The Violin Family has been called the King of Instruments. They are fantastically expressive. They posses a wide dynamic range (ppp-fff), they can play most scales in 4 octaves, and have the ability to produce chords, sustained notes, staccato, and glissandos; among many others expressions.

I teach the Violin and the Cello.

I use the Suzuki method to teach these instruments to children as young as 4-years-old.

I use Suzuki Recordings to familiarize my students with our repertoire, and I gradually introduce recorded piano accompaniments to my students practice.

We start with simple concepts, and gradually build upon these ideas to make great musicians.

The Violin Family of Instruments are among the most challenging to master of all instruments. The biggest hurdle to overcome when learning the violin family is achieving good intonation (being on tune). I work with my students to achieve good intonation by:

-starting small

-building a strong mental map of how the instrument works and relating this to what we are working to achieve

-Building a strong scale routine

-Playing Slowly to build good habits

If students are struggling learning a string instrument as their introduction into music, I like to transfer them to the recorder or piano where it is easier for them to develop a good ear and understand the language of music. We can always return to a string instrument at a later time.

Any student I have, however, that is excited to learn a member of the violin family, has always done well and found success in the instrument.

The Silver Flute is a member of the woodwinds family and shares similar fingerings with instruments like the saxophone and clarinet.

The silver flute has a very wide range of dynamics and expressions that can be bold and energetic, or sweet and melodic. The flute is very nimble and can easily traverse demanding passages, if the player can keep up :)

The challenges that this instrument presents lie mostly in achieving a keen embouchure - the way we use our lips to shape the instruments voice, dynamics, register, and intonation.

We work on mastering the embouchure by starting with the basics of flute playing and building a strong foundation. Using the Suzuki method, I gradually increase the scope of my students practice to ensure that they grow as musicians, maintain a healthy degree of challenge, and master the foundations of playing the silver flute.

If students are struggling to create a voice with their embouchure, I start them on the recorder so that they can begin to play music. I then train them on exercises that teach them to create a good embouchure so they can transfer to the silver flute at a later time.

The Recorder Family is a Wonderful and Historical Instrument.

The Recorder currently has a bad reputation because most generations played cheap recorders in elementary school and thought that it was a silly instrument.

The recorder is amazing. It is simple, portable, cheap to produce (not always the case at all) and fully chromatic (which is amazing for a fingered flute.)

The recorder family produces a sweet and defined tone. It is capable of vibrato, staccato, intonation manipulation, sustained tones, and has a range of about 2.5 Octaves.

The most amazing thing about the Recorder! Unlike most any instrument… Once you learn the Soprano Recorder, you are very close to being able to olay the entire family of instruments. A musician in the string family, for instance, specializes in a single instrument (violin, cello, viola etc.) and it can take years to master another family member. All advanced Recorder players, on the other hand, are expected to own and be familiar with the Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Recorders. A recorder player is expected to be ready to switch voices (instruments) at a moments notice. This is the coolest aspect of being a recorder player. You have complete freedom to explore the different roles that musicians fulfill at the four registers: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass (SATB). Are you the grounding bass line? Or are you instead; the nimble and melodic soprano?

I only allow my students to use (200 or 300) series Yamaha recorders; or other high quality instruments upon approval of their intonation. Cheap recorders will never hold a proper tone, but Yamaha’s recorder line are among the best in the world, are still very affordable, and have great intonation.

The Piano is a brilliant instrument that allows musicians to play four voices of music at one time. It has brilliant solos, makes for a perfect accompaniment, is an excellent tool for composition, and can also accompany the voice of the performer.

Piano is a perfect introduction into music and music theory. The keys are easy to voice and intonation is always consistent. Students develop an awareness of chords, harmonization, melody, and the musical language. Piano is a great primary instrument, and also a good foundation from where students are ready to master instruments like the violin, voice, guitar or woodwinds families.

The Piano presents challenges in the fact that we are playing the parts of four different instruments/voices. Our left and right hand are usually given different tasks and trained to work together to fulfill a piece of music. Our eyes are trained to take in two different rhythms and four different notes, all at one time. I work with my students to overcome these challenges by working with the hands separately. We learn to play melodies with the right hand, and chords with the left hand, and eventually, we combine the two when the student can perform these foundational exercises with ease.