children the tools to find beauty in even the most challenging of life's situations, and reflect that beauty back onto the world with the violin.
To me, technique to a musician is what vocabulary is to writers. Technique does not only expand a musician's capabilities, but also expands the range of a musician's imagination. The ultimate goal of developing technique is to allow students to find their own musical voice and express themselves more fully. At the same time, I have the strong belief that engaging in musical activity can influence how a child interacts with the world. Through music, I want to give children the tools to find beauty in even the most challenging of life's situations, and reflect that beauty back onto the world with the violin.
The great violinist Yehudi Menuhin sums it up best here: