1st lesson free
Dorothy
- Rate R654
- Response 1h
R654/h
Contact
1st lesson free
- Violin
- Viola
- Cello
- Erhu
Grandmother Teaching Violin From Home for Eighteen Years Six Hundred Students and Still Believing a Cup of Tea Solves Most First Lesson Nerves
- Violin
- Viola
- Cello
- Erhu
Lesson location
About Dorothy
I've been teaching violin from home for eighteen years now, and somewhere along the way I properly lost count, though it works out to roughly six hundred students taught across that time. I never trained formally in any grand conservatory sense, just years of community orchestra, church playing, and a genuine lifelong love of the instrument itself. My own children grew up around my lessons, and now my grandchildren do too, which gives the whole thing a lovely, homely feeling rather than anything terribly formal or clinical. I teach absolutely everyone, from tiny nervous six-year-olds to fellow grandparents finally getting round to trying something they always fancied for themselves. My style is warm, unhurried, and thoroughly old-fashioned in the nicest possible way, built on decades of simply paying close, genuine attention to people around me. I don't chase exam results particularly hard, though plenty of my students have done wonderfully regardless, almost as a happy side effect of feeling comfortable throughout. What I care about most is watching someone who once said "I'll never manage this instrument" leave my front room smiling and genuinely believing otherwise. After eighteen years, I still properly look forward to every lesson on my calendar, which I think says quite a lot.
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About the lesson
- All levels
- English
Languages in which the lesson is available :
English
I've been teaching violin out of my own front room for so long now that former students bring their own children to me these days, which tells you quite a bit about how I like to work. Lessons start with a proper chat, always, because I've found over many years that a relaxed student learns far faster than a nervous one rushed straight into technique. Bow hold and posture get taught patiently, the old-fashioned way my own teacher once showed me, more decades ago than I care to properly admit here. I teach mostly by ear and steady repetition, playing alongside a student until their confidence catches up with their curiosity, rather than overwhelming anyone with explanations too early on. Every student learns pieces they genuinely enjoy, folk tunes, hymns, familiar melodies their family knows, because forced repertoire has never once produced a happy young violinist in my long experience. I keep a little notebook for each student, jotting small improvements as I notice them, and I read bits back occasionally to show real, tangible progress. There's tea most lessons, and plenty of laughing, because I firmly believe a relaxed student always plays better than a tense, anxious one. I've taught long enough now to trust that patience simply works better than pressure, every single time.
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Rates
Rate
- R654
Package rates
- 5h: R3270
- 10h: R6540
online
- R654/h
free lesson
The free first lesson with Dorothy allows you to get to know the tutor and discuss your needs and expectations.
- 1h
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