Thinking about violin lessons? Great idea! Whether you're just starting to consider making music or you've already played for some time, you probably have some questions.

Once you've found the answers below, you can see a schedule of the time slots I have available here.

Who are you?

Why take violin lessons?

What are your rates?

Where are your lessons held?

Do you have any openings?

How should I find a violin?

Is my child too young for lessons?

Do you teach Suzuki?

Who are you?

I started playing violin when I was eight, studying with Dorothy Kitchen, the director of the Duke University String School. I grew up as a student in DUSS—and now I teach for it! In high school I studied with Eric Pritchard (of the Ciompi Quartet) and won the Durham Symphony's Young Artists competition. I have a bachelor's degree in violin performance from the Eastman School of Music, where I studied with Charles Castleman, and a master's in music education from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I've been teaching since about 2002, and continue to play professionally in the Triangle (as much as I have time to!) I also teach part-time as part of the Duke music department faculty.

Why take violin lessons?

Many studies have shown a connection between music training and academic success, social intelligences, and analytical skills. Furthermore, research shows that these benefits increase greatly when students make music themselves instead of just learning about it.

But really these benefits are only secondary reasons. The real reason to study music is for it's own sake--because without it our lives would be incomplete. Human communities through history have made music, and if we want to understand the musical society we live in, we have to understand music.

What are your rates?

There are two ways to take lessons with me: directly, as a private student, or through the Duke University String School. The overall cost winds up about the same, but there are some differences. Students taking lessons through DUSS have free access to their weekly orchestra groups (I strongly encourage this; playing in groups with peers is a big motivation and a lot of fun for beginning students) and other classes. On the other hand, I bill a month at a time, while DUSS requires payment for 14 weeks at a time.

If you take directly with me, my current rates are...

• $35 each for one-hour lessons
• $28.75 for 45-minute lessons
• $20 for 30-minute lessons

(Half-hour lessons are often good for beginning or very young students; after the first year or so many students move up to 45 minutes. An hour lesson is suitable for more advanced or mature students.)

Where are your lessons held?

Currently I teach all my lessons at Grace Church, at 200 Sage Rd. in Chapel Hill (see a map).

How should I find a violin?

One decision is whether to buy or rent an instrument. Since an entry-level outfit (violin, bow, & case) can be bought for less than $200, it takes less than a year to pay the same amount in rent. However, there are two big incentives to rent. Most instrument rentals have a plan that puts some portion of your money toward ultimately purchasing an instrument (the catch is that you have to purchase from them). But more significantly, most also include some form of insurance, meaning that they do any needed repairs or adjustments for free. In some cases this includes regular maintenance like replacing strings (you can expect a few to break every year). As students grow, they need larger instruments, and these policies allow you to "trade up."

If you decide to rent, I highly recommend High Strung Instruments; you can also find good instruments and a very low rate from the Chapel Hill Violin Shop. Both of these stores are local businesses and are run by people with extensive experience appraising, repairing, and even building string instruments, and I'd recommend them over large music store franchises. (If you want to try the latter, though, there's Music & Arts.)

If you decide to buy an instrument, you can find reliable, professionally set-up instruments at Shar Music, but it would be even better to go in person to a shop where you can try the instruments. Besides High Strung and the Chapel Hill Violin Shop, you can try John Montgomery or Jerry Pasewicz in Raleigh.

WARNING!! There are a few common mistakes that often appear to save money, but just aren't worth it:

• It's possible to find violins for only a few dollars on eBay. There's a reason they're so cheap. They're hastily thrown together, and often lack necessary parts or setting up to even be playable. You might save money up front, but when they break or prove unusable without major work, you'll pay more in the long run. (And since you don't have the rental plan's insurance, it'll be out of your own pocket!) See this page on "Violin-Shaped Objects" for more details.
• The "Great Granddad has a fiddle in the attic" scenario: Most pre-teenage children do not use full-sized instruments. Violins are available in scaled-down sizes, and I or a violin store can measure a student to find the right size. If the inherited violin is a full size and the student isn't, it's very difficult to learn to play with the correct posture and technique. Also, if the instrument has not been played in a long time, or stored in poor conditions, it may need serious work to be playable.

Is my child too young for lessons?

Every child is different! What matters is that they have the maturity to handle the instrument with respect and care. For some students, this might mean they can start at four or five; with others it might be best to wait another year or two. (On the flipside, one's never too old to learn, either!)

Do you teach Suzuki?

The "Suzuki method" is based on certain educational philosophies. While I agree with and incorporate most of these philosophies, and I often use the Suzuki books for repertoire, I don't follow the regimen of the "method" rigorously. I incorporate the philosophies of other violin traditions equally. A few major differences are that I start introducing the skill of reading music (gradually) very early, and that I try to expand the repertoire students learn to include a broader selection of cultures and time periods.