Be a Violin Teacher
Teaching violin can be very difficult, especially with younger children. Everyone's running around screaming, and you're thinking, "Can't I just have a minute?" You're also worried about other student's instruments. What will happen if they break? Here's how to make teaching violin easier than it seems.
Steps
- Find students. Advertise using flyers laminated to prevent soggy pages when it rains. Volunteer to assist with an orchestra, and make friends with the school orchestra teacher. Even check out local string stores to see if they're hiring or if they'll let you advertise.
- Start with the basics - all of them. Knowledge of music theory is extremely important and often overlooked. Teach them the basics of conducting. Sing with your student(s). Be patient: don't assume they know anything unless they've proven it. Only move on when they can reteach you what they've learned.
- Bowing is more important than many people want to make it. Make proper bowhold and straight, full bowing a priority.
- Precise intonation is also overlooked too often. Be pickier than you want to be; it's easy to let approximation go but it's hard to retrain the ear once that's gone on for years and they want to move to a higher level. Use the process of tuning the violin to test your student's ear; have them do it themselves as soon as it's possible, and have them tune in 5ths to their other strings.
- Be picky about rhythm as well. Teach them to count everything. Insist on a consistent tempo in études and scales.
- Ask them to set goals for their own practice time, and check that they stick to it. If they don't, or if their goals are unacceptable, have them fill out practice records.
Tips
- Use scales for everything: bowing, pitch, rhythm, posture, tone, volume. Teach why scales are how they are so that they can figure them out on their own. Teach the circle of fifths and tetra-chord patterns until they understand. Assign several every week, and ask them for the key signature of each and have them think through the finger patterns before they play.
- If they ask a question, don't blow it off as something they'll learn later or something they'll never need to know. Answer it to the best of your knowledge! For example, talk about shifting early so it's not scary when it appears later. Introduce some different bow techniques (spiccato, etc.) if you notice them experimenting, getting bored with something, or think that they are experienced enough to do so.
- Be encouraging. Be approachable. Be a friend. Music teachers and their students can have some of the best relationships in the world. Know their goals and cater to that - if they want to eventually major in music, push them as hard as you and they can handle, but in the likely case that they just want to enjoy school or community orchestras, don't ever take the fun and joy out of it. Get excited when they do something well, and tell them so.
- Think back on your own experiences. When you first started playing, what techniques did your teachers use? Which were helpful, and which seemed pointless?
- Take vibrato slowly and patiently. Introduce it early so it's not a big mysterious thing but make it a work in progress on the backburner over a long period of time until they're really ready for it.
- Don't use only one book. Use some repetitive études, like Sevcik or Schradeick. Spend more time on études and scales than on songs to improve their technique. Theory books will put them another five steps ahead.
Warnings
- Some teachers prefer using stickers on the fingerboard and some do not. For students who have difficulty hearing proper intonation and especially for extremely young students, stickers can often be a helpful solution at the beginning stages of instruction. However, it is important to communicate to the student that the tapes/stickers are only temporary and will be gradually removed as he/she develops muscle memory for where each pitch is located and develops a greater sense of good intonation. Having tapes removed from the instrument over time can rouse a great sense of pride and improve student motivation as he/she develops into a more advanced musician.
Things You'll Need
- Scales studies (Flesch, Tune-A-Day, etc.)
- Etudes (Sevcik, Schradeick, Kreutzer, etc.)
- A flexible list of repertoire to teach to students of all levels (The music in Suzuki Violin School books is a great place to start, or you can try solos for young violinists.)
- Recommendations for metronomes, tuners, extra strings, rosin, and violin and bow repairs.
- Lots of time for ease with scheduling.
