How to Teach Violin Lessons

Teaching a musical instrument is not only a great way to give back to your community, it's a good option for a freelance musician looking to make some steady income. However, having great skill in your instrument doesn't automatically translate to skill in teaching. When teaching the violin, as with any instrument, it's important to create--and stick to--a strong curriculum.

Instructions

1. Choose a series of method books. For beginning students, some of the most popular options include the Suzuki method, the "Essential Elements" series for strings and the "A Tune A Day" series. These books contain progressively arranged music and instructions for beginning players about proper handling of the instrument (see Resources).

2. Teach proper violin handling. Make sure that your student has correct posture and is holding the violin on his shoulder in a comfortable and secure manner (include some instruction about the proper adjustment of the shoulder and chin rests). Check the angle of the left hand and fingers and spend a good amount of time working on the appropriate position of the bow hand. All of these aspects of playing will need to be constantly revisited and corrected in the weeks and months to come for nearly all beginning students, and even more experienced students will likely need some refinement work on their technique.

3. Address the student's fundamental playing technique. At a basic level, this includes fingering for the best resonance (proper curling of fingers and applying small, distinct points of pressure) and proper pressure, speed and angle of bowing technique. Work above all on instilling good habits of relaxation and begin to work with students on developing vibrato once they have a basic mastery of proper fundamental technique.

4. Develop the student's understanding of music theory. Beginning students may need to start learning to read music from scratch, so don't neglect lessons in basic staff pitch and rhythm reading. Isolate music theory lessons and work on these reading skills separate from the violin playing itself.

5. Work on musicianship. Begin early with both a nuts-and-bolts approach to style markings like articulations, dynamic markings and bowings, but also talk to the student in abstract terms about the music she's playing and as her questions about how she feels about it. Work on intonation and pitch-matching skills from the very beginning to avoid letting the student become desensitized to the sound of bad pitch.

6. Assess the student's progress. As time goes by, ask yourself how your student is progressing and whether or not your teaching methods are working for her. As a rule, if a hard-working student fails to progress, a teacher should consider himself the problem and reassess his teaching methods, and all teachers should try as many new techniques for explaining concepts as possible, working to fit the learning style of the student in question. However, students (especially children) can be less than honest about how much they practice, so always be on the lookout for any signs that this is the case; one of the most telling signs of a student who isn't practicing is a pattern of markedly higher improvement on music during a lesson than during the course of a week's practice.

Resources

• Recommended Beginner Violin Books