When people I meet ask me what I do and I tell them I’m a violinist and violin teacher, most assume one thing: that my violin studio is full of children. They picture the eager six-year-old with a tiny, curvy violin knocking on my door, ready to saw away at their scales – and they’re not wrong! What they’re surprised to learn, however, is that many adult violin students are learning, too. Not to mention viola students and cello students of all ages. As a teacher of private violin lessons in New Tampa, I’ve found that some of my most interesting lessons are taught to people with full-time jobs.
Being a viola teacher and violinist, as well as proficient in cello, I began all of my musical journeys before I graduated from college. I learned to read music at the same time I was learning to read and write. I loved playing and listening to music from a very young age. My first memories are of listening to music. I received my first record (yes I’m that old) when I was five and quickly wore it out. My mother had to replace it. When I was first able to begin learning the violin, I was very excited! So each time my grade school students walk through my door, I remember where learning the violin fit into my life, much as it fits into theirs: one more after-school activity, an introduction to a future love and possible career. But my adult students come for a different reason, and the violin plays a different role in their lives. They have already chosen their careers, established their daily routines and accepted their stresses – and the violin is a new friend, a way to relax, an outlet and oasis. When they pick up that violin, none of the pressures of their everyday lives follow them, and they take solace in learning something new and beautiful during their violin classes.