Building on Beginning Violin Foundations: Play Faster!

This class is the next step for learners who have completed my "Beginning Violin Foundations: For All Violin Newcomers!" class. This class is also perfect for those who have already learned the very basics of playing their violin (including proper violin hold and bow hold and using 3 fingers in a song such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star), and are ready to learn a little more and work on speeding up! 

Students are not required to know how to read music for this class, and all material will be presented so that students can learn without needing sheet music, since this class is designed primarily to help students improve and advance their violin technique. Sheet music will be provided in the classroom for students who wish to use it, and we will briefly look at it during class for those who are interested in understanding how the new skills being learned are notated in music.

I will demonstrate all of the skills and music that we will cover in this class on my own violin, in short, easy-to-follow steps. This is an interactive class, and students will have frequent opportunities to demonstrate back what we are learning, and ask and answer questions. This class is best experienced when the learner is able to have their camera on throughout class showing both their violin hold (including left hand fingers) and bow hold. Because of the nature of musical instrument sounds on Zoom, students will generally stay muted while we practice skills together, and may be unmuted for individual demonstration and feedback. 

Over the course of two weeks, we will cover the following: 

Week 1, Day 1: Introduction to A major scale, concepts of slurs and staccato articulation, and application of slurs and staccato to the A major scale.

Week 1, Day 2: Review A major scale with slurs and staccato, and begin learning a song (Camptown Races) with options to choose the bowing and articulation each student prefers musically.

Week 2, Day 1: Continue learning the song, with focus on using slurs and staccato articulation as desired and producing the tone and phrasing the student has in mind, and discussion and demonstration of practice techniques to increase tempo.

Week 2, Day 2: Identify sections or aspects of the song that each student would like to improve and provide steps to reach those goals and troubleshoot obstacles, with opportunity for students to demonstrate the song and participate in a “race” against the teacher!

Please note that an adult will need to make sure all four strings on the learner's violin are in tune to the best of their ability before each class meeting. If you are not sure how to tune the violin, please send a message and I will provide a short video to get you started with the basics of tuning a violin.

I believe that the beginning stages of learning to play the violin should always be filled with encouragement, and progress should always be celebrated, even when it's in small steps! Every learner is unique, and it is always worth taking your time in the beginning stages of learning an instrument like the violin, because a good foundation pays off later on. This class is designed to help beginning-level violinists learn how to practice effectively to get the results that they desire, particularly when it comes to playing faster!