I teach violin, viola and viola d’amore  at standards ranging from beginners to advanced students including at conservatoire level and ages from young children to adults.

Violin and Viola

I can take students at any stage from beginners to advanced.  I enter students for ABRSM exams if they wish but this is not a requirement.  I put on informal student concerts at various times during the year which are a valuable opportunity for students to experience performing in front of a (friendly!) audience of family and other students as well as hearing each other play.

Beginners: For young children I recommend that they start on violin.  Students can start at primary school age.  Beginners can start on viola but if they are very young it is better for them to start on violin due to the size of the instrument.  Violins can be strung as violas but they do not sound well at the lower pitch.  It is preferable to change to viola once they have grown enough to be able to cope with a small sized viola (At about age 12 minimum).

Viola d’amore

This instrument requires prior learning on violin or viola to quite a high standard in order to be able to cope with the greater demands it places on the player.  Players need to be familiar with treble clef at the very least and an ability to learn new notations is important as music for viola d’amore is written in a variety of different ways depending on the composer.  In addition, many different tunings are required depending on the key of the piece to be played so players need to be able to learn how to cope with tunings other than fifths as used on violin and viola.  More information on scordatura notation.

Enquiries

To enquire about lessons please use the form on the request lessons page and state age, approximate level and prior experience (if any).