In my teaching, I use an amalgamation of Rolland and Suzuki pedagogies, technique and musicianship learned from my training around the nation with world-class musicians and pedagogues, including proteges of Dorothy DeLay and Ivan Galamian, and what I have discovered in my own practice due to being a smaller violinist with non-standard proportions in my fingers.
My stature and my shorter pinky length is seen as a disadvantage in the violin/viola world. In fact, some conservatories look at hand proportions like mine and will not accept students on this basis. Fortunately, I never came across this kind of discouragement and had immense support in my journey, including a stepfather who is a professional cellist in the San Diego Symphony and studied with one of the most renowned pedagogues who ever lived, Eleanore Schoenfeld. However, this hand proportion disadvantage was still something I had to grapple with and study beyond what one learns in school and from teachers (even after 9+ years of college) to really optimize my movements so that I could play among the best in the world. I turned my disadvantage into a strength and as something I could use to help others.
It is important to me to be detailed and thorough in my teaching – I teach others everything that I wish I knew when I was younger! I show students how to achieve the highest levels of violin playing by carefully setting up each individual for a healthy technical foundation, providing the steps for how to go about practicing efficiently, fostering an attention to detail, and encouraging discipline and curiosity.
The pedagogies that greatly influence my teaching are described here:
The Suzuki “method” is not so much a “method” as it is a philosophy, as Suzuki thought that each teacher should develop his/her own method. It is based on the idea that children learn music in a similar fashion to language. Children are able to start at a very young age and learn from rote at first. This encourages students to learn the same way we perform – we first hear the sounds we’d like to produce, then we produce the sounds we imagined. Students develop a musical language and a good ear for tone and pitch. The Suzuki books provide standard graded repertoire used by teachers around the world. I grew up learning with the Suzuki Method and later received my teaching certification at Vanderbilt University.
Paul Rolland studied the physicality of violin playing, consulting with experts in movement such as those in physiology and Alexander Technique. He created a method of training young students to play the violin free of excessive tension, as well as the first films demonstrating violin technique. Each child is set up with his/her instrument in the way that best suits his/her body. The left hand is set up in a frame to reduce the amount of effort and tension needed to play all four fingers in tune – one need only drop the fingers into place rather than search for the right notes. The right arm is trained to use the larger muscles in an ergonomic way to pull a ringing sound. Shifting and vibrato movements are trained from the very first lessons in embryonic form. Large muscles are trained before small ones. I came across the Rolland methods after attending a workshop by Mimi Zweig. I then attended three Rolland workshops and received my Rolland level 4 certification under the mentorship of the detailed and renowned pedagogue, Gerald Fischbach, as well as Joanne May, and Lynne Denig.
Mimi Zweig influences my teaching as she combines the Suzuki and Rolland methods with ideas from her teacher, the great pedagogue Tadeusz Wronski. Wronski taught at Indiana University and was known for his ability to remediate students who studied with him – his students went on to be very successful violinists.
Kurt Sassmannshaus teaches at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, where I took many semesters of his pedagogy class. A student of Dorothy DeLay, his father is also a well known pedagogue in Germany and his method books are designed for very young children in a way that they learn new songs every week.
Noa Kageyama is the foremost sports psychologist for musicians. He teaches scientifically backed ideas about efficient practice, resilience, confidence, fearlessness, focus, and peak performance.
Karen Tuttle developed ideas about how to teach viola players coordinated ways to release tension while playing in order to reduce risk of pain and injury and produce a more resonant and effortless sound.
Body Mapping most of us have mismappings of our bodies that lead to faulty movements that can cause pain and injury. Clarifying this map enables us to move correctly. Many thanks to body mapping experts including violinist Jennifer Johnson and violist Claire Stefani.